I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0 by Alton Brown
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Book Reviews of I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0
Book Review: Fun, Interesting, Insightful, and Entertaining!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always been a fan of Alton Brown. However like another review had said, am against buying merchandise from "sell-out" chefs... I got this book as a gift from a friend. Lucky Me!
An interesting read, from which I learned a lot more from then expected and reinforced/corrected a lot of the fundamentals that I already knew.
From the point of view of a home cook, this book would be a great aid.
Working in a professional kitchen, this book is great for filling in details that might not be fully understood.
I have tried a few of his recipes... well I haven't, but using the concepts have led to great results or desired effects. I have tried a couple recipes online (brined turkey - great by the way) so I trust his writings, but most likely won't try many of them, but definately will use the techniques and knowledge gained.
Plus the book is just fun to read. The writing captures his tone while keeping it interesting with side stories and introductions. The organization of the book is easy to follow and the fridge magnets are funny.
Book Review: Fun way to learn how cooking works
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book to educate myself about how to cook for myself so that I wouldn't have to depend on restaurants my whole life. There's not much skill in paying another person to cook for you, but luckily, Alton Brown created a book to teach people the skills needed to cook food and how to understand what's really happening when you put your uncooked food through certain processes. I feel that this is a great educational book about cooking for beginners, however, even skilled cooks might not know the science behind cooking, so I recommend that everyone at least take a look at it if they like or are interested in cooking. I have been very satisfied by his humor and scientific insights (the free magnets that come in the second edition are nice bonuses).
I gave it 5 stars because not only is it rich in information about cooking food, but it is also rich in information about cleanliness, cuts of meat, the tools you actually need to cook,... you get the point.
Book Review: more like version 1.1
Summary: 5 Stars
Very little changed from the first edition. He corrected a few typos that were pointed out by his devoted fans (note: he did not correct them all) and the cover got a new window treatment, by which I mean there's a big square hole in the cover. There's no reason for it. It's just there. Maybe it was the printer's way of showing off their manufacturing capabilities. There's a few extra tid-bits, of which I like the kitchen magnets best. They illustrate where the various cuts of meat come from on an animal.
If you already have I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking version 1.0 and are satisfied, don't bother buying this. It's not worth another $20+
If you don't have version 1.0, then buy version 2.0.
If you're a crazy AB fan, by all means, buy them both. Just know that one of them will stay on the shelf because you really don't need both.
Book Review: Not a unitasker
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book two years ago. This was the very first cookbook I purchased, and now, 89 cookbooks later, I still love this one, and can read it like a novel. Alton is kind of my kitchen idol, it was his show Good Eats that got me into cooking. His Bill Nye approach to culinary crafts always gets me excited!
This book has never failed to disappoint me in my kitchen capers. I love that he includes so many sidebars and parenthesized nuggets of knowledge and food trivia throughout his writing. He explains the hows and whys of food science eloquently and elegantly so as to never appear condescending.
The recipes are fantastic, and run the gamut from brined turkey to the perfect baked potato (It really is the best Ive made, and so simple) Buy this book if you at all like his show on Food Network, 99.9% sure you will love it! And if you don't, there is always Ray Ray or Paula Dean to accompany into your descent into madness :D
Book Review: The best cookbook I own
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say enough good things about Alton Brown and this book. It is my "go-to" book for almost all types of cooking (except baking--for that one, check out Brown's I'm Just Here For MORE Food). Brown takes his time to tell you why your food behaves the way it does while cooking. The book doesn't have hundreds of recipes like some books do, but the ones that are there are very, very good. As in, you could only cook the recipes out of this book and you'd be the envy of the family. It's fun to read, there's tons of great info, and the recipes rock. I also think it says a lot about an author to write a cookbook with absolutely no photographs of food in it. You've got to be brave to put out a cookbook with no pictures (except illustrations), and I think Alton Brown succeeds with flying colors. Let me end with this: I've never read any other cookbook from cover to cover before. And I read this one twice!