Customer Reviews

I'm Just Here for the Food: Kitchen User's Manual

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Alton Brown's Food Network TV show, Good Eats, is one of the most educational shows on cooking that I have seen. He likes to explain how and why things work. I love both the pedantry and the humor of his show (although I have heard others who dislike the child-like approach he takes; not childish! Child-like. There's a big difference.)

As my title says, his show is a good starting point. Alton Brown can help you understand how food and cooking work. He provides good solid information and he lays a foundation that gives you the confidence to invent your own food. ("Play with your food!"). But he cannot, in a half hour show that includes comedy sketches, teach you everything. His book, "I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking" is much the same. He presents good basic information on cooking methods and techniques in a book with catchy graphics and his typical humor. If you want to learn the WHYs of cooking, this book is a great start. From here, move on to Shirley Corriher's "Cookwise," which gives greater depth a slightly more serious science.

I *love* this book. But here are the negatives: 1) Not a cookbook. Don't look for a lot of recipies. 2) Not loose or spiral bound. All cooking books should be, and too few are. 3) Covers all major cooking methods (from boiling to microwaving), but no baking! Baking is my main hobby. Maybe a future book -- "Cookwise" has baking info.

Alton Brown singlehandedly changed me from a recipie slave to a creative cook. I've moved on to other food writers, and I've invented my own food, but Alton will always be my kitchen hero.

Buy this used or like new if you want it. It's not bad, but it's really just a blank cookbook for you to fill in. It is, however, a very sturdy book with metal rings and it has a lot of recipe cards and a little section with measurement conversions and substitutions, which has already come in handy numerous times.

I like it because I like to tweak recipes I see and either make them healthier or more to my taste. Once I get it down to how I like it, I write it down in here and I always have it on hand. Like I said, don't pay the full $22 for it.

I'm a huge Alton Brown fan. This is one of the books I asked for when my birthday came around. I thought I wanted it after reading the reviews and thought it sounded good. I was very disappointed. While there is some good information in it, it's mostly blank pages that you write your own recipes in w/ your notes. There are a few clear plastic pages so that you can put in recipe clippings and instructions and warranties for various kitchen gadgets, but a simple file folder would solve that. Sadly, I will be returning this book and finding something else to purchase.

Both my husband and I are huge fans of Alton Brown's show "Good Eats" and I was hoping this would be a book that also included some of his tips and receipes. It does have some basic tips but basically this is a good 3 ringed book that any guy would be proud to have the receipes he likes from his friends and mother!

Ordered all 3 Alton Brown books. The cooking and baking books are loaded with info for curious cooks and bakers. The kitchen manual you could do without and your money could be better spent buying a good 3 ring binder and some good paper for making notes and writing down recipes.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! It comes with clear sheets in which you can insert recipes passed down from your Mother, Grandmother, or others, and you can see both sides. It preserves them, yet allows you to utilize them daily. The blank pages can be moved as needed and I used stick glue to secure additional recipes. Because it's a ring binder, I also print off recipes from cooking.com etc and slap them in there!

I also secured any cookware instructions, like seasoning cast iron etc.

This is a must have for the anal AB fan!!!!

Unfortunately, because we truly enjoy Alton's show, and his method of disseminating information; but, I am giving this book a poor review, thus, agreeing with others' comments. The thought behind the manual was a clever one, but not executed well. He covers (in 44 pages) the areas of measurement and temperature equivalents, altitude comparisons, food yield equivalents, substitutions for both common and uncommon ingredients, descriptions of food additives, how to read food labels, explanation of numerous cuts of meat, the various techniques of cutting vegetables, and the difference of baking pan sizes (approx. volume and substitutions).

The helpfulness stops there. Alton would have done better to put all his useful information in a small wire-bound notebook...."a cook's cheat-sheets", or something of the sort; which would most likely only be pulled out once in a while. To use the book as it is, requires you to handle a lot of unnecessary material when you flip through your recipes...which is why I am not advocating you using this book for your recipes.

There are 8 tabbed sections. Four are labeled for you, and 4 are blank. The four blank tabs do not have any blank pages in them, so you would have to make your own; which brings me to another point. This is set up as a 3-ring binder, with pages measuring 20cm by 21.5cm. The unconventional size requires you to cut your own extra pages to fit.

There aren't any instructions (sample pages) as to how Alton envisioned you might write your pages up. (i.e. the blank recipe pages have a column for "software" and "hardware", without any explanation of what he means). You'd have to be an avid T.V. viewer, which limits his selling audience for this book.

Lastly, the pages are not numbered, so if you want a table of contents or an index, you will have to make those yourself.

Like I said....decent and clever idea, just not thought out thoroughly, to make it a practical kitchen tool.

Someone bought me this so called...book...not worth the cash. If I had seen it in the store, I would just have gone to the office supply aisleand bought a three ring binder for 99 cents and made it myself. But his other real books are good.

I saw that a lot of people were not happy with this book, but I think it's because they ordered it expecting it to be a cookbook. It isn't. It's an organizer. For me, it's perfect. I had an index card file full of newspaper clippings and recipes I had written down but could barely read, due to splatters and fading. This made a great location for MY stuff. Although I have to say, I haven't made full use of the provided blank sheets. I've been plugging my recipes into the computer and printing them out on paper, which I have formatted for this binder. You can also print out the Good Eats recipes for the binder.
I like the weights and measures and other information on the sheets included.
The bottom line: Read the product description. This may or may not be for you.

Unfortunately, this "book" is basically just a ring-binder with blank pages and pockets for your own recipes.
I was expecting an Alton cookbook - with his Good Eats recipes & pictures. I was NOT expecting a ringbinder filled with blank pages, and a few pages with information such as oven temperature conversions. Perhaps I misread the Amazon description.
If you're looking for an actual Alton Cookbook, get his "I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking" book instead. If you're looking for an overpriced repository for your own handwritten recipes & notes, buy this.