Over 1 Million Copies Sold
A New York Times Bestseller
Winner of the James Beard Award for General Cooking and the IACP Cookbook of the Year Award
"The one book you must have, no matter what you're planning to cook or where your skill level falls."—New York Times Book Review
Ever wondered how to pan-fry a steak with a charred crust and an interior that's perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge when you cut into it? How to make homemade mac 'n' cheese that is as satisfyingly gooey and velvety-smooth as the blue box stuff, but far tastier? How to roast a succulent, moist turkey (forget about brining!)—and use a foolproof method that works every time?
As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence, J. Kenji López-Alt has pondered all these questions and more. In The Food Lab, Kenji focuses on the science behind beloved American dishes, delving into the interactions between heat, energy, and molecules that create great food. Kenji shows that often, conventional methods don't work that well, and home cooks can achieve far better results using new—but simple—techniques. In hundreds of easy-to-make recipes with over 1,000 full-color images, you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes, how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes, how to make the crispiest, creamiest potato casserole ever conceived, and much more.
Over 1 Million Copies Sold
A New York Times Bestseller
Winner of the James Beard Award for General Cooking and the IACP Cookbook of the Year Award
"The one book you must have, no matter what you're planning to cook or where your skill level falls."—New York Times Book Review
Ever wondered how to pan-fry a steak with a charred crust and an interior that's perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge when you cut into it? How to make homemade mac 'n' cheese that is as satisfyingly gooey and velvety-smooth as the blue box stuff, but far tastier? How to roast a succulent, moist turkey (forget about brining!)—and use a foolproof method that works every time?
As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence, J. Kenji López-Alt has pondered all these questions and more. In The Food Lab, Kenji focuses on the science behind beloved American dishes, delving into the interactions between heat, energy, and molecules that create great food. Kenji shows that often, conventional methods don't work that well, and home cooks can achieve far better results using new—but simple—techniques. In hundreds of easy-to-make recipes with over 1,000 full-color images, you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes, how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes, how to make the crispiest, creamiest potato casserole ever conceived, and much more.
Reviews-
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Starred review from July 20, 2015
The managing culinary director of the Serious Eats website, editor, and author of the James Beard Award–nominated column that informs this massive investigation into the best methods for preparing a litany of foods, Lopez-Alt takes a deep dive into classic recipes and their best preparation methods. Lopez-Alt’s experience as test cook and editor at Cook’s Illustrated magazine clearly comes in handy, as he recounts the many steps he took in order to determine the best way to pan-sear a steak, whip up a quick tomato soup, scramble an egg or make the best French fries. Though he’s hardly the first to tackle the topic of a more scientific approach to cooking—the ghosts of Cook’s Illustrated, Harold McGee, and Alton Brown loom large— for the most part he deftly manages to hold the reader’s interest and educate without devolving into arcane ingredients or overly complicated instructions. Yes, there are sous-vide cheeseburgers, and his four-step process for cooking steak fries will test many a relationship, but helpful tips on pan-searing a steak (frequent flipping is fine, and might even be the best way), taking the armwork out of risotto, and whipping up a flavor-rich homemade chicken stock in under an hour are genuinely informative and sure to help home cooks of all skill levels. Lopez-Alt’s writing style is friendly and informative; he’s genuinely interested in his material, and that enthusiasm shines through. Given the book’s breadth and depth, this is a remarkable piece of work that stands up to its culinary comrades, and is a terrific starting point for home cooks interested in perfecting their techniques. -
Starred review from June 15, 2015
Working in professional restaurant and test kitchens, MIT grad and chef Lopez-Alt (managing culinary director, SeriousEats.com) learned to question "expert" cooking advice. In the vein of his James Beard Award-nominated column "The Food Lab" and previous writings for Cook's Illustrated magazine, his massive debut debunks false kitchen wisdom through rigorous scientific inquiry. Hugely informative yet not quite a textbook, this title uses humorous prose and more than 1,000 color images to relay the results of tireless experimenting with cooking temperatures, techniques, and tools. After trying Lopez-Alt's perfected recipes for omelets (diner-style and Western), potatoes (fried, mashed, and hashed), meat loaves, and other popular foods, readers will undoubtedly emerge better cooks, with an arsenal of unconventional techniques that really work (e.g., salting eggs 15 minutes in advance of cooking for improved texture). VERDICT This indispensable kitchen manual, which suggests visualizing heat capacity as a coop full of Red Bull-energized chickens, makes food science accessible.
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
- Emily Weinstein;New York Times There may be few voices more authoritative than that of J. Kenji López-Alt, the nerd king of Internet cooking.... [A] strong addition to shelves.
- Joanna Pearlstein;Wired The ultimate book for science nerds who cook.... The Food Lab nicely marries the hard-science, full-on geekery of McGee with the just-tell-me-how-to-boil-an-egg utilitarianism of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.
- Russ Parsons;Los Angeles Times Loaded with fascinating information.... López-Alt gives you enough science for the explanations to make sense, but everything is still firmly rooted in practical home cooking.
- Tara Duggan;San Francisco Chronicle Five years in the making, [The Food Lab is] a culmination of the wunderkind's unlikely ascent into a cultish figure—and the face of a new kind of home cooking.
- Rebekah Denn;Seattle Times An authoritative, instant-classic reference book that's also an engaging read. Lopez-Alt, managing culinary director of Serious Eats, is the Science Guy of the kitchen, offering thorough investigations of the best recipes and cooking methods for everything from crispy French fries to a mind-blowing Bolognese sauce.
- Ed Levine, founder of SeriousEats.com Kenji is the most important recipe developer to come along in a generation.
- Michael Ruhlman, James Beard Award–winning author of Ruhlman's Twenty Rare is the work that combines extraordinary passion with such obsessive scientific rigor. The Food Lab is an uncommon and invaluable contribution to our food literature.
