Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes by Harold McGee

Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes Reviews

• 
  Hélène Vandorpe

  In de keuken - en bij uitbreiding in het leven - ben ik intuïtief, impulsief en dus per definitie hoogmoedig en rommelig. Dan is Harold McGee's 'Goed koken' een welkome boei van kennis, rede en doortastentheid. Geen borden met legionella, verbrande korsten en rauwe kippendijen: mijn huisgenoten danken je, Harold!
• 
  Mishqueen

  2 or 5 stars? 2 or 5 stars?
  
  Five stars because it has EVERYTHING in there! :)
  Two stars because it has...EVERYTHING in there. :(
  
  The book is great, it really is. But if you are easily overwhelmed (I'm not naming any names, but 3 fingers are pointing back at me), you might feel like you are in front of a haystack, pulling out the most interesting hay strands(sticks? pieces?) you've ever seen...one by one. They are all unique and educational. At first, you are completely fascinated for hours, and have plenty of energy to see each next strand.
  
  At some point, maybe a third of the way through, you have to eat or leave or use the facilities or something. When you come back, you're not looking at individual hay strands anymore, but the large haystack again. Suddenly you don't feel like picking up your old project again, moving that haystack strand by strand. So you procrastinate and do something else.
  
  So anyway, it started out so great, but there aren't any pictures (okay, so maybe I'm 5, but it would be nice to break up the monotony of line after line of text) and the information just goes on and on and on. The author does explain that he's trying to fit the most information in the shortest book...but still.
  
  I really DO want to learn all the fantastic information.
  
  
  
  Someday.
• 
  Marianne

  A fantastic, informative resource. I took the time to read this book as I would any other non-fiction read. There is so much information that there's no way to remember it all but it is so well organized that it will be easy to go back to as needed. Also, it is written in short directives, so that if you go to it in the middle of cooking, you will find quick help. I highly recommend it for all cooks. It would make a great gift.
• 
  Kiehl Christie

  It's easy to learn how to follow recipes. It's hard to learn how to cook. This book and McGee's approach have helped me do the latter. The book as a read can get tedious, but it teaches how the different elements of foods mingle into complex sensory experiences. After reading it, I've learned better how to create, tweak, and balance recipes.
• 
  Blog on Books

  Harold McGee’s “Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes” (Penguin) is an essential kitchen staple. In it, McGee (named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people) describes all manner of information about how to transform raw ingredients into successful meals. It is a guidebook, not about meals, but of the process itself. In it, the author offers empirical data about cooking techniques from broiling to grilling, from utensils to methodology, all designed to promote informed and safe cooking techniques that recipe books just don’t sufficiently cover. For example, do you know how microbes and bacteria multiply in your food or what temperatures actually encourage the growth of bacteria versus killing these germs? What are the perils of cooking on a grill or how does boiling affect your vegetables and their nutrients? “Keys to Good Cooking,” is the equivalent of an owner’s manual for your kitchen. It runs the gamut of the best and most effective methods for food preparation across the entire spectrum of ingredients, tools, methods and appliances. Regardless of how many traditional cookbooks one has or wants, no kitchen should be without this information-packed book.
• 
  Cecelia

  I had high hopes for this because the NPR interview was pretty entertaining. In that segment, Harold McGee shared thoughts on the efficiency of gas vs. electric stoves, choice of cutting board material, how to make crispy fish, etc. But in my cursory review of the book, the first several chapters were truly boring and a flip through the middle meatier sections was not much better. Most of the tips were plain old common sense (not I've-been-cooking-for-years common sense, but truly common sense) and of limited use. I think this could have been a lot more entertaining and useful if written less dryly. Not one I would want to add to my reference shelf.
• 
  Devin

  This is a great book if you are planning to cook a meal and want help with the technique and ingredients. Read On Food and Cooking if you want to know the why the tips and techniques work.
• 
  Stephen

  I have both editions of Harold McGee's previous masterwork: "On Food And Cooking: The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen," the original 1984 book and the highly-updated 2004 second edition. Should one try to find it in Great Britain, it is cleverly retitled "McGee on Food and Cooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture." His original book and its revision were highly praised by everybody who is anybody in the culinary world. Alton Brown loved it. Daniel Boulud loved it. Heston Blumenthal loved it. And I loved it. Under the influence of food writer Bill Buford, McGee set out to write a book which included all of the hows and whys of his previous text but in a much more applied way, particularly for the home cook. There is less food history, less molecular science, and more "this is how you do it and why." The "and why" part is reminiscent of "Cook's Illustrated Magazine" which includes wonderful disclosures of kitchen disasters that preceded finding the perfect recipe to include in its pages. Knowing what doesn't work is at least as valuable as knowing what does. There are no recipes in "Keys to Good Cooking." There is advice about everything: ingredients (their variety and how to shop for them), food storage (food safety and preservation), cooking processes (the devices and the techniques). This thing even tells one how to brew a decent cup of tea which, for an American author, is rather remarkable. Thomas Keller, the chef who gives policy advice to God, has used and recommends this book. I love McGee's bibliography because it includes so many authors whose books grace the shelves of my culinary library and on whom I repose high regard: James Peterson, Michael Ruhlman, Alton Brown, Bruce Aidells, and Peter Reinhart. My copy of this book is autographed by the author; that makes the food I cook, following his advice, taste better.
  
• 
  Aarthi

  I don't know if anyone who doesn't already know everything in this book even reads Harold McGee. I don't think they do. It's something like an affirmation that everything you have been taught is actually right according to someone who you've been told should know. I guess it's a good reminder.
• 
  Darren

  The jury remains out on this book. If one had not read other examples of this author's work there might not be such a dilemma.
  
  In many ways this is a really good book that has pulled a lot of useful information, hints, tips, suggestions, wrinkles and the like into one place. It is after all billed as a concise and authoritative guide designed to help home cooks navigate the ever-expanding universe of ingredients, recipes, food safety and appliances, arriving at the promised land of a satisfying dish. Yet if it was not written by Harold McGee then things would have been so much simpler. Why...?
  
  McGee is a known, respected expert on the science of cooking and is held in the highest esteem by top-rate chefs and (without being disparaging) culinary madcaps such as Heston Blumenthal who try to push the envelope and migrate good food, innovative dishes and the science that sits behind them. So if you have thought that this is a distillation of much of McGee's knowledge you are in part wrong as you are getting his extensive take on "common sense" matters but not the more esoteric things that can make you go wow and huh? at the same time. Confused yet?
  
  This book is, to be fair, written more for the average home cook, enthusiastic hobby chef and maybe newbie in the business. A comprehensive memory bank of things that you can possibly find elsewhere curated by a master. You are not getting the master's innermost secrets but neither are you getting the scrapings from his writing dustbin.
  
  Within the book which is set out in a workman-like, clean style is a plethora of information set into several chapters - getting to know foods; basic kitchen resources, water, the pantry and the refrigerator; kitchen tools; heat and heating appliances; cooking methods; cooking safely; fruits; vegetables and fresh herbs; milk and dairy products; eggs; meats; fish and shellfish; sauces, stocks and soups; dry grains, pastas, noodles and puddings; seed legumes, beans, peas, lentils and soy products; nuts and oil seeds; breads; pastries and pies; cakes, muffins and cookies; griddle cakes, crepes, popovers and frying batters; ice creams, ice, mousses and jellies; chocolate and cocoa; sugars, syrups and candies; coffee and tea... pause for breath ... where to find more keys to good cooking and then the customary acknowledgements and a comprehensive index.
  
  All of this is packaged into a fairly small (!) 553 pages. Make no mistake this is not a "how to" cook and neither is it a recipe book. It could be described as an "Encyclopaedia Britannica" style book in the pre-Internet age. You want to know about a certain term or topic and why does it possibly do so-and-so. Consult McGee could be the reply!
  
  McGee has written already some seminal works - On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen and The Curious Cook: More Kitchen Science and Lore but it is not doing these an injustice by saying that they may be out of reach of the typical yet inquisitive reader.
  
  Here in many ways this book sets to redress the balance whilst still providing a "quick, did I really forget X" look-up for those who really should know better but are, like us all, prone to forget certain things. Even top chefs like Heston Blumenthal or Gordon Ramsay might have learned in the dim and distant past things that they have "temporally misfiled" in their brain such as covering raw foods with oil can allow the growth of botulism bacteria, but a quick check on the section "flavoured oils" might drag up that forgotten factoid. Yet for the ordinary cook this could be an entirely new discovery... and there are many who do add various flavoured oils to their raw meats as a means of marinading. One is never too old to learn and adapt accordingly.
  
  So, the prospective reader really should look at a copy of this book and understand what it is, and then think why they don't need it (not the other way around). McGee has covered virtually all bar the proverbial kitchen sink in this book and you need time to understand the different ways in which you will attack the book to get the knowledge out.
  
  Some readers have been disappointed in this book as they have not considered what it really is. It is not a follow on to the more technical previous works by the author yet in some ways it does build on it. It is a different beast, for a predominantly different market. That is not a bad thing but some reviews have been slightly scathing through this misunderstanding.
  
  This reviewer sees dozens of food and cookery books daily yet most of them, even those yielding high acclaim, never get to transfer to the "YUM reference shelf" for err, future consultation and use by fellow YUMmers. This one will sit there, but it might need a long chain attached to it so it doesn't develop a pair of legs and wander off.
  
  So in short: A great book that hits many marks. Just make sure it is what you think it is before buying it. It is worth spending time on this book prior to a purchase decision if you are unsure about it as, if you do buy it, you know that you will be spending a lot of time with it afterwards. Even the most expert of experts need to refresh their memories from time to time, even if they don't always like admitting it.
  
  Keys To Good Cooking: A Guide To Making The Best Of Foods & Recipes, written by Harold McGee and published by Penguin Press/Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781594202681/9780340963203, 553 pages. Typical price: GBP17. YYYYY.
  
  
  
  // This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
• 
  Mark

  Extremely boring reading, and not useful as a manual, at least not for me. (Read about sixty pages and found only one new thing I might try: blasting your aubergine in the microwave before frying - a bit doubtful that will work, though.)
  Part of my disappointment is probably due to the sloppy Dutch translation, obviously done in great haste.
• 
  Kristi Richardson

  Great basics on cooking
  
  This is not a cookbook with recipes as much as a textbook on how to choose the best ingredients and tools for cooking and then why and how you should cook certain foods with the best methods for the best results.
  Well done. I borrowed this book from my local library.
• 
  Annie

  I did not finish this book. It has everything from kitchen tools (thermometers, knives, blenders, food processors, storage containers, pots, pans) to cooking methods (frying, roasting, baking, and boiling). About 80% of the information is familiar unless you've never stepped into a kitchen before.
• 
  Dean

  Super helpful in explaining food prep and coming best practices and why
• 
  Ashani

  Skimmed through but there's nothing wrong reading something extra from Harold Mcgee though :) !
• 
  Beth Barnett

  Really great information, overall. I learned some tips that are definitely helpful in my kitchen. I have to say that McGee is biased toward butter and doesn't think anything good can be made using margarine, and I have to disagree. As a strict vegetarian I have other reasons to not use butter, but I also find that Earth Balance and other margarines make perfectly good butter substitutes. Of course, any author is biased about his own preferences, and I skipped over the meats sections for the most part as well, but, I still definitely recommend the book for general cooking science and information, for everyone.
• 
  Barbara

  This is a reference book rather than a cookery book, so not exactly enthralling reading if read cover to cover (as I did). However, it is an invaluable reference on just about every cooking topic you can think of.
  
  I'm not sure if I'll every bother cleaning my fruit and veg to the his suggested standards, but I will definitely refer to this book next time I need to improve how I make anything in the kitchen.
  
• 
  Mightyko Jackson

  So important to read if you want a grasp on what's happening in your kitchen. For the amateur home cook, this will improve your cooking immediately, practically, and explains it all in an easy to understand way. I refer to this book all the time.
• 
  Liz De Coster

  A good kitchen reference guide - more focused on how than why, and full of guidelines and suggestions rather than recipes. I think this would be especially helpful if you're hoping to troubleshoot a recipe, make substitutions, or try something new.
• 
  Andrea

  Harold McGee is giving a reading at Third Place Books on November 20, 2010 at 6:30 that I'm going to. I only wish I'd been able to pick up the book earlier.
• 
  Max Trumble

  This is a great book. I'd say I'm a moderate cook in the kitchen, but I love this book and find the tips not only helpful but fascinating.
• 
  Melinda

  Not too informative.
• 
  Erin

  This is a useful resource, easy to find things, but I liked On Food and Cooking much better.
• 
  Joey

  Another reference-like book, not as easy to sit and read as On Food and Cooking, but I am still flipping thru it. I don't plan on reading the whole thing in it's entirety, ever...