Good Eats: The Early Years by Alton Brown

Good Eats: The Early Years Reviews

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  ஐ Briansgirl (Book Queen)ஐ

  WARNING: This book contains recipes (applications) with dry goods measured only by weight. He does not use standard measuring cups for flour, sugar, etc. In his previous cookbooks, although he gave weights as he preferred it, he always included standard measurements as well since all home cooks have measuring cups and spoons but most of us don't have a food scale. This upset me that he only used weights not standard measurements for any recipe calling for flour, sugar, etc. as if the book wasn't expensive enough ($37.50 retail. I paid $24.50 from Amazon.com) but then I had to go out and buy a food scale ($21 including tax) to be able to bake anything from the inch thick cookbook.
  
  If you are a fan of the show, I think you'll enjoy the book. I'm not that far into it yet. He recaps the first 80 shows (one per episode) in the book and includes 140 recipes (he calls them applications). The dust jacket unfolds into a full size poster of the front cover of the book.
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  Nizzy

  I am a huge fan of Alton Brown (and the show Good Eats) because he takes an engineering and science approach to cooking. The cookbook closely follows the show with a few extras and factoids thrown in. This book is great as a companion to the show based on the structure of having the recipes listed by episode. Using both together, you get both the visual and written instructions to perfect your meal.
  
  I am slowly cooking and watching my way through the book and the show and I'm having fun doing it! The vinagrette dressing recipe so far is one of my favorites.
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  Katie

  Really loved this!
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  Koeeoaddi

  For all I know these recipes might all be fabulous. I'll likely never find out, though, because the book is so hideously laid out, graphically unappealing, cluttered and poorly illustrated that I returned it to the library before I could try any. Life is short. Beautiful, interesting, enticing cookbooks are plentiful. This one hurt my brain.
• 
  Robyn

  This is like the textbook you get for a lecture class. You can learn from it without attending class, and you certainly can get away with never buying the book if you pay attention to the lectures, but the combination is likely to be your best bet. I'm new to Good Eats (the show) and have been watching it in order. This wasn't available at my library until I'd gotten a few episodes into season 6, so I read everything up to that point. I then watched the next episode, followed by reading that episode's section of the book. I think that would be more useful when actually planning to immediately cook from the episode in question. As it was, since much of what's in the book is word-for-word from the episodes, it was a bit like reading the Cliffs Notes of each episode, which is repetitive when you've just seen it. The trivia bits are fun for fans of the show, as are the behind-the-scenes photos scattered throughout. Some of the recipes (called "applications") have been modified from the way they were broadcast, and there are a very few that weren't shown onscreen due to time constraints, but otherwise the book matches up directly with the show. If you're someone who learns better by reading than hearing, the book will probably help a lot. I am a bit frustrated with the measures being by weight. I do own and use a kitchen scale, and I agree that it's the most accurate way to measure ingredients, but I'm also aware that the vast majority of US home cooks do not have a scale or a desire to own one, and that as long as it's cooking, not baking, that level of accuracy is not really necessary. I would have been unlikely to use any of the recipes anyway, just because they are mostly far too large for my household size, but with only weight measures I'm almost certain never to bother reducing any of them for my use. I'll use the food science to write my own "applications" and ignore the rest.
• 
  Peter

  Good Eats Book Review
  
  I used to think all cook books were boring. They had too much text and were very boring, but that was before I read Good Eats: The Early Years by Alton Brown. Alton Brown does an excellent job of combining solid facts with humor and great advice. This book isn’t just about recipes; it’s about making the reader enjoy the book.
  
  This cookbook has a very wide variety foods and dishes to prepare. It has foods from simple biscuits to dishes like “Burger of the Gods” (Brown 108). These wide varieties is one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book. It always kept me wondering what strange recipe would come next.
  
  Another thing I loved about this book was the pictures. Whenever I cook, I’m never sure if the recipe looks the way it supposed. In Good Eats: The Early Years, there was almost step by step to help me see if I was cooking correctly
  
  One of the books downfalls was that it’s organization was sort of all over the place. It didn’t have certain foods together. Instead, it had each in it’s own section. Although there was a table of contents at the beginning I still had trouble locating some recipes.
  
  This book gave me some great recipes and tips on how to cook them. It was witty and interesting and had step by step pictures for recipes. I could tell you about some of these mouth watering recipes, but you’ll just have to read Good Eats: The Early Years for yourself.
  
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  Rachel

  I love Alton Brown. I love the man. I think his show is brilliant, I have tested his recipes (you know, not ALL of them, but many) and they are as good as they look. I think his way of teaching the basic facts about what food does is so awesome. I was thrilled when I found out this trilogy was coming out because they are exactly what I wanted - an episode by episode recipe collection with as many details from every show that he could cram in there, with his touch (or sledgehammer, if you will,) of humor added too. Now, keep in mind that because it's organized by episode, recipes are a little tricky to find. It's not like there's the "beef" section or anything - but it makes for good browsing. It's great. I cannot, however, give it five stars, which I really would love to and there is only one reason. It drives me crazy that he insists on putting all the ingredient requirements in there by weight. (eg - 4.5 oz of flour). It has made the cooking process such a pain for me. I did go buy a scale, and I know it's the best way to do things, but still, can't you just say, "about 1/2 a cup" for those days when I'm in a hurry? Ah well, it turns out that perfection is not perfection after all. Other than that, I still love you Alton. I'll get book 2 in about a decade after I've finished cooking through this one. Wow. That was my longest review ever!
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  Cary

  Every recipe I have tried from this has been fabulous, including the 25 pounds of ribs that I made for a Supderbowl party.
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  Karen

  This guy is like having a Grandma that knows EVERYTHING about cooking. Huge coffee table book.....395 pages of food chemistry and know how. Some highlights to make you check the book out...a 10 minute microwave recipe for applesauce, no such thing as a portobello mushroom-it's a marketing name for an overgrown cremini, Coffee was discovered around 800 BC, most Latin American coffee descends from a plant stolen from the garden of Louis XIV, Jerome Smucker knew Johnny Appleseed, tofu is considered one of the most digestible foods on Earth, the first pressure cooker was invented by French mathematician Denis Pepin in 1679, fried chicken came to America with the Scottish immigrants, Alton Brown has a tattoo of a honeybee. Interesting for sure and it's a trilogy! On to Book #2.
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  Donna

  It is lots of fun having this in my lap while watching Good Eats. And now I've just finished the best steak I've ever cooked.
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  Anna

  I love how Alton Brown teaches the science of cooking with his recipes in his own zany way.
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  Julieanne

  I love this book! While I myself do not cook that often I do like to read cookbooks, especially ones that have tidbits from my favorite series. Good Eats is what made cooking and learning about cooking fun for me. I was entertained while learning, a tactic that works on children AND adults.
  
  Alton Brown sounds like he's telling you everything in this book as if it were an actual long episode. I could hear his voice was I read each detail and he explains the origins of some of the foods in the recipes as well as multiple cooking ideas that I wouldn't know otherwise.
  
  I was so happy to find this book by chance in my local thrift shop.
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  Amber

  AB is the man. I went to culinary school and I still learned new things in this book. I may not try all of them, especially things that require rigging up special equipment, but at least he explains how to make them and they're usually from easy to get materials. In any case the book is full of information in an easy to read, approachable style. It's good he explains the science behind the food too; it helps a lot when you know what's going on and why something is done the way it is, especially when you have to make an adjustment or substitution.
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  Geric

  Great book for those who like intelligent culinary writing and fun tidbits about it. This book is not meant to be read from front to back; rather, as a reference tool for whatever cuisine you fancy at the moment.
  
  Filled with the aforementioned facts, personal stories from Alton Brown himself regarding the early stages of his hit TV show, "Good Eats", vivid pictures and of course, recipes, this book is very dense informationally. Just get what you need and keep this book handy for that time when you need to bake (or flex) those mussels.
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  Kristin Renfro

  Alton Brown is amazing, I love Good Eats. The books are a little rough for me. He measures by weight, which is fine, that's what he does in the show too. The layout in the book is a little rough and not very cookbooky You could watch the show and then use the book as a guide. I checked out 2 of the books from the library, I wanted to read them at home and give them a chance. But I do think for the full effect, you will want to watch the episode and then refer to the book. It is like its own class...cooking with Alton, hahaha .
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  Elizabeth

  I love this entire series of books and really enjoyed revisiting them this summer!
  
  I constantly get new tips, new methods, and new trivia from this show and these books.
  
  Now if we can get Food Network to have the reruns instead of dumping the show on the Cooking Channel!
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  Susan LoVerso

  So many recipes I constantly use.
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  Olivia Ambrose

  Super informative!
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  Daisy

  Super fun and full of great and interesting food info!
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  Paul DeStefano

  It's perfect. If you're an Alton fan, this is just him distilled and both raw and refined.
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  Adrienne Organa

  Nothing short of a complete delight.
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  Dafna

  This is one of my favorite cookbooks. So much so, that I don't even keep it in the book area with all my other books, I keep it in my room or near the kitchen, where I can reach for it easily.
  
  So why not a full 5 stars?
  
  Simply put, the organization of the content aggravates me a bit. When I first get a cookbook, I look through it a few times on the surface. The first time around, I skim and look at the pictures. The second, I read it for content. After that, I'm looking for something specific, usually while I'm cooking or wanting to try a new food experiment. Here's where I have a problem with how this book is organized.
  
  If I'm cooking and suddenly want to look up the recipe for a cocktail, or some side dish, I won't be able to find it in snap, because the table of contents is organized by season not by type of food. So if I'm looking for a casserole, I have to actually sit down and read the TOC as opposed to skimming to the section that I need, opening it up and finding what I need.
  
  Now, I understand, this book is based on the show, and it's not like any other cookbook- it reads a lot like the show, and is a cooking textbook of sorts. It reminds me of The Joy of Cooking in this sense. So I get it. But just because I get it doesn't mean it doesn't annoy me. Usually when I use recipes from a cookbook, I'm using it as a basic inspiration since I substitute a lot of ingredients. Sometimes I can't have something or sometimes, I simply don't have all the ingredients, and can't run to the market.
  
  As far as content, this book is pretty excellent, and as I mentioned before; I was a big fan of the series. I watched it purely for the science and history information of cooking alone. Information is introduced in a manner that doesn't make me shut down and start daydreaming halfway through the page.
  
  I've tried a few recipes, and they've worked out even with substitutions! So while this book really deserves a five; frustrating me while my hands were covered in food, and I needed to find something quickly, convinced me to demote a star.
  
• 
  Kelli

  Not a traditional cookbook, but terrific in its own unique way. Alton Brown focuses on healthy, quick to make, basics, as well as some of the healthier foods he started eating once he altered his dietary patterns after initially seeing himself on camera at the start of Good Eats.
  
  In addition to the recipes, Brown provides oodles of tips that make other recipes taste better. Salad dressing techniques are reviewed in detail as are bird roasting guides, sauce making, seafood prep, and baking. Unlike other cookbooks, Alton is refreshing in his skill with boiling down tips to their basics--making them relevant and easy to remember.
  
  A bit frustrating to me was that the table of contents is organized by Good Eats "season," rendering it essentially useless as a guide to, say, all the soup recipes in the tome. The index sufficed well enough once I was more familiar with its contents, but hopefully the other books in the series did away with that format or at least added a functional ToC.
  
  Worth noting, recipes are listed by volume and, only sometimes, weight. Other readers have said recipes were weight only...which is untrue for my copy.
  
  I highly recommend the book as a tool that is likely to become well-used in any serious hime kitchen.
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  Jadin

  If you are a fan of the show "Good Eats" then you will love this cookbook! If you are not a fan of the show then you will be annoyed that this cookbook goes by episode, not by any usable format, like bread, salads, pies and pastries.
  
  I am a HUGE fan of Alton Brown, he is what every Home Ec. teacher should be! A great teacher. I am a better cook because of the techniques he teaches and how I learn to use them in all my cooking not just that one "application" (recipe) as he calls it!
  
  As an aside ... I give the Mac and Cheese recipe 4 stars (but I'd add some milder cheese to the cheddar (I'm not a big sharp cheddar fan))
  
  I give the Fruitcake 6 stars and I hate fruit cake, I just baked my second one yesterday because I loved it so much (yes, I baked a fruitcake and it's not even the holidays, it's that good!) and so did my husband!
  
  What's that you say, it's a 5 star reviewing system! I know!
  
  And for the first time EVER I can grill a steak (7 stars) for the hubby who wants it well done and it isn't burnt on the outside!
  
  Alton Brown is my HERO!
  
  
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  Bert Edens

  I've always loved Brown's "Good Eats" show on the Food Network, and this book has the same kind of personality as the series. Many behind the scenes stories, tips and trivia.
  
  I think my favorite tidbit was Brown talking about making a "snow angel" in a pile of sugar, only to realize later that it would get inside all of his clothes. And in the heat, it would crystallize and stick to everything on him so that every time he moved, he would pull hair somewhere. Ouch.
  
  I love the science and explanations of how things work and why things cook particular ways, etc., and this book is loaded with those facts.
  
  Oh and the recipes rock too :)
  
  Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys cooking, but especially for those who like to know WHY things happen particular way. That can only make your cooking and baking better.
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  Dan Appel

  I read somewhere that a very large percentage of those who purchase cookbooks do so, not to try the recipes but for the joy of reading them.
  
  I must confess that I love reading good cookbooks - and I enjoy cooking the recipe jewels I find. Cooking for me is relaxing, creative and a welcome relief from the stress of my daily life.
  
  So, I have decided to include a number of my favorite cookbooks so that you can enjoy them as well.
  
  Alton Brown is a former science teacher and his approach on the television series that this and the other two volumes in the series is built on, reflect his desire that we not only understand cooking but that we also understand why things happen certain ways when we are cooking. He is one of my heroes!
  
  This first volume in the series is built on the episodes and recipes of the early years. It is good reading and good cooking!
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  Jen

  Ok, I will never actually be "done" reading this book, since it is a cookbook and all, but it is also so much more than that! As a self proclaimed "Good Eats" addict I absolutely love this book! I love learning about why foods act the way they do, why there are certain applications that work well with certain foods and not others. Alton tackles all this and more with every episode, and every episode is in this book! Questions like "why use baking powder and baking soda?" "why is some meat so tough and needs long and low cooking while others are tender and need to be cooked quickly?", all of it is in there! As well as a million more that I never knew I wanted to know the answers to! I adore Alton and his geeky approach to all things food, hooray for Good Eats!
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  Ron

  Awesome. Alton Brown may be the nerd of the culinary world, he may incorporate random pop culture references, he may come across as down right silly... but somehow when put all together with the science behind why and how things cook, this makes for great TV. And Good Eats. And a great book. This is a collection of the first several years' worth of Good Eats shows, with "applications" (i.e. "recipes") related to the shows' themes. A great read, with lots of helpful information in an enjoyable, entertaining package.
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  Noelle VanVleet

  This is the book for food snobs who want to use technical terms such as "thwack" and use recipes with titles like "Raymond Beurre Blanc" and "Moo-less Chocolate Pie." If you want wonderful "from-scratch" recipes in a book you can read like a novel, here it is.
  
  The book is organized into episodes from his series, so I went through with a pencil and circled the "must-try" applications in the index for easy reference. I'm a huge fan of the show, so I loved all the episode info, random tidbits, and food history. I'll probably never really be done reading this book.
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  Chris

  I haven't made any of the recipes yet so I'll come back and adjust my rating & review after I've done so.
  
  There's a lot of good information in here. I love the soufflé information because I've never been sure how much to fold in the eggs; that alone was worth buying the book! However, in Alton Brown fashion, some recipes are too involved for me to likely ever bother - I'm not going to buy a pressure cooker just to get the ultimate beef stock or handle dry ice so I can have the best frozen strawberries.