Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

At first I hesitated to buy this book because I thought that it was going to be just like all the rest of the kitchen tip books. But I looked through some of its pages on the web and thought it would be a great book to buy for my daughter. Well, when it arrived, I read through it and was quite surprised that there were tips for other areas, not just the kitchen. I will be borrowing this book from my daughter or will have to just purchase one for myself.

834 KITCHEN QUICK TIPS: TECHNIQUES AND SHORTCUTS FOR THE CURIOUS COOK is packed with the basics usually learned the hard way - by trial and error - so any general library strong in kitchen skills and cookbooks will want to add this reference. From how to peal a kiwi with a spoon to freshening a garbage disposal and using the mortar and pestle, 834 KITCHEN QUICK TIPS is a reference no aspiring cook will want to miss!

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is full of interesting and novel solutions to cooking problems. I read it just for the fun of it and sometimes even remember a solution when I need it. It's a great reference; well worth the money.
I bought two extra copies for gifts...maybe for a shower gift in a basket with unique kitchen tools.

I bought this on the pretext of giving it to a son who is interested in cooking. I didn't need it; I know everything.
This book has so much STUFF that it's just fun to sit down and read it...even when you think you can't learn anything more like how to liberate stuck muffins, edible toothpicks, preparing for grilling, mess-free breading, a better way to crack an egg (?),using a hair dryer on the fresh icing of your cake,etc.etc.etc. And there are 834 illustrated (yes!) quick tips. Can you resist?

I love America's Test Kitchen on TV and when I saw information about this book they had written, it sounded like a perfect bridal shower gift. When I received it, I read parts of it and I was so impressed with their usual expert and helpful information that I have now ordered a copy for myself and for gifts for others. Having someone else do all the investigating and testing and then making the results available in an easy to use form is a welcome product for me. The information in this book is helpful, interesting and well presented. Looking forward to more information from this group.

Cook's Illustrated painstakingly researches the best ways to do everything related to cooking, so they are the perfect people to put out a list of kitchen tips. Every cook can learn something new from this book, and I think it makes a great gift, especially for new cooks, grown kids who are on their own for the first time, and who might actually try Tip #322, using your washing machine for an ice bucket. This book would make a great partner to 50 Ways to Leave Your Mother, a humorous advice book for kids starting out on their own. Together they would be a great housewarming or graduation gift for friends and family just starting out on their own.

Ordered this for a gift, and will order more copies, for myself and for gifts. If you enjoy cooking, and trying and adapting recipes, you'll find that you'll be keeping this book in a convenient, easy-to-grab spot in your kitchen.