Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen
by Alton Brown

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Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen

Book Review: How to cook in a flowerpot and other uses for frisbees
Summary: 5 Stars

Author, director and chef Alton Brown brings his trademark bottom-line style to GFYK. To make it easier to use as a spot reference, it is divided into sections: Pots and Pans, Sharp Things, Small Things with Plugs, Kitchen tools Unplugged, Storage and Containment, and Safety and Sanitation. The short introduction at the beginning orients the reader to some guidelines about organizing, how to decide an item's keep-or-toss value, and rules that will keep you grounded in reality as you shop (and less likely to fall for sales ploys). A good sample quote on knife salesjargon: "If I'm getting ready to go into battle, I'd almost certainly want my sword to be full tang, but if the most violent task I'm to encounter is cutting through a chicken, I can think of about six characteristics of a knife that are more important." This section alone redeems the book's cover price very quickly.

What really makes GFYK -- and AB - stand out from others however is the effortless teacherly approach the author takes. Just as with his tv series Good Eats, AB explains the logic, physics and application of tools, techniques and gadgets, but get this: it's all in simple, no-nonsense language so that you can really learn what you are doing, instead of following directions obediently. Applying your knowledge becomes easy at that point on. Really, no straining or note-taking required here to suddenly realize which pots you'll need for your favorite recipes for instance. He just slips it on in unnoticed, and dang it, you're an educated consumer that can make intelligent choices. How does he do it?

As an added bonus, there are recipes spliced into areas relevant to the tools being discussed, little sidebar blurbs and comments on trivia, and often, photos of his personal items. AB includes tips on where to obtain some of the obscure ones. But my hands-down favorite thing about GFYK are the little gems on improvising and trouble shooting. Need a shield for your immersion blender (so that everything doesn't splatter out the top of the container)? Cut a hole in a cheap frisbee and slide it on through. Want a roaster that's also good for casseroles and baking bread? Two shallow terra cotta flowerpots should do the trick. I ask you, how can one resist the charm of learning how to makeshift a smoker for under fifty bucks out of common household items? I might add, you will be able to disassemble it and store it offseason in the garden shed...or just reuse the parts when you're done!

I hope I've convinced you that you do need this book unless you are already a veritable expert on kitchen tools. Save yourself and your counter space, free up your closets and get cooking!
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

Summary of Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen

Brown's opening challenge is a 60-day, four phase process of ridding your kitchen of all things unused and insignificant--easy on the surface, but tough in the doing. That leaves room for essential gear. And to help make those choices, Brown looks at pots and pans, sharp things (not just knives, but graters, mandolins, and cheese slicers, too), small things with plugs (as in small appliances--from food processors to coffee makers to deep fat fryers), kitchen tools unplugged (those items that fill drawers), storage and containment, and safety and sanitation.

If this were just an encyclopedia, what an unwholesome bore it would be. But Brown turns this relevant information into a romp. He's talking about the tools he uses, after all, and has no fear of naming likes and dislikes--based on his own experience. He also includes unending side chatter about cutting corners, saving money, and actually putting good tools to work. You'll find recipes throughout, and techniques, too. Like, how to bake a chicken in a flower pot. If you wonder why you would even want to attempt it in the first place, Brown clues you in. Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen is about as guilt free as pleasure will ever get. --Schuyler Ingle

Culinary Arts & Techniques Books

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