Rating: 
Summary: Makes a Lovely Bookend
Review: I originally bought this book to replace my ratty 1964 edition of "The Joy." Today, I ordered the 1975 edition instead, and I recommend that others do, too. Some of us here in the Midwest are still occasionally faced with cooking a whole sullen pumpkin or dealing with the casualty of a gun-toting uncle's walk in the woods. The ladies Rombauer never let us down. If I want most of the food Becker writes about, I do live near a metro area large enough that I find a ethnic restaurant that cooks it, and better. The Becker book reminds me of the old saying, "Don't mess with success."
Rating: 
Summary: Good Stuff but Thin Pages
Review: Nearly all the recipes I've have tried have been very good. The best apple and strawberry-rhubarb pies ever! Also, great fish and cookies. Because it is such a thorough book, it's used a lot. The paper quality, however, is poor; so thin that the pages will easily be torn and tattered before long.
Rating:
Summary: Really Like Joy of Cooking
Review: I bought this book to supplement the specialty cookbooks I already own, and I wasn't disappointed. While I haven't been tempted to make the "Maryland Fried Chicken," I have made the lasagna al forno, the pecan pie, banana bread, some soups and some other desserts. Book includes nice nod to lower-fat recipes. Everything's yummy! There's nothing political about this book, as that one angry reviewer claims. It's just about good cookin'.
Rating: 
Summary: A great basic
Review: I have to begin by saying that I did not grow up with the old Joy. This is not a comparison review. I did grow up cooking up a storm with a bunch of different cookbooks. Now I am on my own in my first apartment, and I use the new Joy constantly. There are some great basic recipes (I made my first successful pie using this books) but there are also some interesting ideas, which I find equally valuable. The techniques are clear and, if not foolproof, usually highly successful. I also find it a good reference tool, particularly with fruits and vegetables. It's not absolutely complete; no cookbook could be. I supplement the use of Joy with some specialty cookbooks, a Food and Wine subscription, and a couple of websites. But my starting point is always Joy, and it is a Joy.
Rating: 
Summary: Agreed: not the old one, but not horrible either.
Review: I was lucky enough to keep my old, splattered, grimy Joy that is in five pieces, handed down from mother to daughter to friend. I'm glad I did, because the chocolate sauce recipe for "the kind of sauce that hardens on ice cream" is not in the new one.(Neither is a recipe for good, crispy roast potatos, but I've tried others instead.) I won't be able to find out how to clean a deer in this version, but I *might* be able to learn how to make a good, spicy Cuban-style pork sandwich. And that's okay by me.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Throw Out Your Old Joy!
Review: With his new edition of the Joy, Ethan Becker betrays the tradition of his mother and grandmother who wrote the original Joy. As loyal readers of the original editions know, Irma Rombauer (Ethan's grandmother) and Marion Rombauer Becker (Ethan's mother) added to a select few recipes the word "Cockaigne," to indicate their favorites. Ethan has distorted this trusted symbol. For instance, in the old Joy there was a recipe called "Devil's Food Cake Cockaigne." Under the title were the words "The best chocolate cake we know." The new Joy also has a recipe called "Devil's Food Cake Cockaigne." However, the recipe is for a completely different cake. Other Cockaigne recipes from the old edition, such as "Apple, Peach or Plum Cake Cockaigne" (which I use to make plum cake every Rosh Hashana to rave reviews) are simply gone. In short, Ethan Becker should have written his own cookbook instead of "revising" out of recognition an old and trusted friend.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, poor printing quality
Review: I love Joy of Cooking. My older edition has been used time and again. The new edition is well-written and has updated recipes I have enjoyed. My only lament is the new book's quality. I had to send my first one back to the publisher after just one year because it started to fall apart. The replacement copy they sent me (postage there was at my expense) has several pages that aren't printed quite right. Considering that these books will be very much used, the publisher should have insisted on better quality from its printer! Having said that, do buy the book. You can do no better than its many wonderful recipes and all the information you need to go with them.
Rating:
Summary: The Joy of Spices
Review: Howe found the book an excellent resource and now use this along with my favorite site, americanspice.com to come up with new ideas for dinner parties and entertaining. I still use the original publication, but now quite as much as the new edition.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely useful - don't be afraid of change!
Review: I remember joking with my mother about how if you wanted to roast a goat, you could find it in the Joy of Cooking. In other words, it was thorough to a fault, and somewhat esoteric at times. When my mother gave me a copy of the New Joy of Cooking, I was thrilled to see that the thoroughness of the new version had been applied to the tastes of cooks in the 1990s. I have found the cookbook especially helpful in providing instructions on techniques for baked goods and it contains one of the most delicious sets of marinade/rub recipies I have found. I also appreciate how a recipie has been included for almost every fruit and vegetable available in North America - I found an okra recipie to satisfy my son's curiosity after he had read about okra in a book. It was fabulous, and even the okra-haters had to admit that Joy of Cooking had given them a new appreciation for the much-maligned veggie. In response to those horrified by the changes, those of us born after 1965 no longer divide our diets between "our food" (meat, potatoes, etc.) and "their food" (pad thai, tofu, tapas, chorizo, etc.) I appreciate a general cookbook that gives me access to recipies that encompass the full range of my diet. New Joy editors, you will be vindicated and celebrated for this great new volume!
Rating:
Summary: Great for basic cookng, but not as good as the old one.
Review: I bought this book because my old 1973 edition had fallen apart. I was perfectly happy with my purchace, but I noticed that it was missing some sections. Nothing I cant live without.
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