Reddit Reddit reviews Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine

We found 22 Reddit comments about Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Cookbooks, Food & Wine
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Regional & International Cooking & Wine
U.S. Regional Cooking, Food & Wine
Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine by Editors at Cook's Illustrated Magazine (Oct 1, 2011)
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22 Reddit comments about Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine:

u/prixdc · 30 pointsr/Cooking

Get the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook. Tons and tons of classics made with perfect technique. It'll be your new go-to.

u/throwawaytacos · 9 pointsr/Cooking

Instead of a sub to Cook's Illustrated, OP could also just get their cookbook. It's pretty inexpensive, has pretty much every recipe I could ever want, and I've only gotten raves when I've made recipes out of it. I use it all the time. I literally have it open in front of me right now.

u/Spikke · 5 pointsr/bingingwithbabish

I get all my best recipes from good cook books. I highly recommend Cooks Illustrated ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/1933615893/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KbjOAb6PBRC4Y ) and if you want to learn everything in and around food for any occasion then try Joy of Cooking ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743246268/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_TcjOAb55Z5TRH ).

u/mgustin · 5 pointsr/Cooking

Go to you local library and try them out first. Cookbooks are expensive and this way you can get a really good feel for it without spending a bunch. Also try used book stores lots of people get rid of quality cookbooks and you can get them pretty cheap. Oh an my favorite basic book for anyone is Cooks Illustrated Cook's Illustrated https://www.amazon.com/dp/1933615893/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_7K0YBbEMF8DN3. Most cookbooks don't test all of their recipes and this one dose. It's not full of fancy pictures but quality basic and delicious recipes.

u/ArcadiaCook · 5 pointsr/Cooking

I love most Cook's Illustrated cookbooks, but for a new cook it can seem rather daunting and some ingredients are not in a simple grocery store.

That being said, everything I have made from my Cook's Illustrated Cook Book has been delicious.

u/guitarbque · 3 pointsr/KitchenConfidential

The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook. I'd also suggest subscribing to the magazine.

They're like the Popular Mechanics of cooking. No ads, no sponsors, just lots of great recipes that have been refined through many trials and variations. The Cookbook has thousands of recipes with detailed info on why a particular ingredient or process works or doesn't work. They've taken all of the guesswork out of it, just follow the instructions. Great if you just want a tested recipe to follow or if you want to understand more about why a recipe works. Highly recommended.

u/jdb229 · 2 pointsr/gaybros

It really depends on the person and the cook book and they can be great tools to learn from, especially for novices. I only have one cookbook, Cook's Illustrated, and I've learned a ton from it. It's made by the folks at America's Test Kitchen, which if you are unaware of who they are, are exactly what it sounds like. They test all sorts of recipes trying different techniques, temperatures, methods, etc, until they find the "best" way to cook a dish. The cookbook gives easy instructions, explanations as to why what they say to do is the best, and provide multiple variations for each recipe so you learn how to cook with a basic technique and then change it up however your imagination desires. My cooking has improved immensely from this one book.

u/MotherCuss · 2 pointsr/recipes

Cooks Illustrated is my absolute go to. We refer to it as The Bible in my house. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1933615893/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lJNTDbTA8M9FF
Any America's Test Kitchen books are great.

I also love Mark Bitman's how to cook everything, Ottolenghi's Plenty & Plenty more.

u/graffiti81 · 2 pointsr/shittyfoodporn

Do my best. CI is really good about keeping their recipes off the net and this is from memory. I highly recommend the Cooks Illustrated Cookbook, I've never made a bad meal cooking from one of their recipes. (Except that lentil soup, but that was my fault for buying old lentils.)

Take your 4-5lb roast and pull it apart by the natural seams and remove most of the fat. Tie it up into two smaller roasts with kitchen twine. Season with salt and pepper and let sit at room temperature for a couple hours.

Take a bottle of Pinot Noir and start reducing it (and I don't mean by drinking it). Continue until your 750ml is approx 2c.

In your dutch oven, cook 3-4 strips of bacon, cut into 1/4" pieces, until crispy. Remove and reserve. Pour out most of the grease. Brown your roasts on all sides and set aside.

In your dutch oven, add one onion, chopped fine, and cook until starting to go translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add a three cloves of garlic, chopped, and a tbsp of all purpose flour. Cook until fragrant, maybe 3-4 minutes.

Add your wine reduction and 4c beef broth. Add a few sprigs of fresh parsley, three sprigs of fresh thyme and a couple bay leaves tied together with twine to the pot. Add in reserved bacon. Place your roasts on top of this concoction and place in a 300°f oven. One of the tricks here is to cover your dutch oven with tin foil before putting the cover on. This gives you a much better seal and keeps more liquid in the roast. This is apparently a pretty important step.

This will cook for 2-3 hours, until a fork slips in and out easily. Turn your roasts once an hour. When cooking has approximately 1 hour left, add four carrots, peeled and cut lengthwise into quarters by about an inch and a half long.

While waiting for it to cook, take 10ish oz of frozen pearl onions (thawed) and cook them in a saute pan in a cup of water and three tablespoons unsalted butter, covered, 12-15 minutes until soft. Uncover and cook until all water has boiled off. Add 8oz button mushrooms, quartered, and cook until everything is evenly browned.

When your roast is cooked, remove it from the oven, remove the roast from the dutch oven and tent with foil to keep warm. Add your pearl onion and mushroom mix to your braising liquid. Place the dutch oven back on the stove and reduce liquid by about a quarter. Skim as much fat off the top as possible. This will be your gravy for the pot roast. When nearly finished, add a tsp unflavored gelatin to the sauce to add richness.

And there you have it. By far the most prep I've ever done for a pot roast, but, bar none, it's the best I've ever had.

u/ScopeOfTheFatedSky · 2 pointsr/secretsanta

The Bacon Cookbook, Ratio, and because I'm obsessed with New Orleans food, The Court of Two Sisters Cookbook.

Also someone else mentioned the Cook's Illustrated cookbook which is absolutely amazing.

u/CaptaiinCrunch · 2 pointsr/Cooking

The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

That'll keep me occupied for about 6 years or so.

u/ricesock · 2 pointsr/Cooking

Yeah, I was thinking maybe chicken teriyaki. This Cooks Illustrated Cookbook is my favorite cookbook I own, and it never lets us down. It has the best chicken teriyaki recipe I've ever made.

u/lovableiago · 2 pointsr/Cooking

It's this one.

u/DonnieTobasco · 1 pointr/cookbooks

I'll also suggest "The Joy of Cooking"

A couple of other books that are filled with perfect and realistic versions of food everyone will recognize and want to eat are:

The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2014

These two books are very similar so you don't need both of them, but I think having at least one of them is essential.

u/st45st23 · 1 pointr/Cooking

What's the difference between that cookbook by Cook's Illustrated and the one that came out later with even more recipes, The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook? Wouldn't it be better to get the one with more recipes?

u/bwbmr · 1 pointr/Cooking

Lots of people will say to look at the Instant Pot which is a combination electric pressure cooker/slow cooker/rice cooker ("multi cooker"). I had a bluetooth enabled "IP-SMART" 6qt model of theirs (actually three: first had a safety recall, second was dented on arrival, third still exhibited regulation issues). Lots of people are happy with Instant Pots, but I had a lot of issues with the pressure control being flaky for certain recipes. Additionally, much of what makes slow cookers safe when you are out of the house is their low wattage heaters... typically 250-400W... and low complexity (basically it's a small electric blanket that is wrapped around a very heavy ceramic pot). The Instant Pot has a 1000W heater, and is more complex (microcontroller + a thermocouple), so this negates some of the safety aspects of unattended slow cooking... though it is UL listed and has a thermal fuse in case anything goes wrong.

My recommendation if you are interested in pressure cookers and slow cookers:

  1. Presto 8qt stovetop http://www.amazon.com/Presto-01370-8-Quart-Stainless-Pressure/dp/B0000Z6JIW $69 More volume than electric pressuer cookers (8qt > 6qt) which is important since safely pressure cooking needs lots of headroom between the food and lid valve so as not to clog. Typically headroom is 1/3rd volume for most foods, 1/2 for foamy foods like rice, etc. Thus a 8qt pressure cooker effectively has a volume of 4-5qt. When using it without building up pressure, it can double as a large 8qt stockpot. I ended up preferring stovetop over electric since I can get an initial brown on meat without having to use multiple pots, and I don't have to wait for an electric heater to come up to temperature (10+ minutes on the Instant Pot for me).

  2. Hamilton Beach 6qt set'n'forget slow cooker http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33967A-Programmable-6-Quart/dp/B00EZI26DW $50 Check reviews on thesweethome.com for it, but it beat out a lot of more expensive crock pot models. Oval shape lends itself better for some slow cooker recipes, such as mini, chocolate lava cakes, roasts, etc.

    $120 for both.. around the ballpark of the cheaper Instant Pots, you gain an additional pot for stove use, pressure cooker is of bigger size, slow cooker is safe unattended and a more conventional shape, and IMO will last longer. You lose automatic rice cooking capabilities but... by a $20-$30 rice cooker and probably get better rice, or just do it on the stovetop.

    By the way, no idea what food you like to eat, but these are two of my favorite cookbooks if you are getting started and wanted to build up some experience:

  • America's Test Kitchen 100 Recipes http://www.amazon.com/100-Recipes-Absolute-Best-Essentials/dp/1940352010/ Good for in-depth explanation of 100 recipes across a pretty big range of techniques.

  • Cook's Illustrated Cookbook http://www.amazon.com/Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbook/dp/1933615893/ Shorter explanations but lots and lots of recipes.

    And major shout out to Kenji's (from Seriouseats.com) new book if you want more detailed science information:

  • The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking through Science http://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0393081087

    This post ended up being much longer than I expected, but those are my recommendations if you are just starting out. ;) The main thing I've learned since beginning to cook is that 90%+ of the recipes online (and even in print) are untested crap, and to look for recipe sources you can trust. The second thing is that a finished recipe is much more dependant on the technique (the steps you use to modify ingredients at specific times, temperatures, and textures) and way less dependent on the ingredients themselves (you can easily sub ingredients for many recipes once the core techniques are understood).
u/richalex2010 · 1 pointr/AskReddit

When I make burgers, if I'm grilling I just sprinkle on some Montreal steak seasoning (specifically this from McCormick) but if I'm cooking it on the stove I don't add anything, just cook it in a little butter or vegetable oil. The burgers themselves are always pure beef; usually good, fresh ground beef (frozen is acceptable if you have it, but fresh is the best) and never preformed unless you need to make dozens for a cookout or something. When forming the burgers, I generally go for 1/3 to 1/2 pound patties, as loosely packed as possible (just enough to hold together on the grill); when grilling, you'll want to add a dimple on top (just poke down the center to compress it a bit more), since burgers tend to poof a bit on the grill (though they don't seem to on the stove for some reason). I also make "premium" burgers on occasion by starting with steak and chopping it myself, although that's a much more involved process (I got the recipe for that from this Cook's Illustrated cookbook). No seasoning or other additives or sauces go into my burgers, just on top of them.

Unfortunately, I'm not the best at grilling, that's my dad's territory - however, it's pretty straightforward, you should only flip the burger once. I'd suggest listening to other's advice on when to flip the burger. You add the cheese when the burger is very close to being done, and make sure you toast the buns on the grill as well (timing isn't too important, you mostly want to crisp up the inside - still being warm is ideal, but it's okay if the buns cool off by the time you're eating). Stovetop cooking is also a viable option, one which I'm more experienced with, but I couldn't really tell you how to tell when the burgers are done. The cookbook I linked to above is where I'm starting from, I'm just experimenting from the basics I learned from that book (it's well worth getting even if you never make the burgers, just about everything in there is really good). The really basic version is what I said above, cook them in a pan with a bit of oil or butter and flip them only once.

For the cheese, I generally use either cheddar or jack. If all we have is the shitty processed cheese product (Kraft Singles or some generic version of them), I won't have any on my burger (it adds a lot, but isn't really necessary).

The bun is really important, but that is the hardest to tell you what to get - what's available in UK stores may be wildly different from what's available in the US, even finding the same brands in different parts of the US can be hard. To start, just look for a bun from a company that makes good bread (the best regular loafs of bread around here (Connecticut in the US) are from Martin's and Freihofer's, and the best burger buns come out of the same bakeries).

As for the toppings, you can do whatever you like. My preferences are either ketchup (Heinz) and mayo or barbecue sauce (something ketchup-based, not vinegar-based). Bacon is great anytime I can get it, but it's not necessary. The closest thing to a vegetable that I'll put on (aside from the ketchup) is this stuff (not necessarily that brand, I use something from a local spice store, but it's the same thing). Experiment to find what works, but to start with I'd go for just cheese and ketchup and mayo.

edit: Oh, and drink some good root beer or sarsaparilla with the burger. A&W is my preference among the big companies, although Barq's is a close second. Locally-brewed stuff can be really good, though, I generally drink sarsaparilla from Hosmer Mountain with mine.

u/piles_of_it · 1 pointr/pics

See if they have this book at your local library.

https://www.amazon.com/Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbook-Americas-Magazine/dp/1933615893

Has a great section explaining all of the ingredients and how to cook each. Start easy and get more complex. Canned beans have a ton of salt in them. Carne burritos are easier to cook than chicken because you can eat it rare. To get the taste of take out spot just look up mexican recipes online. It's all in the seasoning.

u/slick8086 · 1 pointr/mealprep

No one has mentioned it yet, but I learned a lot from cook books.

These are not just lists or recipes, but instruction about techniques and methods and processes.

Some good ones are:

  • How to Cook Everything: The Basics
  • Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
  • Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

    Having an actual dead tree book can be more convenient in the kitchen than a laptop or mobile device with an ebook.

    If you can find episodes of Good Eats by Alton Brown he is really good at explaining things. Videos can be good, but a lot of times but really only when you know what it is you're looking for. With a book it is going to give you topics that you might never have thought of.

    But for reals now, you are going to get the best value learning how to cook the basics. Your Instant pot is AWESOME for cooking dry beans. Get pound of dry black beans and 3 pounds of water (obviously you need a good kitchen scale). I just put the inner pot of my Instantpot on the scale, dump in the beans, tare it, then pour water in with a big cup till I have 3 lbs. Put in 1/2-1 teaspoon of salt. I also add granulated garlic and powdered onion and some cumin but you don't have to. Set your instanpot to manual for 45 mins and wait. Let it naturally release, if you manually release the pressure the skin on the beans will break, to me it still tastes the same but you have far fewer whole beans. Now you have a weeks worth of delicious, healthy black beans. No need for overnight soak or anything.

    Small white beans (a.k.a navy beans) can be cooked the same and they taste different but just as good. Or you can add the extra ingredients and make pork and beans.

    You can cook pinto beans with the same basic recipe, and they taste great too. When you want to take the extra time, then with a slotted spoon dish the cooked beans into a large frying pan with some lard or shortening and make your own refried beans. You smash the beans with the back of the spoon or a spatula, and use the bean broth to add liquid till you like the texture.

    If you can't tell I like cooking beans in my Instantpot. I have a rice cooker but you can cook rice in the Instantpot too. Beans and rice is healthy and cheap!!! (cook them separately and mix them after cooking).

u/darwinfish86 · 1 pointr/food

your method is a little different but the end result looks very similar to my own favorite carnitas recipe.

my recipe comes from the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (page 420!), and since i started making it a few years ago it has become a favorite in my house. even my picky 3-year-old loves it!

i've never used ancho chiles or the peppers in adobo sauce, and i add some citrus flavor by juicing an orange and cooking the pork with the orange rinds mixed in, and a little different spices (i use onion powder, garlic powder, and like 5x more cumin lol), but otherwise this looks very very similar to the recipe i use.

i cook mine in a dutch oven for 2 hours then crisp it under the broiler for ~10 minutes. i also reduce my cooking liquid in a skillet before putting it on the pork under the broiler.

some fresh garnishes (onion, cilantro, lime juice) and sour cream complete the ensemble. its seriously amazing.

great post. made me hungry. 10/10 would upvote again.

u/StovetopLuddite · 1 pointr/Cooking

Cooks Illustrated. Ex bought this for me and it's pretty much been my bible. Good luck!

u/wjp3 · 1 pointr/Cooking

Yep, I agree. I was actually wondering how he's take my question on the iPad app. Whatever - I bought two of his $40 book, and he knew it. :P

(You can get them waaaay cheaper online, but I wanted to support the store, etc.)