"Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet (Part 3)

[ermintrude]

Got home and my neighbours had intercepted the courier for me and had my copy. The packaging seems nuclear bomb proof and the set was smaller than I imagined it was going to be. But now happily installed on the "These do not go into the kitchen book shelf"

Now for some reading, I may be sometime......

[AnneN]

What is the rough ETA for the printable full index (as noted up-thread), is it weeks or months (I hope for the former but fully understand if it is the latter).

Looking forward to getting my copy next Tuesday (Mar 10th US Amazon order for those that are keeping track)...

Check back - I believe it is now fully printable.

Thanks! You are correct; it is now printable. I am thinking of printing it and running it to my UPS store and have them bind it for me.

[edsel]

Got home and my neighbours had intercepted the courier for me and had my copy. The packaging seems nuclear bomb proof and the set was smaller than I imagined it was going to be. But now happily installed on the "These do not go into the kitchen book shelf"

Now for some reading, I may be sometime......

I have one of those too. But my cheap shelves are starting to sag under the weight. Time to invest in better shelving!

[ermintrude]

I can recommend vitose a design classic and if you can direct wall mount not as expensive as you may think.

[Chris Hennes]

Well, I can show you where I intend to keep mine, someday:

Of course, the reality is, right now they live on my desk, more or less permanently:

(volume one is on my wife's nightstand....)

[Anna N]

Mine (ours!) will make their permanent home with Kerry Beal but for the moment they litter my coffee table and the case and remaining volumes take up space on my dining room table - so lots of room to read and study - not so much room to eat.

[Kerry Beal]

Mine (ours!) will make their permanent home with Kerry Beal but for the moment they litter my coffee table and the case and remaining volumes take up space on my dining room table - so lots of room to read and study - not so much room to eat.

Tell them how well your hubby is protecting them for me.

[DanM]

Chef Myhrvold

Congrats on the successful launch of your epic tome. Have you considered publishing a version of your book that will appeal to the advanced home cook? I am sure there is more than enough in these five volumes to fill one book showing how modernist techniques can be applied in the average American home with readily available ingredients and commonly found tools.

Dan

[Anna N]

Mine (ours!) will make their permanent home with Kerry Beal but for the moment they litter my coffee table and the case and remaining volumes take up space on my dining room table - so lots of room to read and study - not so much room to eat.

Tell them how well your hubby is protecting them for me.

Yeah. I am not allowed to have food or drink within miles of them, can't rest my sheaf of paper on them when I write lest it bleed through, must remove them from the coffee table when we have visitors just in case those visitors are careless - sheesh even Kerry wouldn't be that strict with me.

[ermintrude]

My friend who is in marketing just saw them, totally uninterested in the content but the printing, asking me questions I can't answer, I directed him to modernistcuisine.com but he wants to know more. I've never seen someone go so intense over a book - and that was just the prinbt quality. And for the kitchen manual I said it was made to be damage proof and he said can I rip it, heart said no, head said yes and it did not rip.

The book itself is a new thing. is there more info on the printing process and color accuracy I can pass on to my m8?

[mkayahara]

Reading through chapter 2 tonight, I was surprised to read on pp. 1•132-133, regarding C. botulinum, that heating the food enough to kill the bacteria doesn't destroy the toxin they've already produced. My understanding of the specific case of botulism was that the toxin was quite easy to destroy; the CDC says that heating to an internal temperature of at least 85°C for at least 5 minutes will decontaminate the food in question. I realize there are lots of bacterial toxins that aren't inactivated by normal cooking temperatures, but can anyone clarify the issue of botulinum toxin? Or am I simply reading this paragraph wrong?

[bmdaniel]

85c for 5 minutes is quite high - I don't see an inconsistency here?

[mkayahara]

85c for 5 minutes is quite high - I don't see an inconsistency here?

Yeah, I guess it's pretty dependent on the temperature at which C. botulinum begins to die. The reason it jumped out at me is because of the notorious difficulty in rendering the spores inactive, given that they can survive past 100°C.

[jackal10]

Anyone notice the distinctive smell of the books? I guess its the ink solvent...

[Anna N]

Anyone notice the distinctive smell of the books? I guess its the ink solvent...

Yes. It seems to dissipate as you use them or perhaps I am now so accustomed that I no longer notice it.

[JBailey]

it's like having a 'new car smell' - I miss the fragrance when it's gone. Maybe some bookshop sells a new book freshener to keep in the plastic sleeve!

[abadoozy]

Mine, with pug:

As soon as I got them, my husband said "Let's clear off the table and they can live there as long as you want them to." Heck if that's not a good use for a formal kitchen table, I don't know what it. 95% of the time we eat at our kitchen bar or in the living room.

Edited April 17, 2011 by abadoozy (log)

[ermintrude]

Mine (ours!) will make their permanent home with Kerry Beal but for the moment they litter my coffee table and the case and remaining volumes take up space on my dining room table - so lots of room to read and study - not so much room to eat.

Litter your coffee table, the books in thier case are a coffee table

[Anna N]

Mine (ours!) will make their permanent home with Kerry Beal but for the moment they litter my coffee table and the case and remaining volumes take up space on my dining room table - so lots of room to read and study - not so much room to eat.

Litter your coffee table, the books in thier case are a coffee table

No kidding! I actually cleared off the top of a rolling file cabinet thinking that would be the perfect spot for them for a temporary home until I realized the cabinet's "home" is directly under the source of a major leak every time it rains.

[Guy MovingOn]

I still don't like the layout...

[FoodMan]

So, I've only had them for about 3 days now, but I had to share my reaction so far even if it is a selection of random and maybe incoherent thoughts.

- Holy crap. I knew they were about 50lbs, but they are much heavier than I expected somehow.

- I usually flip through a new book, noting the pictures and interesting recipes, notes...before I go back and actually read in more details. I only managed to do this with Volume 3 and a quarter of volume 2 so far. This is so difficult to do with MC (in a VERY good way). There are so many things that give me pause to read or just look at.

- I love the layout. Instead of being text text text picture text text...you get all that plus the boxes, sidebars, thoughts, some humor, The Science of, The Chemistry of...It makes these books so much more easier to wade through. Almost like a walk in a park with lots of nice foliage. Otherwise it could get tedious and maybe boring.

- I love the What not To do with ____, especially the microwave one. But I still have a lot to go.

- Did anyone really find these difficult to READ?? I am postive I will be reading these cover to cover. Maybe not in order, but I will. The language is fluid and sharp. The paper feels great and the font size and shape seem perfect. Granted I have a lot to actually delve into in detail but I do not understand Ruhlman's comment about it boring him or giving him a headache.

- Girardet's fish cooking method is so damn neat.

- I need to find the sweet spot (or was it zone?) for my grill ASAP.

- After living on the formal dinner table for a couple of days, my dear wife moved them to the bar. They actually look good there and I have no actual bookshelf that they will fit in (too heavy). Dear wife promises she will make room in the kitchen for them...I'm skeptical...

- What "recipe" to try seems beside the point now, but possibly the macaroni and cheese

- Negative? honestly not really at this point, but one thing that confused me a bit is that volume 3 seems to start on the plants section and then delves into cooking methods and techniques abruplty (like batters and frying). I would've assumed this would be on volume 2, but then again V2 is so large that maybe it made more sense to not have it there. Like I said, my thoughts are not all together now and I could be worng about the specific order.

[Chris Amirault]

The organization takes some getting used to -- as would, I think, the organization of anything this massive. After all, most content could reasonably be included in several sections; it's all one big Venn diagram. Thank goodness for the cross-indexing....

[S Schroeder]

So I have a delivery date scheduled for my copy on Tuesday (books are within 90 mi) – check

I have my Index printed off and ready for use – check

I have my book opening party scheduled with family and 1 year-old granddaughter (someone has to play with all that cook packaging) – check

Notebook and pens ready to go (Anna’s picture was an inspiration) – check

Study area close to kitchen to install the books for the foreseeable future – check

Ready to go to school…

[alanjesq]

I have a question about the Kitchen Manual. My kitchen manual does not lie square. The first few pages, perhaps 10 or so, are out of kilter. Now, I am not a perfectionist, but having said that, I am just curious as to why this is happening on a ring binder? Is there a fix. Believe me when I say, this will not keep me up at nights. The Books, and I am only 50% through Volume One are just awesome. In my 70 years, I have never seen anything like them.

alanjesq

[Anna N]

So I have a delivery date scheduled for my copy on Tuesday (books are within 90 mi) – check

I have my Index printed off and ready for use – check

I have my book opening party scheduled with family and 1 year-old granddaughter (someone has to play with all that cook packaging) – check

Notebook and pens ready to go (Anna’s picture was an inspiration) – check

Study area close to kitchen to install the books for the foreseeable future – check

Ready to go to school…

Someone else who saw potential for the packaging other than the recycle bin. Mine is reserved for 10-year-old granddaughter for her next school project that requires some hefty construction material.