I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0

This book is a very interesting read and while it is not something I would typically read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it is a very unique cookbook. It takes advantage of many elements such as colorful pictures, diagrams, and humor, not typically a part of a technical read like this. It helps pace the read and keep the story going. This cookbook feels more like someone telling a story rather than someone explaining the science of cooking.Alton Brown does a fantastic job of hiding the science of cooking in his humor. While he explains the fascinating, technical portions of how cooking works and why certain techniques and tools work better for certain jobs, he also inserts small humorous anecdotes that keep the heavy details feel light. As a chemical engineering major, I've noticed conveying technical material in a way that is easy for the general public to understand is very difficult to do well. Brown's anecdotes make the reading relatable and I think it helps you to retain the information easier.A book with the technical details, such as this one, does not typically have colorful easy to understand diagrams and figures. These little illustrations make the technical content easier to visualize and understand. While it's nice when you can write about technical material that other people educated in the subject matter understand, I think it is more impressive to be able to convey it to an open audience. This means you must think about how different people learn and understand. I think this idea gets missed in many places in life especially formal education. I see this a lot in my engineering classes, various learning styles are not always accommodated for. I think Brown's accommodation works well for his voice and writing style.The actual content of the book is super fascinating and translates well into a cookbook. Instead of just providing simple recipes, Brown explains the science behind his recipes. This begins with the choice of food down to the choice of metal he's chosen to cook with. The science is fascinating and plays every role in every single one of his choices as he's cooking. His reasoning varies from taste to concern of contaminating food with things such as aluminum. It would be interesting to see if his choices are reflected in the food manufacturing industry.I think it's crucial to understand why food behaves the way it does in order to be a better cook. It all comes down to its molecules and structure. Brown explains the properties of food in order to attempt to allow the public to improve and try things themselves. Brown just sets the outline and gives examples of things that work well. He really sets the audience up to try it and find successes themselves. His approach had me wanting to experiment with the foods, so I could taste what I was reading about. Brown wants to see readers engage with food and culinary experience and learn for themselves, he just sets the groundwork to get everyone going.

I am a professional chef and I have always loved Alton Brown and his witty ways and ideas! This book is no exception! If you followed the good eats episodes and like me fell inlove with all his silly but really good and delicious recipes than this is a must have book!!This book is like no other and you will understand why you do stuff! Cooking is the application of heat to food and you can tell that AB is a fan of the book, On food and cooking! He give you more of the reasons why you need to sear something, what a brine does, marinating, rubs, eggs, frying, grilling, boiling and more!!AB is like a kids schoolteacher for adults!! He makes his topics fun and interactive! He makes you willingly want to keep reading and trying new things and challenge your mind to go outside the box, outside the recipes and be creative within the parameters!AB is an idol! Follow him on Facebook for funny and informative videos and recipes!!Click YES if this review was helpful. If not, or if you have a question, leave a comment and I'll answer you! Feedback helps me improve my review! THANKS

I've been putzing around (not as seriously as Michael Ruhlman "The Making of a Chef") with cooking lately (and became initiated into the chef's clan by having to research how to remove tomato sauce stains from my Egyptian cotton "Happy Chef" brand chef's jacket - goto Walgreen's and purchase a product called "Zout" - better than Oxiclean and the others)so it didn't take me long to find Alton Brown's "Good Eats" program on the Food Channel, and research what folks were saying about his books. This book has been given very good reviews, and based upon that (and the fact that while watching the show I really enjoy the humor and zany ways he explains WHY things occur in food)I purchased the book.There's no difference between the book and his shows except that there's no need for hurriedly copying down recipe ingredients. The book is very informative, and very "digestible".Unfortunately, Amazon's shipping department has gone down the tubes lately, as witnessed, once again, by a product which arrived damaged - the front (hard) cover took a hit during transport (or before?) and is creased. I returned it for a replacement which is scheduled to arrive in three days... we'll see. Amazon used to package shipments expertly, but I guess that they have to make budget cuts too. I don't know why, I order many things through them : ) .So, five stars for the book, 3 stars for the packaging - at least it got to me and didn't get lost.Enjoy!

Great book and it came on time....but it was classified in very good condition. Upon opening, I found the cover and spine to be scuffed, scratched, and showing significant wear. Diffidently only fair to good for condition state. Might return for a different copy.

what can I say love the cook book and all the science that goes on behind the scenes.

Great book fascinating read well worth it full of useful information and great recipes.

Four words -- Alton Brown Food Network

An excellent book full of wit and practical info on the why-fore's and how-comes of cookery. The layout is not typical of an ordinary recipe book but soon is easily gotten used to and makes a lot of sense.

It's a book about getting food from raw to cooked. Sometimes the techniques are excessively complicated. It's a bit boring to read.