Customer Reviews

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Heavy-Duty Revised Edition

5 star:		(224)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I enjoy the PBS series "America's Test Kitchen," so when I received this book as a Christmas gift last year I was very excited. Now, almost a year later, I have cooked my way through scores of the recipes in this cookbook and there is not a dud in the bunch. This book takes basic, American fare and boil it down to it's most essential (and flavorful parts), allowing you to cook tasty favorites. My only caveat is that is you are looking for quick meals, this may not be the best choice--many of the recipes are quite time consuming. However, if you only want one cookbook in your kitchen, this is the one!

This is the first time I've been motivated to write a review. This is the most used cookbook in my kitchen - every recipe I have tried has been a winner. I appreciate the very specific instructions on preparing the dishes - small details that really make a difference and techniques I can apply to other dishes. I love the reviews on products sprinkled throughout the cookbook, as well as comments on whether short-cuts or substitutions will alter the result. Every recipe has great flavor and while can take some time to make, the time for prep is not burdensome and is clearly outlined on each recipe. If you are looking for a good workhorse cookbook this is it. (sorry to say I haven't used my betty crocker, better homes and gardens or Joy of cooking cookbooks in quite a while). I plan to get this as a present for all the women in my family this year.

I've purchased a ton of cookbooks over the years I've been cooking at home. However, once I purchased this cookbook all of the other cookbooks have become covered in dust. The only exceptions would be a handful of other Cook's Illustrated recipes not covered here in the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. If you are a cooking enthusiast or a new beginner this is the cookbook for you.

I have several cookbooks from America's Test Kitchen, and loved them. The New Best Recipe, in particular, is my favorite. I received this cookbook as a gift, and loved putting in the dividers and looking at all of the colorful illustrations (normally most of their cookbooks are illustrated in pen-and-ink drawings). It has a 1950's retro feel to it, which I like.

However, I must agree with another reviewer that while some of the recipes are straight out of their episodes and other cookbooks, there are several I've tried so far that seem "safe" and therefore bland. The blueberry muffin recipe turned out dry and crumbly. The chili had to be kicked up a notch with some additional spices at the last minute, and the spinach dip was watery and unremarkable.

But there are lots of recipes and I like the way they're organized, so I would say it's worth purchasing, but not worth the honor of the "go-to" cookbook that never fails you.

So you think you know the best way to make meatloaf, chili, and chicken soup?

The chefs in America's Test Kitchen try so many variations and publish the best, and they're always right! The recipes are specific and easy to follow. If ever I need to cook to impress, this is the book I use.

All right, I had cooked before, even made Thanksgiving dinner, but generally, when it came to anything more complicated than Hamburger Helper, I was all thumbs. In this book, very little in the way of prepared foods is used--some canned tomato products, peanut butter, frozen puff pastry dough, and not much else.

This book recommends brands for ingredients and equipment, and they are almost always right. (My husband and I can't tell the difference if I cook with their recommended chicken broth or the generic canned stuff.) It's also good at demonstrating techniques such as slicing chicken breasts into cutlets.

It also explains WHY they think it's important to use this ingredient rather than that one, or to do the steps in the prescribed order, or to do a certain technique their way.

Overall, this is a great cookbook for someone with just a little experience who is eager to improve their cooking. Not great for a total novice--they expect you to know how your range works, how to boil water...but they illustrate the differences between chopping, dicing, mincing.

This cookbook is one of the best gifts I've ever received, and my husband agrees. We're really enjoying going through these thousands of recipes.

What Rick Steves is to bargain travelers bound for Europe, Chris Kimball is to homeward American culinary hobbyists seeking the perfect recipe. Both are nerds of a feather whose singular passion for their areas of expertise comes across as both professorially knowledgeable and infectiously quirky. This oddly comforting combination has lured me time and again to the PBS series, America's Test Kitchen, to witness the meticulous preparation of their appetizing, heavily tested recipes by their friendly, authoritative test cooks. Much more user-friendly than the Joy of Cooking, this almost overwhelming volume is a sturdy, five-ring binder of a cookbook, which helpfully allows you to take out the recipes you need without rifling through the whole volume. Once you purchase the book, it takes a while to unwrap the pages and organize the dividers, but the resulting treasure trove is well worth the effort. Over 1,200 recipes are separated into 23 sections, and I have tried at least a dozen at this time. I am very pleased to report that all came out beautifully - without exception - thanks to their thoughtful techniques.

For example, a simple roast chicken is exponentially enhanced by the brining they recommend and a liberal rubbing of tarragon butter under the breast skin and all over the skin. The pan-seared chicken breasts with vermouth and tarragon sauce come out perfectly when I use the combination stovetop and oven bake technique they prescribe. The corn chowder is significantly creamier thanks to their recommendation to puree the corn kernels beforehand. In fact, set off in yellow boxes, the Test Kitchen Tips, sprinkled throughout many of the recipes, are invaluable in making the dishes memorable to your dinner guests. In sidebars, the Test Kitchen's Favorites reflect the personal preferences of the staff. Other helpful information is organized in sections like Cooking 101s (fundamental cooking techniques), Testings (illustrating the best - and not necessarily most expensive - cookware to use for their recipes) and Tastings (their recommendations for the brand products to use in the recipes). The last two categories will be familiar to any regular viewers of the show. It's hard to imagine a more comprehensive and thoughtful cooking resource on classic American cuisine than this one. This is an essential reference for the kitchen.

Aside from the fact that this is one hefty book and two hands are needed to lug it around by everyone except Iron Man and the Hulk, this book serves just about every purpose for cooks of every caliber. There are recipes for everyday family meals as well as upscale dishes for the more educated palate.

What I especially like are the detailed instructions with accompanying photos to help us with techniques that are unfamiliar to us. Add to that the substitution list and the measurement conversion chart (I could have used this during my four years in Hong Kong.), high altitude instructions, and menu planning.

I was looking for a cookbook to give as a graduation gift, along with a copy of 50 Ways to Leave Your Mother, a humorous advice book for grown kids moving out on their own, and the cookbook had to have lots of instructions for the novice cook. This book has all of that and will work nicely for my gift-giving needs. I do have a word of caution for those thinking of giving this book to a first-time cook. Think twice before handing over a copy to the guy whose culinary specialties are ramen noodles and those filled pockets of melted cheese and who knows what else. (The book would just end up being a side table on which to set their beer cans.) On the other hand, it would be perfect for the novice cook who watches the Food Network religiously, cuts recipes out of magazines, and likes to cook for others; someone who will appreciate all the trial and error that went in to creating some very good recipes and a very complete cookbook.

The third updated edition of the spiral-bound America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook packs in well over a thousand kitchen-tested recipes, along with hundred of step-by-step photos by Carl Tremblay. While America's Test Kitchen has churned out many a 'best of' volume based on their foolproof and exhaustive kitchen testing, this holds several different facets. More than just a recipe collection, it's also an instructional course and a family cookery reference under one cover. Side bars of information cover equipment and ingredients alike, making this an outstanding home reference.

This cookbook is the best cookbook. I love the snippets of explanations they provide as to why cooking something a certain way makes a difference. The recipes are easy to follow, too, and you'll find great advice about products they prefer, as well. I think I'll tell my husband that when he's looking for a present for me, he can just flip through this cookbook to find one of their favorite products--favorite baking sheet, favorite whisk, etc.

Try the to-die-for chocolate chip cookies. Thick and chewy every time, and the cookbook tells you how you can freeze the cookies before cooking and bake one or two whenever you're in the mood.