Reddit reviews Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food

Here's a great book

On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of Cooking
http://www.amazon.com/On-Food-Cooking-Science-Kitchen/dp/0684800012

Cooking for Geeks
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=14FPMEDBMV4EW2MS7PBR

*The Science of Good Cooking
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=14FPMEDBMV4EW2MS7PBR

A.) Gym membership to a gym I actually want to go to

B.) A decent set of chef's knives and a good cutting board

C.) Power saw and power drill/driver

D.) Cooking For Geeks and Mindfulness: Plain and Simple

Although not directly this book, I think it's a good place to start reading about mindfulness and helping start a journey into introspection. I have a few minor quibbles with his presentation, but I think it's a solid intro book.

Give sous vide a try--it's the gateway drug of modernist techniques, because you really only need a probe thermometer, freezer bags, a pot of water, and maybe an oven to do it. It'll let you know just how worth it the whole world of modernist techniques are. And then you'll feel compelled to actually get an immersion circulator and a vacuum sealer to do it easier as you become increasingly addicted to it.

Things that are helpful for modernist techniques but aren't particularly esoteric and won't break the bank: A steel plate, propane blow torch from the hardware store, whipping siphon, pressure cooker. The next step is chemistry, which means thickeners (carageenan and agar agar were my first purchases) and gels (sodium alginate and calcium chloride), and recently I picked up some meat glue (transglutaminase). After that it's buying expensive lab equipment to feed your habit, which I haven't stepped into yet [because I don't have a house for it]. I want a pacojet.

As for resources, my first book was Cooking for Geeks, then the Modernist Cuisine book set from Nathan Myhrvold (and have it signed by him "For Science!") which is the bible, but free options include their website, Seattle Food Geek, molecular recipes, this YouTube playlist from Harvard and the usual science-based cooking resources like Good Eats, America's Test Kitchen, and Chef Steps.

He might also like Cooking for Geeks, The Science of Good Cooking and On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.

I've only read the first, but I've heard good things about all three.

Cooking for Geeks

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0596805888/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/177-3506314-2531537

Cooking for Geeks. I've read all the books mentioned in the thread thus far, but I think this book will be more your sister's speed.

I found it a lot more fun to read than the others. It has some hard-hitting science in it. If you were interested in actual food science books, I have a library of over 500 pdfs if you wanted to look through them.

I loved Cooking For Geeks by O'Reilly. It gives examples of recipes as it explains the chemistry and physics of what's happening to the food. Very interesting and entertaining, and it upped my cooking game by a lot.

I currently work 2 jobs and have my fingers in a lot of pies.

That being said, I still find the time to cook. Not as much as I like, but I do so quite regularly.

Aside from reading cook books, watching Good Eats, and America's Test Kitchen, I got the most experience from practice.

I also visit these subreddits.

http://www.reddit.com/r/cooking

http://www.reddit.com/r/askculinary

Book wise, I have quite a few books on both technique and the food itself.

A few of my favorites are:

On Food and Cooking by McGee - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684800012

Cooking for Geeks by Potter - http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/

How to Cook Everything by Bittman - http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Completely-Revised-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0764578650

and a multitude of others.

The New Basics:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Basics-Cookbook-Julee-Rosso/dp/0894803417

Cooking for Geeks:
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888

These two books really try to explain what is going on with each recipe, and why things are done a certain way. I learn every time I cook with them. Both of these also have sections on how to set up a kitchen (where to find items, where to spend your $$) in a smart way. Really useful if you're new to cooking, or just looking to upgrade your gear.

Cooking for Geeks is very entertaining. It really gets into the science behind cooking.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888

Cooking for Geeks

It's not a cookbook; it instead teaches you general techniques and principles, how to think about and approach cooking, and the science behind it all (in an approachable way - not to the level of Harold McGee). There are some recipes, but they're just there to illustrate some topic or technique that was just discussed. This is, by far, the best cooking book I have ever read. I read it cover to cover, which is incredibly rare for me.

Cooking for Geeks

I've heard good things about Cooking for Geeks for someone who doesnt know how to scramble an egg.

Je voudrais m'acheter un livre de cuisine qui parle un peu de la science derrière et qui explique à quoi sert chaque étape.

J'ai quelques références en anglais, du genre I'm just here for the food ou Cooking for geeks, est-ce que quelqu'un aurait de bons livres en français sur le sujet (ou de meilleurs bouquins en anglais)?

I love my copy of Cooking for Geeks. It's rather light on actual recipes, but the extensive theory really helps for just making up a dish on the spot.

Between that and the Doubleday Cookbook (~800 pages of nothing but recipes), I hardly need anything else.

I don't actually have the stuff for mac and cheese at the moment.

I started from the basic recipe this cookbook gives you and then Injust kinda improvise

I understand Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a classic and very highly reviewed. It clocks in at just under 900 pages though, and I haven't read it so I can't personally recommend it.

I myself am partway through Cooking For Geeks - it can be a little gimmicky at times, but it's a very accessible/enjoyable book covering the science behind it all!

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290823582&sr=8-1

Tequila is chill af and makes the commute go so much fast... although I sometimes wish the commute was longer so I could listen to it more. :P

And you're darn tootin' that I love cooking! A sizeable chunk of my YouTube subscriptions are just cooking channels and I got Cooking for Geeks for Christmas, and I'm still working my way through it...

I've been really into coffee making/roasting. I added a pressure gauge to my machine, as well as a PID controller. I also built a coffee roaster using an old convection oven. I've also done beer brewing and fish keeping, which seem to be common to a few ChemE's at work.

edit.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888

That book will put you on the right track if you ever considered working in food production. I got a job at a chocolate factory using some of the concepts out of it.

Also consider buying an Arduino and building some control systems. http://www.auberins.com/ is a good place to get started

I actually love it. I kinda geek out over it. check out things like:
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414009628&sr=8-1&keywords=cooking+for+geeks

for instance, did you know the boiling point of table salt is about 230 degrees F? if you're cooking something about to go into the oven above that temp, you'll never taste the salt. save it and salt after at the table, or switch to sea salt, which boils hotter.

I truly recommend Cooking for Geeks, I love it.

By far, my favorite and most loved book is Cooking for Geeks, while I'm not a geek, it's still a great reference for everything imaginable, and explains why food cooks the way it cooks, or why food reacts the way it does. Helps avoid mistakes and become independent if you don't have any book for a recipe on hand.

Cooking for Geeks

Believe me, it does work ;) I tried it a couple of times, also have a look at "Cooking for Geeks", it has a few recipes for dishwasher cooking.

Fun fact: Adam Savage is featured in that book, but I'm not sure if he's in the dishwasher chapter as well ^ ^

cooking for geeks is an excellent book to help you understand how to experiment with food. it has good recipes, but i really appreciated it for how much it encourages you to experiment with recipes and how to think of novel additions/changes to them.

Also the geek, cook, and reader will like this!

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346708939&sr=8-1&keywords=cooking+for+geeks

If you are a science guy, I also recommend Cooking for Geeks.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368040120&sr=8-1&keywords=cooking+for+geeks

• Cooking for Geeks
  
  
• The Food Lab
  
  
• Alton Brown: EveryDayCook
  
  Publix publishes recipes in its stores, and I have one of their binders with a handful of the ones I thought seemed good.
  
  Also have to second The Joy of Cooking (mentioned by someone else).

http://www.youtube.com/user/GoodEatsComplete

Deli.sh

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/0596805888

Not to diminish the other recommendations, you may also want to look at Cooking for Geeks.

I would highly recommend Cooking for Geeks. It explores the science behind what you're doing while providing you with a solid stable of recipes. It also approaches cooking more like a laboratory and less like an art. If you get a chance I also highly recommend you watch Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course. A quick google search should reveal the best places to watch it.

Go vote, kid

relates to voting because deciding what to have for dinner is hard. You can make it more fun with this cookbook by having a geeky topic and then voting on the recipes in that category!

This is a great book that covers all of this info and much more!

Ok, but like $10? $25? Would help for making suggestions.

here are a few useful things:

• Multitool you can carry on a keychain for $10
  
• Cooking for Geeks book
  
• REI giftcard...climbers always need more gear
  
• Rolls of athletic tape if his hands get torn up climbing
  
• Amazingly absorbent towel for gym/camping use
  
  

Cooking for Geeks I'm a self professed geek and this book goes all geeky on food. It sounds like it would be an interesting read.

A me e' piaciuto cooking for geeks.
Ti spiega cose molto interessanti (anche se contiene pochissime ricette)