Ratio
by Michael Ruhlman · first published 2009
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Teaches the ingredient ratios behind bread, sauces and other basics, so readers can cook from structure instead of recipes. Suited to analytical or nerdy beginners who want first principles and intuition.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Cooking with ratios will unchain you from recipes and set you free. With thirty-three ratios and suggestions for enticing variations, "Ratio" is the truth of cooking: basic preparations that teach us how the fundamental ingredients of the kitchen -- water, flour, butter and oils, milk and cream, and eggs -- work. Change the ratio and bread dough becomes pasta dough, cakes become muffins become popovers become crepes."--Jacket.
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If you find this appealing, you'll probably fall in love with _Ratio_: http://www.amazon.com/Ratio-Simple-Behind-Everyday-Cooking/d...
on “Cooking For Engineers: Step by Step Recipes and Food for the Analytically Minded” ↗I have a few I can personally recommend: - How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman (also How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) - Ratio by Michael Ruhlman - The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt - Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat
on “Common Git Problems and How to Fix Them” ↗Ruhlman's "Ratio" is a good approach to this My peeve with the book is that he (IMHO correctly) tells the reader to use weights not volumes for dry ingredients, then in the entire rest of the book seems to promote/use…
on “Nestle says it will cut sugar in chocolate by 40%” ↗I would suggest the book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman. This isn't a straight up recipe book by instead tries to tell you ingredients go together to make different things. This should…
on “Ask HN: How can I learn to cook for myself without making decisions?” ↗Some other books that might be more practical than The Modernist Cuisine: The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nostrat Ratio by Michael Ruhlman
on “The Why of Cooking (2017)” ↗…to do something completely opposite to its original goals. I don't intend to be quite critical, but as an amateur cook I just don't see the need for this. Traditional cookbooks + reading a book like Ratio by Michael Ruhlman will serve your time far better in my opinion.
on “Wikimedia Cookbook” ↗…the basic process for making a pan sauce, and you can start experimenting from there. For more specific advice, after cooking a bit, you can read a book like How to Cook Everything by Mark Bitman or Ratio by Michael Ruhlman that goes over some of the fundamental ideas of cooking. One interesting thing I have learned as I have gotten more adventurous is that many ingredients are often thrown together because…
on “The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday” ↗You might enjoy The Ratio, by Michael Ruhlman [1]. It focuses on the ratios of ingredients. It is centered on baking, although. Still you might enjoy it. [1] https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ratio/Michael-Ruhlman...
on “Show HN: Eattsy – Reimagining the world’s relationship with cooking and food” ↗…and assemble the final dish." Baking is the only thing that requires some science know-how but it has its own building blocks [1] that demystify overly complicated recipes. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Ratio-Simple-Behind-Everyday-Cooking/...
on “Ask HN: Has Google search switched to infinite scrolling for you too now?” ↗For sure! If anyone is looking to expand on this, the book Ratio by Michael Ruhlman is a must.
on “Analyzing a Baking Recipe” ↗Ruhlman's Twenty is a great first cooking book. Heartily seconded. I'd get "Ratio", and the Kindle version of "The Flavor Bible", to accompany it. That'll set you up for a lifetime of cooking without ever looking up a recipe again. (Keller's books are all Ruhlman's writing, right?)
on “Rice Cooker Hacks - The Ebert Way” ↗I was underwhelmed by "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat". Good information, great presentation, but not up there with the very best books, IMO. I like Ruhlman's "Twenty", maybe followed by "Ratio". "How to Cook without a Book" by Anderson is great, although you probably needwhole rooms in your house for food storage if you took her "what you should have in your pantry" serious. My most used…
on “The Why of Cooking (2017)” ↗Highly recommend Ruhlman's "Ratio": http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2009/04/ratio-the-simpl.h... Bread is much simpler than even Bittman is making it out to be. This book is the kernel hacker's guide of cooking.
on “How cost-effective is it to make pantry staples from scratch?” ↗…from a recipe cook to an intuitive cook. For me, I feel like that leap came primarily from a single book (and years of prior absorbed "Good Eats" knowledge): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3931154-ratio Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman Highly recommended read.
on “Based Cooking” ↗…knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” - Brian O'Driscoll Michael Ruhlman, the author of the linked tomato article has written a number of terrific books [0]. 'Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking' [0], in particular, might appeal to the crowd here. His blog [1] is worth following by foodies. [0] https://ruhlman.com/ruhlmans-books/ [1] https://ruhlman.com/
on “How to eat a tomato (2011) [pdf]” ↗