Certified Culinary Educator®

Initial Application | Recommended Study Materials | Final Application

Requirements

• Minimum Job Experience: Two years as a Chef de Cuisine or two years as a working pastry chef along with twelve-hundred (1200) postsecondary teaching contact hours is required. Industry work experience must be within ten years prior to employment as a culinary instructor. Teaching contact hours must be within the past ten years. Employment Documentation Forms
• Minimum Educational Requirements: Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline plus 120 hours in Education Development* or an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts plus 120 hours in Education Development*.
  
  In addition, the candidate must complete three 30-hour courses in:
  • Nutrition
  • Food Safety and Sanitation
  • Supervisory Management
  (ServSafe must be a documented 30-hour course to fulfill the mandatory requirement. The 8- or 16-hour courses are only counted as a refresher. If required courses are older than 5 years, an 8 hour refresher is required.)
  
  * Education Development: 120 hours of coursework with a minimum of eight hours of each of the following subject areas at the college level or ACF approved courses:
  1. Curriculum Planning & Development (e.g. behavioral objectives, syllabi, lesson plans, etc.)
  2. Evaluation & Testing (practical, written, and oral testing, etc.)
  3. Teaching Methodology (kitchen laboratory, lecture and non-traditional methods, etc.)
  4. Educational Psychology (learning styles, student motivation, etc.)
• Classroom Demonstration Requirement: The candidate must submit a 45 to 60 minute video demonstrating teaching proficiency of the culinary arts in front of a live audience. The video should be submitted in CD-ROM/DVD formats only. A completed lesson plan, including assessment, must be submitted with the video. The video should demonstrate the applicant’s skills and knowledge.
  
  The video must include:
  • 4 to 5 basic classical cuts of choice with either vegetables or fruits producing a minimum of ½ cup of each designated cut.
  • And you must demonstrate fabrication, preparation and the finished product/plated dish. You may choose one of the following suggested items:
    • Hot/Warm Dessert: demonstrating hot/warm dessert of choice
    • Composed Cold Dessert: demonstrating cold dessert of choice
    • Game Hen, Chicken, or Duck
    • Bone-In Pork Loin
    • Bone-In Veal Loin/Lamb or Rack
    • Game Birds Pheasant, Quail, Squab, Partridge or Guinea Fowl
    • Bone-In Game Venison or Antelope Loin or Rack
    • Whole Rabbit
    • Live Lobster
      • Round or Flat Fish: at least 2 to 2½ pounds

Understanding the Certification Process

Initial Pre-Approval Application

Submit application and documentation of requirements to ACF for approval by:
E-mail (preferred): certify@acfchefs.net
Fax: (904) 825-4758
Mail to: American Culinary Federation, Inc.
Certification Department
180 Center Place Way
St. Augustine, FL 32095

Approval

Once the candidate’s application is approved he or she will be eligible to take the written and practical exams. Only after approval may a candidate register for the written or practical exam.

Certification Examinations

The purpose of the certification examinations is to assess and objectively measure the knowledge and skills of a candidate to determine if they meet ACF standards.

• Written Exam: ACF written exams are administered by Comira. The written exam fee is $75. An ACF number is required at time of registration. To request an ACF identification number contact certify@acfchefs.net prior to registration. You can register for the exam by calling (800) 947-4228, option 4, Mon.–Fri. 6 a.m.–5 p.m. Pacific time, Sat. 8 a.m.–noon Pacific time, or you can register 24/7 at the ACF/Comira Online Registration Site. Please note that you must have a credit card to register online. Written exam scores are valid for two years.
  • Candidates have one hour to complete the 100 multiple choice question exam.
  • No support materials other than pens, pencils, and calculators are permitted.
  • A score of seventy percent (70%) or higher is required to pass.
• Practical Exam: All levels of ACF certification require candidates to be tested for practical skill proficiency. The CCE® Practical Exam is 3–4 hours (based on whether the candidates takes the CCC® or CWPC® exam) and can be taken at any ACF Approved test site. A score of 75% or higher is required to pass. Requirements for Practical Exam are either the CCC® or CWPC® depending on the educator’s area of concentration. Practical exam scores are valid for one year.
  
  To help you prepare for the Practical Exam, review the Practical Exam Candidate Manual.

Final Application

Upon successful completion of the written and practical exams, the candidate should submit final application along with appropriate documentation: written and practical exam passing forms and remaining certification fee. Make sure all back-up documentation, copies only (no originals) are included.

Recommended Study Materials

The ACF Foundation offers certification training courses and practice certification exams on eCulinary. Courses contain study materials in all major subjects related to the ACF certification exams, including sanitation, nutrition, and supervisory management.

The following books are suggested in preparation for the written and practical exams:

• Foundations of Education, 9th Ed., Ornstein: Houghton Mifflin BUY
• Nutrition for Foodservice and Culinary Professionals, 6th Ed., Drummond, Brefere: John Wiley & Sons BUY
• Food Safety Fundamentals: Essentials of Food Safety & Sanitation, McSwane, Rue, Linton, Williams: Prentice Hall BUY
• Supervision in the Hospitality Industry: Applied Human Resources, 5th Ed., Miller, Walker, Drummond: John Wiley & Sons BUY
• The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking Pastry, 4th Ed., Friberg: John Wiley & Sons BUY
• Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, John Wiley & Sons BUY