Pricing
Three access tiers to the Nashville hot chicken course, from a starter pass you can finish in a weekend to the full mentorship track with Dave reviewing your batches. Compare what each tier opens up, then pick the one that matches how seriously you want to cook daves chicken at home.
What actually changes between the tiers
Every tier covers the same core technique: choosing poultry, building the dredge, frying without a restaurant hood, and tuning the heat. What moves up the ladder is how much of Dave's own troubleshooting you get back, how long you keep access, and whether the sauces and the Reaper-level work are unlocked from day one. If you only want to nail tenders and sliders for your own kitchen, the starter pass is genuinely enough. If you want to serve heat levels to paying guests, the higher tiers carry the sauce ratios and the batch math.
Nothing is rented monthly and there is no upsell funnel after checkout. You buy a tier once, you keep what that tier unlocks, and the only add-on we ever mention is the mentorship call inside the flagship tier.
- Access length
- Starter runs 90 days, Chef runs a full year, Flagship stays open while the course is sold.
- Heat levels
- Starter teaches Mild through Hot. The Reaper work and the dry-rub ratios sit in Chef and Flagship.
- Sauces
- Chili-mayo and the house glaze come with every tier. The full sauce cabinet opens at Chef.
- Feedback
- Community board on Starter, batch photo reviews on Chef, two live calls with Dave on Flagship.
Three tiers, torn open
Each sheet is torn at the top to show the tier it was pasted over. The tear marks where the next step begins, not a pressure tactic.
Tenders at home
$49
One payment, 90 days of access.
For the home cook who wants restaurant-style tenders and sliders on a weeknight without buying a deep fryer. Covers poultry selection, the two-stage dredge, and pan-frying that still gives you a shattering crust.
- Core tender, slider, and wing lessons
- Mild, Medium, and Hot heat recipes
- Chili-mayo and house glaze
- Community board for questions
Full heat range
$129
One payment, 12 months of access.
For cooks who want the whole scale, Reaper included, plus the sauce cabinet and a real read on their batches. This is the tier most people buying dave hot chicken recipes for a small side business land on.
- Everything in the Starter pass
- Reaper dry rub and oil ratios
- Full sauce cabinet, including the sweet-heat glaze
- Batch photo reviews from the teaching team
Cook it with Dave
$249
One payment, access stays open.
For anyone opening a stall, a truck window, or a weekend pop-up. Two live calls with Dave, the full sauce and rub library, and the batch math for frying in volume without losing the crust.
- Everything in the Chef track
- Two live mentorship calls with Dave
- Volume frying and hold-time notes
- Course updates stay open to you
Prices are in US dollars and cover course access only. Ingredients, equipment, and any local taxes are not included. If a tier does not fit your situation, write to us and we will tell you honestly whether a lower one does the job.
The same tender at five points on the scale. Only the glaze and the rub change, never the fry.
Where each tier lands on the heat scale
Heat is the part people ask about most before buying, so here is the honest split. Mild is a warm paprika and buttermilk base that most kids will eat. Medium adds cayenne and a little brown sugar. Hot leans on the classic Nashville paste with lard and cayenne. Reaper is the top of the range, built from a dried superhot blend that we teach by weight, not by scoops, because guessing is how batches turn bitter.
Full descriptions of each level, with what to serve alongside them, live on the heat levels page.
See the full heat scaleWhat you get inside every tier
These lessons are not stripped out of the cheaper tiers to make the expensive ones look better. They are the foundation, and they run the same way on a $49 pass as on the flagship track.
Choosing the bird
Which cuts hold up to a hard fry, how to read a package for added brine, and why thigh meat behaves differently from breast in the same oil.
The two-stage dredge
The wet marinade, the dry seasoned flour, and the rest time between them that decides whether your crust shatters or slides off in the pan.
Frying without a hood
Oil depth, temperature swings on a home stove, and how to fry in batches without the second batch going greasy or the kitchen filling with smoke.
Building the heat
How the chili paste is built from fa, spice, and acid, and how to move a recipe up or down the scale without ruining the balance of the glaze.
How to choose without overbuying
Most people who write to us are deciding between two tiers, not three, and the answer usually comes down to one question: are you cooking for yourself and your people, or for customers? If it is the first, take the starter pass. You will learn the tender, the slider, and the wing, and you will be able to cook daves hot chicken at home for a fraction of what a delivery order costs. If you are selling plates, the sauce ratios and the volume notes in the Chef and Flagship tracks save you from guessing in front of paying customers.
A few honest limits. The course is taught for home kitchens and small setups, so it does not cover commercial hood installation, food-safety certification, or restaurant licensing. If you need those, the tier you buy will not replace them. The mentorship calls on the flagship tier are scheduled Monday to Friday during business hours, Nashville time, and we ask for a day of notice so Dave can actually look at your batch before the call.
See what the course coversEvery sheet on this page is the same recipe, pasted one layer hotter than the last. Pick the layer you will actually cook.
Dave's Hot Chicken Academy, 422 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203
Questions before you buy
Do I need a deep fryer to follow the course?
No. A heavy pot, a thermometer, and enough oil to float a tender will get you the same crust. The lessons cover both a countertop fryer and stovetop frying, including how to keep the oil temperature steady when you add a cold batch.
Can I upgrade from one tier to another later?
Yes. Write to us from the address you bought with and we will apply what you already paid toward the higher tier instead of charging you twice. We would rather you start small and move up than buy the flagship tier and never open it.
How much time should I set aside each week?
Two to three hours gets you through a lesson and one practice batch. The starter pass is built to be finished in a weekend if you cook twice a day, and comfortably over a few weeks if you cook once a week. The longer tiers are meant to be dipped into as questions come up in your own kitchen.
Does the course work outside the United States?
The lessons stream anywhere and the recipes use ingredients you can find in most large supermarkets. Where a specific chili or fa is hard to source, the notes list a substitute and what changes in the finished heat.
What happens after I pick a tier?
Send us a note through the contact page with the tier name and your questions, and we will reply with the checkout link and a short note on what to buy for your first batch. No account to create and no subscription to cancel.
Ready to pick a tier?
Tell us how you cook and what you want to sell, and we will point you at the tier that fits. If the honest answer is the cheapest one, that is what we will say.