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Summary: If you only have one cookbook...
Review: I have a whole bookcase of cookbooks and receipes, but I use this book more than all the others combined. It covers all the basic information you need to know, like how to cook various meats, soup receipes, a killer chocolate cake receipe, how to make blueberry jam, and it also covers nearly every sort of problem that you could have making these things. I personally like this edition much better than the new one, and I'm ordering a few to keep on hand as gifts.
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Summary: Joy of Cooking to use again and again
Review: I have the original edition, and I am still returning to get ideas and recipes. This is my Bible and I am never disappointed after all these years. I recommend it to all my friends for basics and for advanced recipes and ideas. I like the detail for basics since this is technique that is so essential for gourmet cooking. This detail for basics is what can be lost and can make the difference between success and failure in a recipe.
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Summary: A MUST HAVE cookbook for the new or experienced cook!
Review: I won't bore you with a long review. Just know that this cookbook contains EXCELLENT recipes, most from the basic scratch form. Each and everytime I make a recipe out of here EVERYONE raves and barely are their leftovers. Instructions and tips aid in perfect results. BUY IT. GIVE ONE AS A GIFT. It will be passed on through generations like mine has.
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Summary: Wonderful Joy of Cooking
Review: I own the larger version of this book, but both are extremely useful! Including hundreds of recipes ranging from breads to main dishes, Joy of Cooking is one cookbook I'll forever use. I can't say enough about it.
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Summary: hurts my eyes
Review: The recipes are fine, but the format is irksome. I much prefer the ring-binder with tabs cookbooks to this one, which I recieved as a gift. The other irritating aspects of the book are:* small font * thin, flimsy pages (Think newsprint or coffee filter absorbancy.) * instructions interspersed with the ingredients (I prefer to see them listed first, followed by instructions.) * drawings only (In this technologically advanced day and age, you'd expect photographs at the very least, and maybe even some color -- but not with JOC.) * no tabs Did I mention there are no tabs in this book which has many, Many, MANY pages? To find a recipe or section you must either use the table of contents/index or else flounder around until you find it. This book makes me tired and cranky and I find that I am very averse to using it, not because the recipes are bad, but because of the format.
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Summary: Never found a better cookbook
Review: The Joy of Cooking, with its versatility, detail, and wonderful scope of recipes, is suited both to the experienced "master chef" and to new cooks. Recipes are generally easy to prepare, the more so because the book has extensive explanations of such areas as cooking techniques, types of sauces, and cuts of meat, simplifying shopping as well. Dishes included range from the simple (but elegant) to the exotic. My only regret in using The Joy of Cooking is that I refer to it so constantly that I need to replace my copies at the dawn of each decade.
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Summary: The Spiral Edition ins't inexpensive, it's cheap!
Review: Joy of Cooking is a wonderful resource in the hardback edition, especially the version updated with a new copyright in 1997 with Ethan Becker added as an editor. The new hardback, though expensive, is worth every penny and then some.
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Summary: Guidelines even for people who already know how to cook!
Review: I used this book to learn how to cook meat when I left vegetarianism, and continued to use it, altering recipes as I went, when I tried vegetarianism again. Now I'm back to being an omnivore, but eat a low-fat diet, and I haven't found a recipe for which I couldn't make minor adjustments to make it fit my diet. It's the first cookbook among the dozen I own that I go to for ideas for meals or new dishes, or for what to do with some ingredient I need to use up. Now I'm buying one for my brother and his new bride, who both have great ambitions for learning to cook. I consider it so indispensible that even though they may already have one, they can always put this one away for when theirs falls to bits or becomes illegible from food stains.
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Summary: Joy of Cooking CD-ROM
Review: We wish we had gotten the book instead. We were taken in by the menu planning and shopping list features listed on the box. They are very difficult to use and we probably won't bother learning to use it. Maybe we'll print out a recipe occasionally, but a new copy of the book would have been a better choice.
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Summary: a classic: two reasons to get this book
Review: The Joy of Cooking is by now a classic, a Bible of cooking. An encyclopedic tome of procedures, material and recipes. I shall not attempt to cover its many virtues here, but instead I would like to focus on two reasons why you MUST get this book: LEARNING TO COOK The Joy of Cooking is more than just a recipe book. It's a textbook. As a student, living on my own and having to take my first steps in the kitchen, this book was a life saver -- it taught me how to cook. Other cookbooks are mere collections of recipes: If you follow them carefully, you have a good chance at ending up with something close to what the author intended. But most cookbooks don't teach you anything about preparing food -- they're just recipes -- so you never really understand, for example, how different doughs are made and how they're used for different breads and pastries, or what kinds of fish should be broiled, fried or cooked, etc. The Joy of Cooking teaches you all that, and much more. If you take the time to actually read the descriptions at the start of each chapter, as opposed to just searching for and following a recipe, you will understand how to cook. The importance of this is immense: If you actually understand what your doing, as opposed to simply following directions, you can improvise, invent new recipes, correct any problems/mistakes/errors, etc. You will begin to think like a Chef. I own many cookbooks, but the Joy of Cooking is one of the very few that actually attempts (and does such a wonderful job) teaching you how to cook. You shouldn't miss up on this opportunity. It's very clear, very well-written, and is ideal for those that are taking their first steps in the kitchen. RARE AND DIFFICULT TO FIND RECIPES While the Joy of Cooking can't contain each and every ethnic food, it is quite encyclopedic nonetheless. Often, I search dosens of cookbooks, surf the internet, ask friends, only to discover that what I'm looking for is already in the Joy of Cooking! I should have consulted it first! Do you realise that the Joy of Cooking will teach you how to make marshmellows, Halwa, Turkish pastry dough (for borekas), candy, and many other not-so-easy-to-find recipes? And all from scratch: Marshmellows are essentially whipped sugar syrup and gelatin. Halva is essentially sugar syrup and raw tehini sauce. Making Turkish pastry dough is an involved process that takes time and precision -- all the steps for which are in the Joy of Cooking. While I have all these recipes in other books as well, I have no other SINGLE book that contains them all. The Joy of Cooking is encyclopedic and diverse, its scope as far as procedures or ethnic foods are concerned is enormous. This should be your first cookbook, and unless you're looking for some really exotic procedures and recipes, it could very well be your only cookbook.
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