834 Kitchen Quick Tips: Tricks, Techniques, and Shortcuts for the Curious Cook [Paperback]

Cook's Illustrated Magazine (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2006

Restart the grill with a hairdryer. Use chopsticks to dry wine glasses spot-free. Peel a kiwi with a spoon. Skewer cheese using pretzel sticks. Leak-proof a cone with mini-marshmallows. Slice strawberries with an egg slicer. Protect a cake during transport with toothpicks with mini-marshmallows.

Soften butter with a rolling pin. Prevent a scorched saucepan with marbles. Clean a garlic press with a toothbrush. Melt chocolate with a coffee maker. Pit cherries with a paperclip. Drain lobster with a pair of scissors.

What’s the best way to preserve leftover herbs, peel eggs in record time, or chop chocolate with ease? Ever wondered if it’s possible to soundproof your coffee grinder or tame the heat of fresh chiles? Find the answers to these questions and more in this indispensable A–Z handbook. Even the most experienced cook will find that these tips—the most highly-rated feature of Cook’s Illustrated magazine—-deliver unique and clever solutions to common kitchen problems.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: America's Test Kitchen (September 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933615109
• ISBN-13: 978-1933615103
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No (Or Few) Cooks' Needs Left Behind, January 28, 2007

By 

Sharol F. Jacobson (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 834 Kitchen Quick Tips: Tricks, Techniques, and Shortcuts for the Curious Cook (Paperback)

Cooks of the James Beard strain and TV chefs will not need this book, but for the rest of us, 834 Tips provides much helpful advice in a paperback-sized volume covered with a shiny surface that will wipe clean easily when seized with oily fingers.The contents are organized alphabetically from "almond paste" to "zucchini seeding" and indexed very clearly. The tips cover many domains of cooking life, including not only tips on preparing specific foods (seeding tomatoes, slicing large heads of cabbage, freshening stale bread, measuring honey and oils accurately and neatly, and spritzing pie crust with ice water in a spray bottle to avoid toughening the dough) but also on organizing the kitchen, keeping utensils and kitchen surfaces clean while cooking,storing and freezing foods, transporting foods,and knife sharpening. The many hints on substituting one tool for another (using the beater of a handheld mixer to ream citrus fruits, peeling kiwis with a spoon) are useful for those of us who do not buy a special gadget for every conceivable need. Tips for grill cooks are included. A few personal favorites: Fill the wash machine with ice to chill drinks for a party (run the spin cycle to zap the water); support a standing rib roast that doesn't want to stand by running a skewer through it and resting the skewer on the sides of the roasting pan; and use a toothbrush to clean garlic presses and other tools with hard-to-reach small parts or perforations. The more you look, the more you find. Another plus: the generous use of clear line drawings add visuals to the text.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a Keeper!, November 24, 2006

By 

Brian K. Scheufele "Chef - Dad - Grand Dad" (Broomfield, CO US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 834 Kitchen Quick Tips: Tricks, Techniques, and Shortcuts for the Curious Cook (Paperback)

An awesome collection of tips from people who have actually had practical experience using these shortcuts, timesavers, etc. in the kitchen. The book is just fun to read, and a valuable reference that you will refer to again and again. I hope that more editions will follow!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth 5 stars, however..., May 26, 2008

By 

J. Arena (Williamsburg, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: 834 Kitchen Quick Tips: Tricks, Techniques, and Shortcuts for the Curious Cook (Paperback)

First let me state that this book is definitely worth 5 stars, but I'm only give it 4 because it should be spiral bound. I don't say that lightly. This book is quite thick, and mine now has a broken binding -- and it's not all that old, and I am very careful with my books.

This is an A - Z handbook to let you in on those kitchen secrets you probably think everybody else somehow knows but you!

Get better information on how to fillet fish, dispense dishwashing liquid, transport frozen food, slice a pie -- it's all here plus much more. If you've ever wondered about it, it's probably in here.

I truly wish it was spiral bound. I guess I'll just have to go out and buy another copy for myself.