Kitchen Science: A Guide to Knowing the Hows and Whys for Fun and Success in the Kitchen [Paperback]

Howard Hillman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 1989

This book takes the mystery out of creative cooking by requiring love, imagination, art -- and science from the cook. Hillman's years of experience render cooking conundrums comprehensible and transform the way we approach food.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Revised from the 1981 text, this edition has more information on food safety, nutrition, and 100 new or revised Q&As. Of the original, LJ said "valuable as a ready reference source providing quick access to the basic facts" ( LJ
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Howard Hillman is the author of more than twenty-five books on food and wine. He has contributed articles to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Food & Wine as well as other distinguished publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; Revised edition (October 30, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395480728
• ISBN-13: 978-0395480724
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,534,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my three 'Must Have' books in my kitchen, February 24, 2000

By 

A reader (Kirkland, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kitchen Science: A Guide to Knowing the Hows and Whys for Fun and Success in the Kitchen (Paperback)

This is a great book for the kitchen, and there are no recipes. This book explains why you get the results you get (and how to fix them), such as why my steaks toughen as they cool and why I lost color in my parboiled vegetables. I now know whether or not an egg is raw or hard boiled (without cracking it to find out), how to care for my knives, how to check for temp. accuracy in my oven, why the grocery store shouldn't sell green tinged potatoes, and whether or not the chicken I bought has ever been frozen. Simply a great book that'll have you saying "Aha! with every page.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but flawed..., September 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Kitchen Science: A Guide to Knowing the Hows and Whys for Fun and Success in the Kitchen (Paperback)

This is a very good book, which takes a lot of the unnecesarry mystery out of cooking. Discussions of the science behind egg cooking, meat cooking, pot selection are excellent. I loved the section on how to clarify butter --- most cookbooks turn this into a masochistic ritual practice for no good reason. The first chapter, which discusses microwave cooking, is unfortunately very flawed, which places this book in the great tradition of mystical cookbooks. Among other errors, it states that microwaves cook food from the inside out (incorrect and ridiculous), that plates don't get hot except from food (ditto) and few other niggling errors. Of course, experimentation would demonstrate all of the above are wrong, which means that the preface (stating that all assertions in the book were established by experiment) is also inaccurate. Still, I recommend this book highly.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great addition to the home kitchen, September 5, 2001

By 

Joan "joan2742" (Edgewater, MD, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kitchen Science: A Guide to Knowing the Hows and Whys for Fun and Success in the Kitchen (Paperback)

This interesting and fun-to-read book really helps the home cook understand the hows and whys behind cooking and food, which is essential if one is to get beyond the stage of simple preparation and slavish adherence to recipies. Even better, this book has inspired me to want to learn more.

I personally don't prefer the question and answer format, which is one reason it doesn't get five stars. Illustrations could help make difficult concepts more understandable, and it could stand to go through another revision and expansion. However, I found it a satisfying read, and well worth my money.