100 Techniques: Master a Lifetime of Cooking Skills, from Basic to Bucket List

by America's Test Kitchen (Editor)

The Absolute Best Way to Do Almost Anything in the Kitchen

The first book on technique from America's Test Kitchen showcases 100 groundbreaking techniques that will transform your cooking life, paired with more than 200 creative, modern recipes that put the techniques into real-world, home-kitchen practice. From making the most tender burger patties to grill-roasting a leg of lamb, from making pan sauces for cutlets to simmering homemade duck confit, from griddling the fluffiest pancakes to tempering chocolate, making caramel, and baking French pastry, the test cooks of ATK shine their spotlight on simpler, smarter, foolproof strategies.

The first section, Essentials Every Home Cook Should Know, covers core techniques. Learn why it's crucial to season with salt properly before and during cooking for the best Roasted Bone-In Chicken Breasts and Crispy Salt and Pepper Shrimp. Cook any piece of salmon to silky perfection through our high-low roasting technique. The middle section, Techniques You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without, includes techniques we developed from an unexpected angle of discovery. Bake crusty, golden, bubbly-topped pizza by using a skillet. Fry easy, restaurant-quality homemade French fries by starting the potatoes in room-temperature oil. The final section, The Bucket List, gives you the know-how to make dreamed-about projects come true. Barbecue true Texas beef ribs in a standard kettle grill. Cure your own bacon or gravlax in your refrigerator. Bake, assemble, and decorate a show-stopping layer cake for any special occasion.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2020

About the author

America's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.

Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!

Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

Reviews

[AddyF · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great cookbook. It reminds me of The Food Lab by Kenji Lopez-Alt because it explains the "why" of cooking techniques and includes basic recipes as well as more involved ones, sometimes using techniques you've never thought of. For instance, I made homemade pizza in a cast iron pan, starting the crust on the stovetop and then transferring it to the hot oven. I liked what it did to the crust, and it may be my new go-to for pizza. I checked this book out of the library, but I just might buy it.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful tips on how to improve 100 different cooking techniques.

[Laurla2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

a huge book set up with instructions for the technique, and then two recipes to use that technique.

-hrm, how to rate cookbooks. 3 or 4. 3 i think. i liked some of it, some i already knew, some i'm not remotely interested and will never use. its not a cookbook i want to own, nor one i'll make lots of copies from.

--things that interested me:
-recipe for furikake spice blend
-technique for making tomato sauce by saving some fresh juice from the tomatoes to add at the end of reducing it down.
-making a roux with browned flour
-technique for cooking fish where you cut the thin fillets (like tilapia) in half down the middle seam, and cook those different-thickness halves for different times.
-poaching where you heat the water and then turn off the heat before adding the meat or eggs.
-go lumpy for fluffy pancakes and muffins, and recipe for easy pancakes, and blueberry swirl muffins.
-melt butter for chewier cookies and bars
-grate half of frozen butter and cut remaining butter into small cubes for flakiest butter crust
-grate all frozen butter for making laminated pastry
-finicky french sauces in the blender, hollandaise, bearnaise, mayonnaise

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, I really don't review or say I've read cookbooks but this one was really helpful. They share techniques and then recipes where you would use them. I like how the book was organized and the instructions clear. I would consider buying this one to constantly refer to it, even though I may have already copied some of the recipes ;)

[Sherry Monger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love American’s Test Kitchen books and this one does not disappoint. The writing is clear, the pictures are helpful and the organization makes the book easy to use. Various techniques are discussed, followed by recipes that you can use to practise. Searing, sauces, steaming and caramelizing vegetables, and the fish section are chapters I am especially interested in.

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for learning a specific cooking technique. Each section shows step-by-step instructions on how to achieve a certain cooking technique followed by recipes to master that cooking technique. This cookbook is put together well and easy for a beginner to follow the recipes with successful results.

[Jeanette Beaulieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love America's test kitchen! They're so good at explaining the best methods for cooking just about anything. This is a nice book for the experienced cook to peruse, but I think it would most benefit someone who is just starting to get into cooking. It will teach them so many basics that took me years of cooking to master :)

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so many of the techniques are fairly widely known, even to amateurs (me), but some are worth the read. test kitchen always does a good job of explanation, it is also a plus that they offer diffrent recipes that illustrate the techniques.

[Marjorie Meier · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book for beginners and more experienced cooks

I loved the many detailed explanations of different techniques and the fact that I now feel better equipped to try things I’ve always been wary of. This book could be much improved with more drawings and photos.

[Katrina E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for everything basic along with pics!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course this was extremely well done!

[Amaryca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt like a lot of repeats from previous books. It was nice to have a condensed version, but I would just buy their Cooking School cookbook instead.

[Brian]

Wonderful stuff in here, laid out very easy

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part One was great and made me want to buy the book, and then Part Two contained almost nothing I’d ever want to try! Hmmm—-mixed feelings.

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat! One I want to reference over and over. Lots of these skills are things I've wanted to learn. Some techniques could've used more explaining. Great pictures and recipes I want to try.

[Lacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me. Too fancy

[Aasinathena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book !

[Graham Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean, it's America's Test Kitchen; need I say more?

[Kaspars Golos · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first cookbook. It was the first cookbook that I felt really started to teach me to cook. Critique is that some essential information is missing.

[laurenpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

helpful

I like this cookbook because it includes very informative and helpful why and how explanations before each recipe. I dislike this cookbook because it's not organized well. I like the many pics that walk you through the techniques and recipes, but there are less and less pics as you get nearer the end of the book. I like many of the recipes, but I do wish there was a better ratio: it felt like there were way more Chinese recipes (a waste for me as I don't care for Chinese food) than Mexican, Italian, American, Mediterranean, etc. And many recipes just too fancy (for me at least) to be cooking at home.

So, the one great thing I get out of this cookbook is the why and how explanations.. those are great.