Kitchen Smarts: Questions and Answers to Boost Your Cooking IQ

by Cook's Illustrated (Editor)

The experts at Cook’s Illustrated magazine offer hundreds of definitive, researched, and kitchen-tested answers in this Q&A-style guide for home cooks looking to improve their kitchen prowess Does searing meat really seal in juices? Does it matter what kind of salt you use? What's the best way to measure a sticky ingredient like honey? Why does whiskey taste better when you add water? How do you actually pronounce dacquoise, and what on earth is it? In this follow up to Kitchen Hacks, the expert editors at Cook’s Illustrated magazine answer your burning questions, offering tips and tricks on how to become a better, more confident cook.   Kitchen Smarts captures all the questions Cook’s Illustrated test cooks have worked through in their quest to determine the best way to do everything in the kitchen, and it does so in a fun, hip, but still very practical way.   It can be a real challenge to figure out who’s right and who has no idea what they’re talking about when it comes to cooking. We are used to being able to simply Google any kitchen question—no matter how strange—the moment it arises. But how do you know you're getting the best (or even the right) answer? Silence all the noise and avoid confusion by going straight to this go-to cooking reference guide from one of America’s most trusted cooking magazines!

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

321 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2017

Reviews

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

About a hundred years ago I was a new bride. I was probably the worst cook in the world. Seriously. I had to call my mom long distance to learn how to boil eggs. I gave my husband food poisoning. So, yeah. Terrible cook.
Since I'm an avid reader I searched the knowledge in books. Read every cook book I could lay my hands on. But none of them had actually useful tips. Most of the recipes were too fancy for everyday use. I wanted to know the secret to a fried egg, not how to make eggs benedict.
But now there is pinterest and the rest of the internet. Also books like this brilliant book of tips! Even with all the many, many years of cooking research (I have almost a hundred cookbooks) I still learned a few tricks I didn't know. Excellent book!

[Kyenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the questions I could ever have asked answered in one book!

[DRugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading these tips helps me think more like a chef.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference book for anyone who cooks!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Sarah Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great tips, for all types of cooking. There is no one specific recipe and this isn't a cookbook. I highly recommend to anyone who cooks new or experienced.

[Luna Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

I loved this book! It was very digestible and easy to pick up and read a bit at a time without getting lost. I also love that they have thorough evidence and testing to back their claims.
There was quite a bit I already knew, but it was fun to read the science behind why we do some of the things in cooking and there was a decent amount of new information!
This makes me want to get some of their other books and watch the show

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was written in a "here's what's NOT true" way. That style of writing simply doesn't work with my brain. I picked up this book (digitally, through my library) and was pretty disappointed. That said, some of the facts were interesting. It's just done weirdly.

[Mariko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of helpful info, the chapter on swaps was particularly informative!

[MamaBReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great information but not a particularly exciting read.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cook's Illustrated always provide practical, tested cooking advice. I skipped a few of the baking sections that I wasn't interested. It was an easy and quick read.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Own, available at house 2023

[Anna Catherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very long infodump, Kitchen Smarts has some good information but is overall just a tad too overwhelming.