The Food Lab
Better Home Cooking Through Science
by J. Kenji López-Alt · first published 2015
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explains the science behind why recipes and techniques work, with tested, practical recipes and an empirical approach. Suits home cooks past the basics who want to understand searing, brining, and frying.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
957 pages : 28 cm
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Kenji's (cook)book, The Food Lab, is also great, though it doesn't include everything he has on the blog. It's also inexpensive enough to make a great random gift for foodie friends, despite being a hefty hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393081087…
on “The Food Lab: Why Does Pepperoni Curl?” ↗…and trying out the recipes therein. Kenji's empirical approach and attention to the science behind cooking (not to mention sassy writing) really appeals to our inner geeks. http://www.amazon.com/The-Food-Lab-Cooking-Through/dp/039308...
on “The Hard Truth About Boiled Eggs (2014)” ↗I purchased “The Food Lab” by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and it completely changed things for me. He spends an extensive amount of time in the book describing techniques and tools in a very hackerish kind of way that finally taught me…
on “Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?” ↗…a curriculum. If it's self study it takes longer to figure out what you don't know :) For me it all started with "why does my Grilled Cheese suck? This should be easy" and it's been all downhill. The Food Lab by Kenji Lopez-Alt was a big window into this for me because of the approach around time and temperature, and the book takes you through all of this stuff by section.
on “Ask HN: What's the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?” ↗Kenji Lopez (MIT grad chef who is reasonably famous on YouTube and for writing for Serious Eats for years and for writing this amazing cookbook https://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0...) gives the exact opposite advice of this blog for salt where he recommends using large flake salt for finishing and "table salt" for cooking.
on “Based Cooking” ↗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” ↗Kenji is wonderful. The Food Lab (https://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0...) is still the first cookbook I turn to when investigating a recipe I haven't made before. His blog on Serious Eats has been amazing through…
on “A sweary, ranty YouTuber who's become an isolation cooking sensation” ↗The food lab by j Kenji Lopez alt is another cooking book (with lots of recipes) that really helps you understand why and what you are doing rather than just telling you a process to follow. Highly recommend anything…
on “The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday” ↗Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is a great cookbook if you want a scientific approach to your food
on “Cooking for Engineers” ↗If you like this channel, Kenji has a book, The Food Lab[0] that is the only place I go for recipes now. I have a hard time eating steaks prepared at restaurants since learning how to properly cook a steak from Kenji. His writing style is also pretty hilarious,…
on “IKEA's restaurants were failing, then it turned to Swedish meatballs” ↗…forget 10%, but what falls under each category is different for everyone) The Three Body Problem - Liu Cixin (I haven't read any sci-fi in a few years, this was a great reentry to the genre for me) The Food Lab - J Kenji Lopez-Alt (If you want to know the why as well as the how when you cook, this book is for you)
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗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)” ↗I haven't read the book, but based on your description it sounds like she might also like The Food Lab by Kenji Lopez-Alt. Food Lab gets much deeper into the chemistry and the why / how than the TV series. I was kinda hoping for some more direct cooking guidance rather than having my appetite whet by…
on “‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is a Love Letter to Amateur Cooks” ↗These two books have nothing but good recipes. The Food Lab also explains why to cook something a certain way. My food is so much better after buying these two books. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Americas-Test-Kitchen-Cookbo... https://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0...
on “Are Mail-Order Meal Kits Doomed?” ↗…Cuisine (Mexican, Thai, French, Puertorican) You will easily overlap the themes the more you cook, the themes are a starting point. Two of my favorite books that the audience here might appreciate are The Food lab[0] and Cooking for Geeks[1]. * [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science-eboo... * [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Geeks-Science-Great-Hacks/dp/...
on “Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?” ↗