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The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science Hardcover – September 21, 2015

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J. Kenji López-Alt (Author)
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J. Kenji López-Alt (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars 1,363 customer reviews
#1 Best Sellerin Food Science
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 960 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 21, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0393081087
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393081084
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 1.9 x 10.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,363 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsClear instructions and explanations, great recipes
By Deidre512 on September 21, 2015
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I have been waiting for this book to come out and it exceeds my expectations! "The Food Lab" by Lopez-Alt is a dense collection of science based tips, explanations, techniques, and recipes for the home cook. This is a must have reference and cookbook for home cooking enthusiasts.

I really like the way this book has been laid out:

- The introduction is a modest overview of the author and his background followed by some really helpful information on equipment (such as an explanation on techniques for holding knives, how heat transfers through metal for consideration in what type of pan to use, essential equipment to have in your kitchen, and how to store and organize your fridge and pantry).

- Recipes in subsequent chapters are divided by meal type. Technique tips and explanations are dispersed through the recipes in every chapter.
* The breakfast chapter is lengthy and starts with explaining eggs - their composition and properties related to how they change when they cook, whether brown eggs are healthier than white eggs, how to hard or soft boil an egg,... and much more.There is a great range of recipes including numerous egg dishes, bacon, pancakes, biscuits, and hot chocolate.
* Soups and Stews has an in depth explanation of stock followed by recipes including black bean soup, tomato soup with grilled cheese, chicken, and dumplings, chili, and French onion soup.
* Meat recipes characterized by how to "Fast Cook" in 30 minutes or less for a variety of steak, pork chops, chicken, and fish recipes.
* Cooked Vegetables has a great range of side dishes such as Brussels sprouts, Mexican street corn salad, roasted cauliflower, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and quite a few more recipes.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsBeast of a cookbook
By Chris Brown on September 21, 2015
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This book is a monster. At almost 7 pounds and nearly a thousand pages, you can bet that it is comprehensive. Like most cookbooks today, it begins with a background of the author, who is an MIT grad turned culinary scientist. He goes on to discuss gear and technique as well as recommendations for essentials- all pretty standard so far. Though I do appreciate that he adds a premium and budget pick for each gear recommendation.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt then launches into a nine-part collection of recipes. Each one is well-documented with technique and experimentation as the author discusses how and why he made the recipes the way he did. There are some things which go contrary to cooking norms (flip your steak often, and searing does not lock in juice), but there are explanations for the methods behinds the madness. I appreciate that this book not only has full-color photos and in-depth articles accompanying each recipe, but it really builds on fundamentals of cooking. Even if you never bother to make a recipe from this book verbatim, it will greatly increase your cooking skills from practical knowledge of physics, chemistry, taste, and technique. Many recipes build on one another, and the flow of the book is very good. There is a lack of baked of goods and desserts in this book, but I'm not sure that there would be room for them!

Overall, this book is on par with other amazing at-home cookbooks such as Modernist Cuisine at Home. I especially enjoy his sections on eggs, steaks, chilis, and fried chicken. There are several vegetarian recipes, but many are meat-based (surprising for someone who does a month-long blog annually about living vegan).

I would highly suggest this book. I look forward to cooking and expirementing my way through it.
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5.0 out of 5 starsI was going back and forth on 4 or 5 stars for this book
By S. Nunez on September 22, 2015
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I've been reading Kenji's column since it started, and have learned so much and made so many of his recipes. So, I know they work. I know his recipes are excellent and that he's someone you can trust implicitly to have a great version of a dish.
And this book is great, and beautiful, full of photos, his great sense of humor, and excellent instructions.

The thing is, I was slightly disappointed that it is very much more of an all-American, sort of new, scientific, Joy of Cooking. Some of my favorite articles from Serious Eats involve Kenji's Asian, Mexican, and vegetarian/vegan recipes. Now he did include some of his vegan work, and his wonderful chile verde is in here, but there are no stir-fries, no tacos, and his absolutely stellar kale salad with crispy chickpeas was passed in favor of two others which are excellent, but really, that salad is AMAZING. Or his black bean burger, which is the absolute best black bean burger on the planet. But whatever, that's not the point. I was just hoping to see more of that type of food, whereas this book is targeted towards beginners (not to say that experienced cooks can't get value out of this book, because it's full of great info) or more specifically, towards people who haven't been reading his column all this time.

Having said all that, I have to review the book on its own merits and how could I possibly give such a stellar tome anything but 5 stars?! There is no fault to be found with the information provided or how engaging it is to read. Even the quality of the book, with lovely binding meant to last and meant to make the book truly a workhorse that doesn't just look pretty sitting on a coffee table is worth commending!
I'll just have to wait for future books to cover the things I miss from this book.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent cooking book

An excellent book to learn about cooking! Recommended

Published 7 hours ago by Roberto
3.0 out of 5 starsgood but just the basics

The author put a lot of effort into this book, therefore I feel bad giving him a 3 but, my thoughts are that if I am going to buy a book with almost 1000 pages, I better get close... Read more

Published 8 hours ago by Maria.K
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat gift, lots good information!

I got this as a gift for my husband and he loves it! He read it right when he got it and has already started using some of the tips and tricks. Read more

Published 2 days ago by Elizabeth
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

fantiastic

Published 3 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsGave this as a gift and they loved it. It's great for those who like...

Gave this as a gift and they loved it. It's great for those who like to cook and also enjoy the science behind it.

Published 3 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsIncredible value

The knowledge/recipes/humor/insight in this book for the price I bought it at is an absolute steal.

Published 4 days ago by TopGear
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat Big Heavy Cookbook but loaded with good information

Great book and the first cookbook that puts my legs to sleep when reading in bed!! It's BIG and HEAVY. Read more

Published 4 days ago by Paul H. Mansfield
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

A great book for anyone interested in understanding more about the art of cooking, not just recipes.

Published 4 days ago by Anne Renner
5.0 out of 5 starsThe kitchen Bible

This book has truly changed the way that I cook. Whenever I think of something I want to make, I would check to see if it has a recipe for it first. Read more

Published 4 days ago by Mike S
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

greta

Published 5 days ago by G. Wisgoski

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