Stuff Every Cook Should Know (Stuff You Should Know) by Joy Manning

by Joy Manning

“A handy guide to the most important kitchen skills.” — BuzzFeed Expert cooking tips and timeless kitchen wisdom make this culinary how-to handbook a must-have for home cooks of all skill levels You don’t need expensive gadgets, cutting-edge cutlery, or a rack of exotic spices to be a great cook. You just need the timeless wisdom found in Stuff Every Cook Should Know . You’ll learn How to Care for Cast Iron How to Sharpen a Knife How to Reduce Waste How to Make Meals Ahead Plus measurement conversions, kitchen organizing tips, basic knife cuts, how to stop onions from making you cry, and much more. Now you’re cooking!

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Reference, Food, Food and Drink

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1768

Reviews

[Dj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a cookbook and there isn't a recipe in the entire book. This is however the kind of book that everyone without a mentor should have before they start cooking. It has information about phrases used in cookbooks and what they mean, a description of pots and pans as well as knives and cutlery. This is the kind of book that makes cooking so much easier when you are starting out.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a little book yet packed with tons of information for someone learning to cook. This would be a great gift for someone getting their first apartment

[Jennifer Riding]

Lots of great pointers for new-ish cooks! And some hacks for all skill levels.

[Jackie B. - Death by Tsundoku · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A quick read, Stuff Every Cook Should Know is a handy guide for the novice chef.

In a world where home cooking and entertaining are assumed skills, instead of taught ones, many people don't really know how to maneuver around a kitchen. In fact, as I grew up, I only had one semester of Home Economics in the 8th grade, and we learned how to balance a checkbook, read a laundry label, and bake cookies from a box. That's it. I was lucky that growing up the women in my life wanted to share their cooking experience with me. Yet, I never really sat down to learn how one should host a dinner party, or what is even involved in coordinating it. In Stuff Every Cook Should Know, Joy Manning has created a handbook for budding chefs learning their way around a kitchen.

The book is divided into four sections: Your Tools, Your Ingredients, Three Meals a Day, and Entertaining. Personally, I have been cooking and entertaining for years at this point, so the Entertaining section was the least eye-opening for me. However, as someone who feels comfortable in the kitchen, I still learned quite a bit! And what I didn't learn new was just reinforcement of what I learned along the way. For example, I learned that pulsing my food processor will make more even cuts than running it, and what the proper sizes of small, medium, and large dices really measure out to.

The only downside to reading this ARC is that the ebook did not contain any pictures. I didn't even notice the lack of pictures until I ran into an "as pictured" in the section on How to Sharpen a Knife. I would love to see the final product and find out what else I could learn from these pages once the photos are introduced.

All in all, a wonderful book. I encourage those new to cooking to look into this book, and the entire series. However, even if you are an experienced chef, it's worth taking a look-- you might learn something new.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some have said that this book is condescending, or too basic--things that everyone already knows. Thing is, not everyone had the fun of growing up with a mom who made homemade meals every night and passed on her wisdom. My mom is an avowed non-cook, so there was lots of information here that I wish I had before I left home. In the 35 years since I left for college, I’ve learned a lot, and am a pretty good cook now, but I still have things to learn, and this handly little volume covered a lot of them. This is a great little gift for launching new adults into independent life!

Also reviewed at http://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/20...

ARC provided by NetGalley for my honest review.

[Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this would be a fun gift book for anyone interested in getting a little more serious into home cooking, whether they are living on their own for the first time or just starting a new hobby. In this short, informative little book Joy Manning compiles a list of basic tips and ideas for your kitchen, including why you should use a cast iron pot, caring for your knives, the differences between chopping, dicing, and mincing, stocking a bar, or even how to keep your eyes from watering while cutting onions. I’ve been doing home cooking for some years now, and I still found some helpful tricks here, particularly stuff for making full use of a small kitchen.

[Aleksandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful little book, it prompts you to research further into topics that interest you. Targets the American audience so conversions and temperatures aren't elaborate and appropriate for everyone. I enjoyed the bits about flavour combinations and seasoning. The final sections on planning (breakfast, dinner parties, etc) aren't that detailed and I skipped over most of it except the home bar chapter.

[Levon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, simple read, full of good information, some of which I did not already know. A few instances of not-so-great advice as well, which I corrected with my own knowledge in notes in the margins.

Handy to have on a kitchen bookshelf.

[Liane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good tips for a beginning cook.

[Zakiyyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, nonetheless.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great!

[Meg Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas gift from my mom. It was such a cute read and full of helpful tips

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read The Useful Book: 201 Life Skills They Used to Teach in Home Ec and Shop by Sharon and David Bowers earlier in the year, which reviewed very basic culinary skills, as well as elementary entertaining skills. The thorough yet quirky and light hearted treatment that book gave to its subjects set a very high bar for any book purporting to be a “culinary how-to handbook” or “a crash course in fundamental home cooking.”

Stuff Every Cook Should Know is basically divided into four sections: Your Tools, Your Ingredients, Three Meals a Day, and Entertaining. Within each section, there are several topical chapters of one to four pages each. In general, this book is geared toward novice cooks with small kitchens. There is even a chapter in the Your Tools section entitled “How to Work in a Small Kitchen.” The book recommends owning only four pots, three knives, and a food processor, as well as banning single gadgets. Some of the “10 Go-To Flavor Combinations” in the Your Ingredients section had very limited application, despite the assertion that the “versatile trios” are good for “a wide variety of proteins, starches, and vegetables.” For example, the combination of plain yogurt, cucumber and dill, and the combination of watermelon, feta, and mint may each be good on their own, but I can’t really see either as being super versatile for a novice cook. The “Meat Temperature Guide” was a simple two-column chart that only listed the USDA minimum recommended temperatures for five basic foods, without giving any advice as to where to test the meat. The “Common Conversions” chapter was interesting because, in addition to volume measurement conversions, it also included “cooking” conversions such as one garlic clove equals ½ teaspoon minced, one lemon equals ¼ cup juice, one bunch scallions equals one cup chopped, and one medium onion equals one cup chopped. Throughout the book, there is a lot of emphasis on planning of meals and planning for meals, with the consistent recommendation to do the majority of the planning and the cooking over the weekend. There is even a chapter entitled “How to Cook Frugally,” which, among other things, advocates “think[ing] of meat as a condiment rather than the centerpiece of your plate.” The Entertaining section was particularly interesting. It started off with ten steps to planning a dinner party – including cleaning the house, identifying where to put coats, and picking a playlist – and the progressed to three steps to accepting a compliment. There were a few pages about cooking with kids and one about cooking for a date. The chapter about setting up a home bar was just a quick overview – recommending five basic spirits and three basic mixers, as well as a slew of bar tools.

Overall, this book was a very quick read because its 145 pages just scratched the surface of what a novice cook needs to know. In a number of areas – for example, preserving foods, pruning herbs, and conquering the fear of baking – there was the advice to consult a book or the Internet for additional specific information. Aside from the “cooking conversions,” there was not much new and exciting for me in this book. But it was comforting to see things that I already know in print in a book like this, as it helped me understand that I’m well into my transformation from a novice home cook to an experienced home cook.

Personally, I would give The Useful Book as a gift to a novice home cook rather than this book because The Useful Book contains copious recipes and illustrations to demonstrate its points, where this book does not. Of course, I would recommend that the novice cooks in my life take this book out of the library and read it at least once to gain some of the insight into working in a small space and planning out meals.

[DelAnne Frazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Stuff Every Cook Should Know
Author: Joy Manning
Published: 10-25-2016
Publisher: Quirk Books
Pages: 145
Genre: Cooking, Food & Wine
Sub Genre: Cookbooks; Instruction; Culinary Arts & Techniques
ISBN: 13: 9781594749360
ASIN: B01BAZA7HO
Reviewer: DelAnne
Reviewed For: NetGalley
Rating: 5 Stars

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I received a copy of Stuff Every Cook Should Know from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.




Just in case you are one who has never stayed in the room to notice the kitchen is the space in your home the is most usually used to prepare and serve meals. Some can be as small as a shelf containing a toaster oven and hotplate to as big as an apartment with lots of cupboards, double ovens, a stove top, walk-in fridge and freezer. Size is not as important as knowing what to do there.




Stuff Every Cook Should Know is for the novice and experienced cook alike. It tells how to choose equipment such as knives and cookery, basic knife cuts, essential spices and seasoning foods, saving family recipes and choosing recipes to try, planning a meal or party, even what to prepare for a date. It truly is Stuff Every Cook Should Know.




Written with simple to understand information this is a must have for all cooks. Check it out today and you will agree as well. My rating is 5 out of 5 stars for Stuff Every Cook Should Know.



Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BAZA7HO/...


Barnes and Noble link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stuff...


GoodReads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...


The Reading Room link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...

[Ilana · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Wanting to cook is one of the best impulses that can wash over a person, but the path from desire to dinner is rarely a straight line'. As a novice cook - as I also used to be not that far away in time - I appreciated every single tip and idea, starting from how to cut an avocado or how to choose the best knife for meat. This book would not help you with the avocado part, but you will find plenty of advice about kitchen ware - knives included - cooking oils or how to conquer your fear of baking - seriously, is this issue properly addressed by serious therapists...if not, it should. You can use it as a 'crash course in fundamental home cooking' and even right now I consider myself on a higher cooking level - and no more under the spell of panic attacks when it comes to baking, I still discovered some inspiration. The naked truth is: 'every accomplished cook has many tales of recipes gone awry. Making mistakes is an integral part of the process of learning how to cook'.
There are many ideas that I liked and agreed with in this book. For instance, that you should not worry if your kitchen is small. How to keep in mind to check when looking for a cookbook if the recipes were tested before. Or when to use regular oil or virgin oil. How to choose the right meat or to properly master a weekly meal planning. Besides the cooking part, the aspects of cooking/kitchen management are brilliant too. One will learn about how to set up the home bar or to organise a party or how to plan your food budget without giving up quality.
Overall, a very useful book that you need to read it if you care about your kitchen knowledge. Strongly recommended!
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small book (144 eBook pages) is filled with good information. Even an experienced cook will find some new tidbits. And for a novice, it is a very good starting place for learning the basics.

The section on choosing a recipe is very good. Ms. Manning is right when she says there a lot of bad recipes out there on the internet. I have learned to trust a few sites and read the reviews. And check out the cookbooks for recipe tester acknowledgements. Another good section was on fixing common mistakes. Her advice on seasoning meat was very good. And the section on the types of olive oil was informative. No, you don’t have to buy the $20+ bottle for cooking. There are even some psychology and good manners thrown in with the section on how to accept a compliment.

Banning uni-tasker tools is a good idea overall. Go into any kitchen store and look at all the tools made for a job that one knife could do. But it is relative to the individual cook. A corn farmer could well use that corn kernel remover. I use my garlic press all the time and really can’t think of another use.

I can see the advantage of having just a few good knives and I could probably do with a few less. And using a knife sharpening service seems extreme when buying a honing steel would be cheaper and available whenever you need to sharpen a blade.

This book would be a great wedding or wedding shower gift.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in exchanged for my honest review. Thank you.

[Penmouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuff Every Cook Should Know by Joy Manning is like having Mom around to help advise you on how to cook and cook well. For example the author details how to cook in a small kitchen or how make sure you don't forget to add an ingredient to a recipe. She also shares information such as how to remove a red wine stain (she didn't include my favorite method which is to pour white wine over the red wine stain to remove the red wine stain. This works very well).

I also liked her final pages called Stuff We Can't Tell You. She writes about how we all have cooking failures as cooks do not learn how to cook overnight. Other gems shared include how cooking will change your lifer how to be happy in the kitchen.

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from Net Galley.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed this book for NetGalley.

A wonderful book for the novice cook. This is a brief, concise and well-written book that provides the contemporary novice cook with the helpful everyday cooking tips that previous generations learned from older relatives.

A quick and well organized book which takes the place of calling Mom or Aunt Jen for pointers and help. A good replacement for knowledge which cooks used to pick up informally from family and friends. I've been cooking for years, and I still learned a few new tricks from this book.

This would make a nice gift for anyone starting out in life. I certainly would have used it when I was younger!