Thomas Keller’s Masterclass Course Review 2023

Published by: Julia

Despite the fact that Thomas Keller is an award-winning chef, I had never heard of him. But, a friend of mine urged me to take his Masterclass course, I did. It was a good move, I learned a lot more than I thought I would.

Update: Masterclass is currently doing a buy 1 gift 1 promotion. Well worth checking out!

Thomas Keller, the owner of several Michelin star restaurants, has created two courses for masterclass.com. The one my friend recommended my taking was his first one. His vegetables, eggs and pasta course.

If you’re interested in checking out some other cooking courses, read our favorite masterclass review here.

By the way, we recommend purchasing Masterclass for more than just one single course. The value comes when you take several. If you want to read our review of the whole platform, check out this Masterclass review article.

If you want to just find out what some of the best masterclasses are, this is the article for you.

Learn cooking techniques not just recipes

Thomas Keller’s approach is to teach people techniques rather than just how to cook specific recipes. He empowers his students so they can cook whatever they want.

When you apply what he teaches, regardless of what recipe you are following you will get excellent results. That has certainly been the case for me. For example, Keller has taken my understanding of eggs and how to use them to a whole new level and I am now confident about making and using my own pasta.

One of masterclass.com’s longest cooking classes

At 6+ hours, this is one of the longest courses available on masterclass.com, so you get a lot for your money. But, it is well worth completing all of the videos.

I learned so much by doing so. My cooking has improved in ways I would never have thought possible.

You may be asking how this course is different than Gordon Ramsay’s course.

Well, different people teach different things in different ways. Perhaps, you like resonate with one Masterchef over the other. You won’t know until you try!

Without a doubt, there is a lot more I can learn from this highly experienced chef. Fortunately, I have invested in an all-access Masterclass pass. So, I will be able to take his 2^nd course as well, which covers meats, stocks, and sauces, without having to pay more to do so.

As you will see, when you read on, I did actually take his 2nd course too. So, I have tacked on the review for Thomas Keller’s meat, stocks and sauces onto the end of this review.

I also plan to take several of the other 7 cooking courses that are available on the platform.

An easy to navigate cooking course

With such a large course, being able to easily navigate the videos is really important. I needed to go back and review some of the advice and techniques several times. In all likelihood, you will want to do the same.

Fortunately, the masterclass.com video player is intuitive and easy to use. Each video is bookmarked. This makes it far easier to find and re-watch the relevant section when you want to remind yourself of something.

For this course, this is actually very important. Sadly, the workbook is not great. All of the recipes are included and are easy to follow. But, unlike some of the other masterclass.com chefs, Thomas does not provide much additional guidance within the workbook. Most of his important tips and guidance are contained within the videos, so it is critical that they are easy to navigate.

What Thomas Keller covers in his first Masterclass course

If I were to share with you all the lessons I learned from this cooking course, or even just the highlights, we would be here forever. So, instead, I have briefly listed the subjects he covers below. For some subjects, he provides 2 or 3 videos, while for others it is just one.

Kitchen set up – the tools you need and how to choose the right ones along with a shortlist of essential ingredients

Sourcing ingredients – Keller explains how he sources high-quality ingredients

Big-Pot Blanching – this cooking technique is demonstrated using beautiful fresh asparagus

Glazing – for this section, Thomas shows you how to glaze carrots

Braising – Thomas demonstrates this cooking technique by cooking artichokes

Pureeing – the creamiest puree potatoes you have ever seen and tasty pureed parsnips

Pickling – if you want to capture the seasonal flavours of vegetables, learning how to pickle is essential

Confit – how to adapt this traditional way of preserving meat to vegetables

Roasting vegetables – learn how to pan roast zucchini

Baking vegetables – surprisingly not potatoes, this class is all about baking beets

Eggs – these videos cover egg-based sauces, meringue, how to make perfect scrambled, poached, boiled eggs, omelettes and much more besides.

Pasta – how to make the perfect dough create 5 beautiful pasta and gnocchi dishes

The six disciplines of success – the six things you need to do to be able to create beautiful food every time.

As you can see, Thomas Keller covers a lot of information in his first course. (Check it out here) So, I am sharing a few of my notes, to help you to work out if this is the right masterclass.com cooking course for you.

What kitchen equipment do I need?

Overall, this was a very helpful section of the course. Thomas goes into great detail. For example, he shows you how to choose the right knives and explains 3 different ways to sharpen them.

However, the cookware section of the kitchen setup videos was initially, a bit overwhelming. He seemed to be recommending that you buy a huge set of pans. But, once I stopped and listened I realized that he was not advising amateur chefs to buy every single item.

He just wanted to make sure his students had a full understanding of what was available and how to use each pot and pan. The next time I go shopping for new cookware I will be able to make a much more informed choice.

Sourcing ingredients by Thomas Keller

To be honest, I was pretty disappointed with his sourcing ingredients video. Really, all he did was explain the difference between local, organic and sustainable produce. It was more about his food philosophy than helping you to buy good quality products.

Glazing carrots and braising artichokes

Glazed vegetables look and taste wonderful, but, mastering this technique is not easy. You have to get the proportions of the water and sugar just right to produce the result you are after. Thomas Keller explains in a simple and easy to follow format, exactly how to do that. The complex sweet flavour of glazed carrots is a great way to convert someone to a person who enjoys eating vegetables.

If you would love to cook artichokes, but have no idea of how to prepare them, Thomas’ video on the subject is all you need. It is one of the clearest set of instructions I have ever seen on the subject. Plus, I can vouch for the fact that they taste extra nice when you braise them in the way Thomas shows you in this video.

Big pot blanching

This is a cooking technique that I have never used. But, the next time I cook asparagus I will be doing it this way. I can see that you get much better results by using this easy but rarely taught cooking technique.

However, I can’t see myself finishing off my asparagus by using a green kitchen scourer to rub away the top layer of skin. It looks great on the plate and peeling your asparagus this way means that you lose none of the flavours. But, I rarely have time to do things like this.

Pureeing vegetables

I love pureed potatoes and thought I knew how to cook them. That is until I saw Thomas prepare them. It really is a Masterclass.

You will be stunned by how much butter and cream he manages to incorporate. But, sadly, the resulting beautiful dish is too high in calories for me, so I was really pleased that he also demonstrated how to make mashed potatoes.

As a bonus, later in the course, he shows you how to make pureed parsnips. An absolutely delicious side dish, which I and my family have enjoyed several times.

Confit vegetables

This is another cooking technique that I have never tried and, to be honest, I suspect I never will. However, it was still an interesting video. More so because Thomas used vegetables rather than meat, something I did not know was possible.

Roasting and baking vegetables the Thomas Keller way

As someone who has been cooking for 40 plus years, I did not learn much from this section of the course. But, from the comments shared by other users, it is obvious that many students did. Interestingly, I did pick up a good roasting tip here, but it was one that another student shared in the comments.

That is one of the great things about taking Masterclass.com courses. Whichever course you take you will have access to an active community of other students. The forum, comments and office hours facility combine to make it really easy to get any questions you have answered.

A masterclass in cooking eggs

You cannot beat eggs. For the calories, they are one of the most nutritious foods around. I love them, and it is clear that Thomas Keller is a huge fan of them too. In fact, I would go as far as to say that he is passionate about them. He really knows how to get the best out of them.

Over the course of 9 videos, Keller shows you how to create all of the classic egg dishes. That includes mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce, creme anglaise (custard), meringue and beautiful omelettes. Oddly, he uses an oven as well as a pan when he makes an omelette. I tried it and loved the texture it produced, so it is well worth trying out yourself. When you do this section, keep an eye out for his fantastic tip for making clarified butter.

He also explains, in detail …. great detail, the right way to scramble, boil and poach eggs. Oddly, this is the part of the course where I learned the most, despite the fact I have been cooking eggs three or four times a week, for decades.

How to make great fresh pasta dishes

As a big fan of pasta and gnocchi, this is the part of the course I enjoyed the most. It is clearly something Keller loves too.

He takes you through making the perfect dough, then uses it to produce 6 classic pasta dishes. All really quick and easy to make using fresh ingredients.

I haven’t looked back since learning how to make agnolotti. This is the perfect pasta to use if you like saucy dishes. Somehow it catches and holds the sauce close, which means that every mouthful is as tasty as the last.

For me, the best videos in this section were the ones that teach you how to make gnocchi. I love this stuff, but every time I have tried to make it I have failed miserably. Usually, I’ve ended up serving up little bullets that are tasteless because all of the sauce slides off. Not anymore, following Keller’s techniques I can now produce tasty, beautifully textured gnocchi every time.

Thomas Keller’s six disciplines of success in the kitchen

I watched this section, but to be honest with you did not think it really added anything to the course. Most home cooks can safely skip it. But, if you want to be a professional chef, I highly recommend that you watch it and his last video, which is all about his food and cooking philosophy.

A little extra help from Thomas

With 3 Michelin star restaurants to run, Thomas Keller is clearly a busy man. So, I was amazed to learn that, using the Masterclass office hours facility, I could get an answer to my cooking questions direct from him. I have not used it yet, but, plan to do so in the future.

A great cooking course for a great price

Overall this is a very good cooking course. Even very experienced chefs will be able to learn a lot from Thomas Keller. This 6 hour plus 35 video course provides you with a lot of information for $90. I definitely benefited greatly from taking a step back and learning or re-learning some of the fundamentals from Thomas Keller.

Speed up the learning process

If you are a bit put off by the length of the course, don’t be. You can skip the intro and easily watch most of them on 1.5 or double speed. Plus, the way masterclass.com courses are laid out it is really easy to dip in and out of them. Using them, you can learn a lot in a relatively short space of time.

It is a format I like very much, which is why as I said earlier I bought the masterclass.com all-access pass. This enabled me to take all of the culinary courses as well as the comedy, acting, sports and life skills I was also interested in.

Thomas Keller’s 2nd Masterclass course

Below is my review of Thomas Keller’s 2nd masterclass.com course, which I liked even more than I did his first one. For this course, he looks specifically at meat, stocks, and sauces.

Make the most of the meat you buy

Meat is now very expensive, so I really wanted to learn how to get the most out of it. Being able to cook it properly is important. Thomas Keller certainly helped me to do that, with his meat, stock and sauces masterclass course. I learned a lot.

Learn the right way to cook meat with Thomas Keller

This is quite a long course. Not as long as his first one was, but it is still pretty extensive. This is because when Thomas Keller teaches he goes into a lot of detail, which for this subject is a very good thing. For example, I have never cooked anything like braised short ribs before, so I needed every tip he packed into the 40-minute video for that recipe.

When he teaches you a recipe or cooking method he covers everything you need to know. Thomas takes the time to explain how to store, trim or dress the meat prior to cooking as well as how to serve it. For example, the importance of tempering proteins before starting to cook with them is something you rarely see mentioned in cookbooks or other courses.

Understanding the different cuts and how to recognize quality

Thomas Keller is really big on his students understanding their ingredients. So, unsurprisingly, he starts this course by explaining some of the key cuts and how to make sure they are of good quality.

The meat cooking techniques you will learn

You are going to learn a lot of different meat cooking techniques when you take this course. All of the methods that are used a lot in Western kitchens and one or two from other parts of the world. Here is a summary of them.

• Sauting
• Frying
• Oven Roasting
• Pan Roasting
• Slow Roasting
• Blowtorch Finishes
• Braising
• Braising A La Matignon
• Grilling
• Cooking on a Hibachi

Dozens of stocks, broths, Jus’ and sauces

The joy of this course is the fact that you learn to make some wonderful sauces. Tasty enough for you to use to enhance all kinds of dishes. You will find yourself using them regularly. Here is a taste of what you can expect to be able to make with a little effort:

• Roasted Veal Stock
• Light Chicken Stock
• Veloute
• Supreme sauces
• Allemande
• Albufera
• Quick sauces
• Brown Chicken
• Sauce Chasseur
• Vinaigrettes
• Sauce Vierge
• Pickled Chow
• Chow Vinaigrette
• Emulsified Vinaigrette

If you only try one of these fantastic sauces, make it the emulsified vinaigrette. I had never heard of it, but, I am now a big fan. It took me a few tries to get it right, but, now I have nailed it, I use it quite a lot.

Learn to make classic dishes with Thomas Keller

To teach you all of the above techniques, Thomas Keller shows you how to create an impressive list of different dishes. Here is a taste of what you can expect to be able to make by the time you have completed this course.

• Chicken Paillard
• Weiner Schnitzel
• Fried Chicken
• Pan-Roasted Duck Breast
• Cote De Boeuf
• Oven Roasted Chicken
• Slow Roasted Blowtorch Prime Rib Roast
• Pork Shoulder A La Matignon
• Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
• Hibachi Chicken
• Hibachi Lamb Chops
• Hibachi Steak
• Hibachi Chicken

An excellent workbook

That is an impressive list of recipes. But, Thomas Keller does not stop there.

His excellent workbook contains at least a dozen further recipes. Mostly side dishes, which is great because you can use these to add interest to the food you normally cook for your friends and family.

In short enough recipes to enable you to cook unique dishes for your family for several weeks. Things like:

• Braised greens
• Maitre d’hotel butter
• Horseradish Cream
• Mashed potato
• German potato salad
• Pickled red onions
• Arugula Salad

The other great thing about Thomas Keller’s workbook is that it is really well organized. For example, the ingredients are all listed in the order you will be using them. Plus, there is a list of the equipment you will need to pull together to cook each meal. I also appreciate the timelines, which are a great way to stay organized and on track.

Two of my favourite dishes cooked the right way

As you can see the list of what you will learn to make is a long one. If I were to tell you about everything I have learned from Thomas this time around, we would be here practically all day. It’s a long list.

So, instead, I am going to tell you a little about two of my favourite videos in the course.

How to make perfect fried chicken

Most meat-eaters love fried chicken, so it is great to hear that it is back in fashion again. In America, even very posh restaurants are starting to put it back on their menus. Something that inspired Thomas to include this iconic dish in his meat course.

It was great to see him doing things the old-fashioned way, using a cast iron pan instead of a deep fat fryer. The cooking process takes a bit longer, but it really is worth the extra effort. Right at the end, he fried off some rosemary and scattered it over the chicken. It looked nice and, surprisingly, when you taste it there actually is a tiny hint of the flavour of this wonderful herb. A really nice touch.

How to cook wonderful wiener schnitzel

One of my other favourite meat dishes is wiener schnitzel. I was lucky enough to be introduced to it, as a child, by an Austrian mama. It was fantastic. But, I was spoilt.

After that, I was always disappointed when someone else cooked it, especially if I did. I could never get it right. But, I can now.

Thomas Keller really knows how to cook wiener schnitzel. I think that is partly because he has Austrian friends who have shown him how to do things the traditional way.

At one point, he explained that spraying the meat with water helped to keep it moist during the cooking process and thanked his Austrian friend for sharing that tip with him. It does make a difference, for sure.

I also liked his dry hand, wet hand tip. Although, as Thomas did, I do seem to still muddle that up a bit. It was refreshing to see him leaving that error in the video. One of the nicest things about Thomas is that he is not at all pretentious. Something that makes him really easy to watch and learn from.

Learn to cook like a Michelin star chef

As you can see, this is an intensive cooking class hosted by a multi-award winning chef. But, please do not let that put you off. It is an excellent course that is taught in an easy to understand way.

Be persistent. Do not think that you cannot accomplish any of the things I am teaching you. You can do it.

Thomas Keller – Teaches Cooking Techniques II – Meats, Stocks and Sauces

Buy this masterclass.com course

I do not normally 100% recommend things to others. But, I am going to do it with this course. You really cannot go wrong with it.

If you are a meat-eater or cook it for others, you will improve your cooking so much by taking this course. As I said earlier, meat is expensive, so you need to make the most of it. This course teaches you how to do that, and more besides.

It is really worth taking this cooking course.

Thomas Keller Masterclass 3

If you do not fancy learning the cooking techniques or recipes in Thomas Keller’s first two masterclasses, you might want to take a look at his 3rd one. Or, if you have already taken his first two, read on and see if you would like to take Thomas Keller Masterclass number 3.

Right, let’s cut to the chase. I can tell you it is just as good, if not better than his previous two. So, my recommendation is that you take all 3 of Thomas Keller’s Masterclasses.

I promise you that you won’t be sorry that you did. If you invest in an all-access membership, you can take all 3 of this fantastic chef’s classes for the same price you would pay if you were to take just 2 of them. Plus, of course, you will be able to take all of the other 65+ masterclasses without having to pay anything more to do so.

How to store and look after fish

I love Thomas’ attention to detail. He is very careful about the ingredients he buys and really knows how to look after it. So, I was not surprised to learn more about recognizing good quality fish and to find out how to store each type without damaging it.

In his first video, Keller goes through each type of fish and shellfish. He explains how to do everything from buy truly fresh shrimp and recognize the difference between a male and a female lobster

Thomas Keller Masterclass 3 – More cooking techniques

Once again, Thomas crafts his course to teach you as many cooking and prep techniques as possible. He has carefully selected the recipes to teach you literally dozens of food preparation and cooking skills.

It really is amazing how much he packs in. I promise you if you have already taken both of his previous masterclasses you are still going to end up learning something new. I know that I did.

Learn how to sauté fish: Salmon with Spinach

To start with, Chef Keller teaches you how to make a dish that he loves and eats most weeks, sautéed salmon with spinach.

During this recipe video Thomas shows you all of the following:

• How to pin bone your salmon
• How and why you need to squeegee the skin
• How to remove the bloodline from a salmon fillet
• How to get the skin of sautéed fish super crisp
• Which oil to use for frying fish?
• How long to rest fish for, after cooking
• How to truss a monkfish tail
• How to use your ears to cook better (the sizzle)
• How to roast fish
• How to bake fish in salt
• How to cleanly skin a whole cooked fish
• De-boning cooked fish
• Breaking down cooked fish and presenting it nicely

How to cook Keller’s Dover sole with Pommes Château

It is clear that Dover Sole is one of Thomas Keller’s favourites. The little trick he shows you to enable you to quickly peel the skin off, using hot water, is so simple, yet, it works. I particularly like the fact that he shows you how to do it the more common way, as well. He then goes on to demonstrate how to filet the fish and cook it simply and do so to perfection.

I had never made Pommes Château before. Keller’s explanation was very easy to follow, so I made it that night and it was a great success.

Pan Roasting: Monkfish Tail With Beurre Rouge

I love monkfish. It’s one of those fish that is firm in flesh and very meaty and lends itself incredibly well to roasting.

Thomas Keller Cooking Masterclass 3

Monkfish is one of my favourites. I’ve not had a chance to try this dish yet. But, will definitely try to cook it the next time I have friends around for dinner.

Thomas’ tip to buy a tail that is consistent in size was a particularly good one. As was his advice to truss it gently, so as not to damage the meat when removing it after cooking.

Chef Keller starts by showing you the right way to make a butter sauce. This is a wonderfully versatile sauce that can be used to make all kinds of dishes feel that little bit special. I loved the way he explained how to use different herbs and spices to perfectly match the flavours with your main ingredient.

Baking: Salt-Baked Branzino with Fennel and Red Pepper Vinaigrette

If you have never roasted a whole fish encased in salt, you really must. It is the perfect way to experience the true flavour of any fish.

I loved the way he explains how to tell if you have enough egg-whites in your salt to form an airtight cover for your fish. His poetic explanation makes it super easy to remember this excellent cooking tip. This is just one example of why Thomas Keller is such a good teacher.

The red pepper vinaigrette looks like it would be something special too. Although, I would love to see how he made the red pepper juice reduction. I very much doubt I will be able to buy it in any of the stores near me.

Butter-Poached Lobster with Macaroni and Cheese

This unique dish is a Thomas Keller classic. It is one of the most popular at his award-winning Michelin star restaurant the French Laundry.

But, I’ve got to admit that I baulked a bit the first time I saw it. The idea of marrying such an expensive luxury ingredient like lobster with macaroni cheese just seemed bonkers. So, I was surprised by just how attractive the finished dish looked.
The one thing I struggled with while watching this video was the fact that he cooks the lobsters while they are still alive. Of course, that is exactly what happens when you order lobster at a restaurant, so why it bothered me so much, I don’t know. But, it did, enough to make me feel that you needed to be made aware as well.

Oven roasting seafood: shrimp scampi

This stunning looking, yet very easy to cook shellfish recipe is one that Thomas learned from his older brother Joseph. It would make a really beautiful starter.
It is a dish that you could easily prepare in advance then refrigerate. When your guests have arrived, you would then just need to slide it into the oven while you enjoy a pre-dinner drink with them.

Thomas Keller’s Lobster Boil

It is great to see Keller going back to his roots and showing you how to prepare a traditional lobster boil. It was fascinating to see how such a special dish was relatively easy to make. The addition of the spicy sausage is genius.

When cooking a range of seafood in one pot, timing is everything. Fortunately, Thomas does an excellent job of explaining what to add when and how to prepare it so that it cooks fast enough.

Again, be aware, the lobsters are cooked live. So, you might want to hit the fast-forward button, at that stage.

You could always skip this class. Or, simply read it in the workbook instead of actually watching the video.

As always, Thomas’ cooking masterclass workbook is excellent. Absolutely nothing is left out. You can print these books out. But, it is not the same as having a proper recipe book on the shelf. It would be great if masterclass sold some sort of hard binder for each of the classes that they offer. That would give you another way to enjoy the course that you have bought.

Thomas Keller getting started with sous vide cooking

One of the hottest cooking trends, right now, is sous vide. So, I was stunned to learn that it had been around for 70 years and was primarily developed as a way of preserving food.

This is a style of cooking I knew very little about prior to taking this course. So, I was really pleased that Thomas takes his students through the following learning points during this part of the course:

• What is sous vide cooking?
• How to stay safe when cooking in this way
• Buying good quality sous vide packaging
• How to get the food into the packaging without damaging it
• How to prepare food for this style of cooking

I, like most people, thought that sous vide cooking was more about convenience than anything. Thomas turned that on its head and explained that getting this type of cooking right is all about precision.

What he did with the watermelon was particularly interesting. Extracting the air served to change the texture and intensify the flavour. It is certainly an area of cooking I am interested in finding out more about.

Sous Vide vegetable cooking tips and recipes

Who knew that if you cooked vegetables at less than 85 degrees they would never soften properly? I didn’t, another handy factoid that I am sure will improve my cooking.

Chef Keller explains how to get the timing right or each type of vegetable when cooking them using the sous vide method. For this part of the course, you really do need to refer to the workbook. It goes into far more detail about timings.

The subject of food safety is also covered in more depth. This is very important if you are planning to use sous vide as a way of preparing vegetables in advance, for example, for a weekday dinner party. Potentially, you can cook everything a day or two in advance and just warm it up carefully, on the day, in boiling water.

Chef Keller how to sous vide protein

The video for this class shows you step-by-step how to cook turbot with chicken veloute enriched with cream and petit pois. At 6 minutes, it is a short video. So, once again, the bulk of the information is in the workbook.

Two different ways to Sous Vide short ribs

At this stage, you may want to skip ahead to video 17, right at the end of the course. This bonus video shows you how to sous vide short ribs.

However, Thomas does something more than just demonstrate how to cook this classic piece of meat using sous-vide. Instead, he shows you how cooking at different temperatures affects the texture of the meat. It is very interesting and certainly focuses your mind on why it is important to be precise when you cook.

How to sous vide salmon without using any special equipment

Not everyone wants to buy yet more kitchen equipment. So, it was good to see Chef Keller demonstrates a sous-vide technique that doesn’t require any specialist equipment. All you need is a pot of hot water, a thermometer, and some kitchen film.

It sounds simple and it is. But, once again Chef Keller’s attention to detail shines through. The technique he uses to wrap the salmon and make sure that he gets every single bit of air out before cooking it is genius.

Thomas Keller’s desserts masterclass: pots de crème

I love desserts, so, to date, have been a little disappointed that there have not been more of them demonstrated in the cooking masterclasses I have taken. So, I was really pleased to see desserts included as part of Thomas Keller’s 3rd masterclass.

He started with a bang, by making a beautiful, rich chocolate dessert. His explanation of how to choose the right percentage of chocolate was particularly informative. As was the fact that cooking eggs to 85 degrees will kill most bacteria.

Masterclass dessert recipes: lemon tart with a pine-nut crust

Chef Keller has been making lemon tarts for his customers, since the 80s. Unsurprisingly, it is still a favourite. The pine nut crust is a nice twist on this classic recipe, one that I will certainly be trying, especially because the dough can so easily be frozen.

His pastry making technique for this crust is also interesting. It is a technique that I have never seen before, very simple, yet very effective. The fact that you do not have to roll it out is also a good thing and the way he uses the glass to get the seal right is clever too.

Thomas Keller’s apple pie with a lard crust

This recipe was by far my favourite of Thomas Keller’s dessert masterclass recipes. My Nan made fantastic apple pie, the old-fashioned way, on a plate. The whole family loved it and most of us spent many an hour trying to recreate it, to no avail. But, when I made Chef Keller’s lard crust, I got the closest I have ever managed. It tasted very similar to my Nan’s pie crust.

But, sadly the filling was not to my taste. So, next time I make it I will be using my usual recipe. Although, I will likely add the vanilla, as Thomas did.

You will love the clever way he creates the attractive lattice pie top. His pastry rolling technique is great too. Nowhere near as messy as the traditional approach.

Here, are the cooking techniques you will pick up while watching this Thomas Keller recipe video:

• A clever way to roll out any pastry
• How to get your pastry into the dish without stretching or stressing it
• How to use a bake-stone for your blind bake
• An easy way to get your baking beans out of the pastry case
• A clever way to give the apple pie filling an interesting texture
• How to make sure your pie holds its shape when cut
• Using egg whites to give your pie an even sweet finish

The right way to slice up and present your desserts

The saying “you eat with your eyes” is certainly true. If your food looks nice, everyone is far more likely to want to eat it and will enjoy what they are eating far more.

There is no doubt that presentation is important. So, in this last video Thomas shows you how to slice up classic desserts so they hold their form and look attractive on the plate.

Is Thomas Keller’s masterclass worth the money?

Once again, I find myself recommending Thomas Keller’s masterclass. The more I see and read about him, the bigger fan I become.

Without a shadow of a doubt, he is an excellent cook. But, more importantly, he is also a really good teacher.

I liked all 3 of his masterclasses. So, my recommendation is that you buy the all-access pass for $180 and take them all. As well as the other 7 cooking classes that are currently available on masterclass.com. This is far cheaper than buying each course individually. You can find out why that is by clicking through and reading my full masterclass.com review article.