Free Cooking Classes at Pirch Dallas

I spent Sunday Funday (with boyfriend and friends in tow) at Pirch, a beautiful and upscale appliance store located inside North Park Mall of all places. I had always seen Pirch, just across the way from my favorite Sephora, but never knew what it was. Nor did I realize it was so huge. Pirch is more than just a fancy appliance store. Their philosophy focuses on providing an amazing experience. Heck, their sales people are dubbed Lifestyle Advisors. Be prepared to be shown components of your dream home. Much like test driving a car, they want you to be able to “try out” some of their high-tech appliances and see it in action.

Getting started with the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

On Saturdays and Sundays, Pirch offers complimentary hands on cooking classes. Not only do you have a chance to make something yummy, you get to see how the fancy ovens or stoves are used and the product placement is quite subtle. No one is pushing you buy anything and I love that.

Sunday classes are Cooking By the Book where guests follow recipes. We baked chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies and peanut butter cookies on a heated salt rock. Sugar for lunch? Why not. My sweets monster boyfriend was definitely not complaining. We’d also get a chance to make strawberries and cream ice cream and a caramel gelato. I was really excited for the hands on experience with guidance from two Pirch Chefs, of course.

It’s a really casual environment in the Savor Kitchen. The space isn’t very big and there were about 10 guests present in the kitchen. So if you’re imaging a separate station for each couple or person, guess again. Everyone took turns getting their hands dirty. I loved that I was able to interact with everyone around me.

For the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, we got our hands dirty and made the dough. The peanut butter mix was demonstrated using the giant mixer. I prefer hands on. It was wayyy more fun.

PEANUT BUTTER!!

Next, it was time to roll them into little balls that would be placed on the hot salt rocks.

We’d be making chocolate chip oatmeal and peanut butter cookies. We had so many cookies!

We’d place 4-5 cookies on each salt rock. It was cool to hear the dough begin to sizzle before putting the rocks back into the oven. Each batch would cook in about 10 mins.

The cookies turned out great and went fast! I loved learning little tricks from the chefs. I’m usually a hazard in the kitchen, but the recipe was so easy and I can’t wait to try these at home.

I thought the salt rock made a small, but noticeable difference I could appreciate. It cooked it evenly and had a subtle saltiness that wasn’t overwhelming. Such a unique way to use salt rocks.

I was more on the cookie side of things than the ice cream demo. But here, my friend Claire is cooling caramel using cold salt rocks.

The best part was sampling them and tasting the hint of saltiness. This would be added to the pecan caramel gelato.

The strawberry cream ice cream with bits of dark chocolate was light and yummy and some people made ice cream sandwiches with it. It seemed only natural.

I really enjoyed the class and want to come back for the Saturday class called Sourcing Saturday. Pirch will buy groceries from local markets. In a previous class, they made salads, tomato soup with goat cheese dumplings, and other delicious stuff to give you an idea of what’s in store.

Each class is about 90 minutes longs and RSVPs can only be made in store. You’re limited to reserving four spots and will be emailed to confirm. Classes book up fast, so definitely swing by if you’re at the mall. Dress comfortably and if you’re a lady, bring a hair tie or bring something to tie your hair back. Hope you have fun!