Rating: 
Summary: Mr. Wizard Meets Julia Child
Review: This is a great cookbook for those who want to know the "why" behind a recipe's instructions. You get lots of science, but it's all presented with kitchy 50's graphics and tongue firmly placed in cheek.There aren't a ton of recipes, but Alton Brown's self-proclaimed mission is not to present recipes but to empower cooks to adjust/improve/tinker with recipes intelligently. If you're expecting something like your local Junior League or the Lion's Club publishes, this one's not for you. But if you're prone to tamper with a recipe and try to make it your own, this is a great addition to your cookbook shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much filler, not enough substance
Review: BASIC THEME: TV Food Personality puts a 'food science' spin on the tired old celebrity chef idea. WHAT I LIKED:
* SPIN: Alton's primary focus is on discussing the WHY and HOW of cooking, from a food sciences vantage point. He explains why, for instance, certain cuts of meat are best braised, while others are best grilled or roasted, as well as things like how different leavening agents work.
* I like his TV show, but only because I'm a fellow 'food geek'. WHAT I DISLIKED:
* FILLERS: This book is heavily padded to conceal how thin it is on content. Double spacing, sparsely filled (or completely blank) left and right panes on every page, full page cartoons that are mildly intelligence insulting ... it's like a meatball that's mostly bread (filler) with just barely enough actual meat for flavor. It weighs in at 300 pages, but there's less than 100 pages of actual substance.
* RECIPES: He does a decent job of explaining why certain techniques work, but he only covers a few selected topics. It's hardly exhaustive or remotely professional in scope. Also, this book contains relatively few recipes compared to just about any other cookbook on the bookshelf. Also, if you already have a budding culinary library at home, you'll quickly realize that few (if any) of the recipes are actually good enough (or original enough) to cause you to ever reach for this book over one of your well-worn favorites. It's a read and forget kinda book. RATING: It's a failure as a cookbook, due to the paucity of recipes, and it's also a failure as a food science book due to a lack of breadth and depth combined with excessive visual padding by the publisher. Too much filler, not enough meat. That's 2 strikes in my oninion - the 3rd pitch is up to the reader. I'll give it 2 out of 5 stars (fair). Add 1-2 stars if you're a curious culinary newbie who likes "____ for dummies" fare. Subtract 1-2 stars if you're already a competant cook and were expecting something useful/substantial in exchange for paying the cover price. I'm gonna stick with people like Jacques Pepin and Julia Child - this book is mostly fluff...
Rating: 
Summary: Recipes need work
Review: Good book on the why and how of cooking in general. However, it is difficult to follow some of his recipes because of nomenclature. You really need to know a thing or two about cooking before the recipes can be used without clarification. He seems to be obsessed with doing things in a non-traditional way just for the sake of doing things in a non-traditional way. Overall, a good book to buy.
Rating:
Summary: More than just a cookbook
Review: I love Alton Brown. There, I had to say it. Now you know my biases going in. If you like Brown's show Good Eats, you'll love this book. You can hear Brown talking through the book, and his humor certainly comes through. There is great information about the why's of cooking, in addition to the recipes, which, to me, were almost unnecessary. I'm one of those people who likes to know all aspects of those things that interest me, so this book was great for me. It goes beyond a regular cookbook, which "just" gives recipes, to the reasons why we do what we do when cooking, including exposing some of the myths we've all grown up with. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more than just the measurements.
Rating:
Summary: Funny & Informative Read on the Hows & Whys of Cooking
Review: Sure, you can follow a recipe, but did you ever wonder why it says to "rest" a cut of meat after cooking? Or how exactly to properly sear or saute something? Or do you follow instructions and end up with dry, overcooked, or otherwise inedible food nonetheless? Then Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking is definitely for you. Alton's tone makes the book a quick and enjoyable read. Capturing the essence of his Food Network program "Good Eats" in printed form, the book's text is often funny and always informative. Illustrations accompany the text in strategic locations, including one particularly funny one demonstrating the consequences of poor safety when deep frying. The book covers the basics from searing to grilling to broiling to cooking with water (steaming, simmering, etc.) and frying. Each section explains the processes at work and the reasons each technique should be used and why they work. Whereas other texts do cover the same techniques as this book--and some even delve into the hows & whys behind the various methods of cooking--Food + Heat = Cooking makes the explanations readable and memorable without coming across like a textbook. Fans of Brown's show on Food Network will certainly want the book. However, don't buy this book if you're looking for lots of glossy, yummy photos of food. Do buy it if you can't get recipes to work correctly or find their directions unclear or just want to improvise on occasion and have your dishes turn out great. Although the book does contain quite a few recipes, its true value is in the techniques and the whys & hows of cooking.
Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: I got this book for my brother-in-law, but ended up reading it before I gave it to him as a gift! Very educational, as is the author's show, and has lots of tips and shortcuts, which I like. I have tasted some of the recipes from the book - delicious. I have considered buying one for myself, but why buy when one can borrow???
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational!
Review: This book will truly inspire you to be a better cook. If I were teaching someone how to cook, this would be the book I gave them! But it's not just for beginners! Alton Brown explains the process of cooking. Step by Step you will learn how (and why) to sear, braise, roast, grill etc. Once you have these techniques under your belt, you can now apply them to any recipes you have, or create some recipes of you own. I recently found out that this book was nominated for a James Beard award in the Reference material category. It is well deserved and I truly hope he wins that award!
Rating:
Summary: Best Book around
Review: Buy this book. Every time I pick it up I learn something new. This is by far the best cook book around. Amazon lets you read a few pages of the book, its called "Look Inside" Read the first Excerpt page and he explains how he does things a little bit differently. There is not enough room to explain how good this book is.
Rating:
Summary: Love the book...
Review: ... and I love the show. Can't say enough good things about the book or the author. Great ideas and suggestions.
Rating:
Summary: not just What or How but also Why
Review: This complements nicely other cook books.
It does not try to explain cooking with just
what to do and how to do it, but also WHY we should do
it this way, why it's important and what difference
it does make.
It does not have colour photos, just diagrams.
It explains in plain english the chemistry that happen when cooking.
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