HarpGriffin reviewed Kitchen hacks by America's Test Kitchen (Firm)
None
1 star
I mostly wanted to read this because I'm always looking for introductory cooking texts to direct friends to, since I'm generally not in the same state/region/country/continent as them to help them learn in the kitchen. I expected better of Cook's than this trash. The food substitutions are in many cases entirely unsuitable (if you sub white wine and sugar in place of mirin in a recipe, I will cut you). They also advise using non-food grade tools in the kitchen (don't ever do this, I beg you, as someone who actually works with materials in the food industry at an industrial scale and needs to know exactly why non-food-grade is a terrible idea; there are many lies in the food industry, but food-grade's importance is not one of them). I could understand some of their tips on "easy" ways to do things which were mostly just... not good kitchen practice …
I mostly wanted to read this because I'm always looking for introductory cooking texts to direct friends to, since I'm generally not in the same state/region/country/continent as them to help them learn in the kitchen. I expected better of Cook's than this trash. The food substitutions are in many cases entirely unsuitable (if you sub white wine and sugar in place of mirin in a recipe, I will cut you). They also advise using non-food grade tools in the kitchen (don't ever do this, I beg you, as someone who actually works with materials in the food industry at an industrial scale and needs to know exactly why non-food-grade is a terrible idea; there are many lies in the food industry, but food-grade's importance is not one of them). I could understand some of their tips on "easy" ways to do things which were mostly just... not good kitchen practice as a rule, but easier to teach from a book and in some cases, great for folks with varying disabilities. I was frustrated that much of their okay tips amounted to "contribute to plastic waste!".