Reddit reviews I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking

I'm just here for more food
He is basically my role model and its a great book he really explains how and why everything works in a simple way and also has pictures and diagrams to help you understand.

While baked goods for loosing weight might not be the best idea, I want to give a shoutout to Alton Brown's Book for providing all measurements in imperial and metric weight.

If you like Alton Brown, try checking out his books.

I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0 and I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking

They also recently released a comprehensive book companion to the Good Eats series which is very good. Here

My 6 year old son is HFA as well and loves to bake with me - I've started explaining some of the concepts and he really responds to the science-like nature of the process.

I don't know what your son's reading comprehension level is, but perhaps Alton Brown's baking book would work. He throws a lot of history, science and explanation into his recipes so there is definitely some "teaching" going on.

Another great one is the good old fashioned Better Homes and Gardens Baking Book (whatever edition they're into now). It includes very basic recipes (then graduates to harder ones), easy to follow instructions and lots of pictures. I've had mine for over 20 years and still bake from it frequently.

His books are pretty good for getting into some of the specifics more than the show.

http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-Food-Version/dp/158479559X/

http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414/

Alton Brown's earlier books, "I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking" and "I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking" might be of interest if the Harold McGee recommendation ends up being a little too scientific for you.

Really the second book stands out in memory for me - you may have heard the generalization:

> "Cooking is an art and can largely be done by feel, but baking is chemistry. If you don't follow the precise formulas and procedures then the whole thing could either be off or just plain not work at all."

In the second book he breaks down baking categories into six major mixing types, and focuses on fundamental recipes to give you a basic understanding of baking.

http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414

Alton Brown all the way. He is great at explaining how baking works and his recipes are easy to follow.

This one with the weird monkey thingy on the cover.

How would you compare it to something from Alton Brown, such as this book

I was just busting balls about the word "Hack" being so common in our lexicon these days. No real offense intended.

I agree that the volume measurement will be incorrect (even dealing with different types of salt, as I mostly use kosher and have to be careful to get a proper amount, for the reasons you noted). That's way I was interested in the tool that the OP linked to, but sadly, doesn't work. I often just take the lazy way out and use the volume measurement, even if it is off. I definitely agree about the value of this in baking, as that is essentially kitchen chemistry, and the ratios are very important. Most of the time, the cookbooks I use for baking, I specifically look for mass measurements, or at least where there is a conversion from the volume, or the volume is calibrated in some way to more accurate than most. My favorite being Alton Brown's 2nd cook book, I'm Just Here For More Food.

Tangentially related, I would get his books as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-Food-Version/dp/158479559X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291527138&sr=1-4 (This one is about cooking)

http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291527138&sr=1-6 (this one is about baking)

Read through those and you'll feel much more confident.

If you are cooking meat, I'd suggest getting a probe thermometer: http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-1470-Digital-Cooking-Thermometer/dp/B00004XSC5/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291527262&sr=8-2

You'd be amazed how good any kind of meat tastes just with some salt and fresh pepper cooked to the exact right temperature tastes...

Get him this http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414

Get Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For More Food. It's a great resource on baking methods.

Cook's Illustrated is excellent as well, for more than just baking. They go through the process and show you what happens when you deviate from the recipe.

Yes, AB's books are excellent. I own his first 2 books and they are excellent for learning technique.

I'm Just Here For The Food
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-Food-Cooking/dp/1584790830/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404671790&sr=1-2&keywords=i%27m+just+here+for+the+food

I'm Just Here For More Food
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404671790&sr=1-3&keywords=i%27m+just+here+for+the+food

If you are interested in some of the science of it but not all I really like Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food. I pretty much love all of his recipes and I learned a bit from the book. I haven't completely gone trough it and I still use the internet for learning some new recipes. But overall I think it's a good one with information and little diagrams that explain what he means. I'm not sure if it would be pastry enough for you but it has a lot of baking info.

Alton Brown https://www.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food/dp/1584793414
I'm Just Here for More Food - the book that will break down the major ways to combine ingredients and bake them - such as the muffin method, and provide recipes for each method to highlight versatility (the muffin method can make great cookies, for example)

Easy, approachable, entertaining.