America's Test Kitchen new book

[vloglady]

I'm considering ordering it from the website, it's a good price. Any thoughts about it?

[ElsieD]

How "new" is it?  I have owned more than a few of their books in the past.  One day I did an index comparison and found a lot of duplication of recipes.  Never bought another one of their books.  If you don't have any of their other books it might be worth buying as their recipes are foolproof.

[lindag]

2 hours ago, vloglady said:

I'm considering ordering it from the website, it's a good price. Any thoughts about it?

Which book is it?  Can you post a link?

[rotuts]

I discovered ATK's business model years ago was based on Churn.

 

this was so long ago , that google teamed up w Amazon and gave me a significant extra % off the already discounted Amazon p[rice

 

Amazon sold mostly books way back then

 

I got a " Best " book and back then the books were worth reading as they had a lot of information in them

 

I noticed several exact Rx from previous books.

 

I called them in Brookline MA.   they actually answered the phone , were polite and referred me to the Editors office.

 

they said " yes . 40 % of the book came from previous books "

 

that didn't go over well with me ,  as previous material published in a new books has to be indicated on the copyright page.

 

so I just get them from time to time from the library.

 

they have their p[alce , esp now that they have a lot of color step-by step pics

 

but are not worth buying , even at a steep double discount I got way back when :  I payed 40 % of the list price.

 

they ATK cooking show has different sorts of dups on it

 

one season the did a butterfly'd  pork loin , stuffed w this and that

 

the next season they did the exact same Rx , but the salt was changed by an insignificant amount 

 

I am able to cap the shows , along w other PBS cooking shows , and keep they around for reasons that are unclear to me.

 

How many marbles do you need to " play marbles ? "

 

here are some of their books :

 

https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/new-releases-649.html

 

which one interests you?  Im sure my library has it or will soon !

[eugenep]

I was interested in their book on sous vide book because my sous vide never comes out right. 

 

E.g., 3-5 day short ribs at about 165 F leads to soft meat but a lot of heavy fat still not rendered. 

 

Mui cui salmon lacks texture 

 

and a lot of things wrong with taste and texture overall 

 

I follow Kenji Alt Lopez and famous guys but baking in the oven or pan frying seems to produce better tasting results than sous vide

 

If anyone has tried their sous vide book and recipes, and can comment on that - mucho appreciated 

[ElsieD]

If it is a book on sous vide you are after, buy "Sous Vide for the Home Cook" by Douglas E. Baldwin.  It is excellent.

[rotuts]

@eugenep

 

SV really does not need a cook-book , if a cook-book is a collection of Rx's

 

your SV results will improve dramatically once you understand that

 

1 )  Time for cooking relates to tenderness of the final item.   too much Time  for certain meats will result in ' mealy-ness '

 

2 ) Temperature of the bath relates to " doneness "  : traditional  Rare , medium and well.  as the temperature of the bath increases , meat juices are squeezed out of the meat as it contracts .

 

     in the same manner as a traditional braise :    the braised meat will be very tender , but on its own , have a ' dry ' feel in the mouth.

 

Fat is not well rendered with SV at the ideal temps for cooking the meat. Fat needs fairly high heat to " melt "

 

I have the D.E.Baldwin book , and have had it a long long time.   Ive only used the temp tables and they are very useful.

 

I checked this book out of the library so many times , I bought it :

 

https://www.amazon.com/Sous-Vide-Home-Technique-Perfectly/dp/0399578064

 

it is a more tradition cook-book , w tantalizing pictures and Rx.s that seem to be well thought out.

 

this book , more a meat book 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Butcher-Select-Prepare-Every/dp/0316480665

 

talks a lot about types of meat , and how to cook meat , with s section that quite complete on understanding SV as a cooking technique.

 

I reviewed it on eG  , and the price went up !  but is back down now .

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/157667-secrets-of-the-butcher/?tab=comments#comment-2180402

 

if you take your time here on eG going thorough the various SV threads ,  you will learn more,  effective  information that many many commercial books combined.

 

SV does certain things , not everything .   but what SV does well , it does very very well once you understand what its doing 

 

its very different than differential cooking , which is conventional cooking :  using a heat gradient   ( hot pan , hot oven , hot grill )  the surface of the meat will be much higher

 

on the outside , then the center .     that can be good and not so good.

 

keep experimenting 

 

and keep a notebook of your work .   this is very important  over time

 

It been said here on eG  that a " Red Engineering lined notebook works best "

 

Bon Appetit !

 

Edited March 13, 2019 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

@eugenep

 

the ATK Sous-Vide book is in my library

 

Ill check it out and look it over

 

SV  was featured on the ATK  for 20 seconds , years ago

 

showing a SousVidSupreme box

 

and verily little more.   the ATK team has not featured it in their TV shows

 

their TV shows are very directed cooking.

 

Ill let you know what I think when I look over the book.

 

cheers

 

P.S.:  whats on your plate tonight ?

 

[gfweb]

3 hours ago, eugenep said:

I was interested in their book on sous vide book because my sous vide never comes out right. 

 

E.g., 3-5 day short ribs at about 165 F leads to soft meat but a lot of heavy fat still not rendered. 

 

Mui cui salmon lacks texture 

 

and a lot of things wrong with taste and texture overall 

 

I follow Kenji Alt Lopez and famous guys but baking in the oven or pan frying seems to produce better tasting results than sous vide

 

If anyone has tried their sous vide book and recipes, and can comment on that - mucho appreciated 

 

I find SV great for some things and not for others.  For meats that I'd usually braise eg short ribs, I generally prefer braising over SV. I think the braising results in a much different product than the SV...tastier and different.  Turkey and chicken breast is vastly better by SV in taste and texture.   Corned beef I like better by SV. Pork loin is much better by SV.  Shrimp is better by SV.  Fish I prefer to steam or broil.

[kayb]

FWIW, the ChefSteps sous vide page is excellent. It's geared toward the Joule, but everything works just as well with the Anova.

 

[eugenep]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@eugenep

 

P.S.:  whats on your plate tonight ?

 

No sous vide for me tonight. 

 

I was just going to do a sauteed steak with red wine sauce - standard Bordelaise - and then using my mandolin to julienne these purple potatoes to make  fries. 

 

I'm trying to step up my game by learning the foundational classic French dishes that's doable at home hopefully. Le Cordon Bleu has this book geared for that (mostly for learning) and I'm using James Peterson's books as well. 

 

And trying to do French pastry by the recipes in The Art of French Pastry book. 

 

Not a Franco-phile but their techniques seems like something worth learning. 

 

 

[rotuts]

I just got the book

 

Sous Vide for Everybody: The Easy, Foolproof Cooking Technique That's Sweeping the World

 

from my library.    its s decent beginners book ,  and based on the ATK business model , Im almost choking on my words.

 

plenty of pictures ,  and eGullet was mentioned on pp 3 :

 

" No one had spent tie experimenting with them [ed,: circulators ] .  Enter : the website eGullet.  the forums on this culinary-minded site

 

were a place for people to geek out on food-realted issues , and sous vide was a perfect subject.  "

 

Id quible a bit on some of their temps , but thats a personal preference.    they do turkey breast @ 145 F

 

their ' egg page ' os OK , but their are better on the internet.

 

they poach their skinless chicken breast @ 150 F , a bit high for me.   the also use 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in the bag

 

which I find odd and unnecessary  and messy.

 

they have not done SV on any of theirTV shows.   they have mentioned Sous Vide Supreme , and probably a circulator or two

 

I wonder where they got all their information for so many Rx's ?

 

but , if you like pictures , and are just starting out , It going to be OK

 

I feel their temps are a bit high , and wonder , in a published book , are they just concerned about possible health issues at sl lower temps?

 

with a bit of patience , you can learn more by following the eG discussions.

 

now Im not saying that's what they did.

[rotuts]

Oooooooo!

 

just like that

 

ATK S19 Ep 08 :

 

SouVide 

 

Eggs /steak / circulators.

 

as much as it galls me 

 

they did a decent job.   it will probably drive me to drink   

 

the steak was 1.5 to 3 hours  @ 130   ( expensive rib-eye steaks w caps  )   then pan sear, make  a deglazed sauce

 

they use the displacement method . and they added 1/4 cup of vegetable oil to help displace air.

 

for poached eggs , cold from the refrigerator  :  167 x 12 minutes  , ice bath for one minute , the crack onto toast.

 

aside from the oil , they did a decent job.

 

they might have used the straw in the corner method for the last bit or air , saving a bit of mess.

 

and then used the jus from the steak for their final deglaze rather than chicken stock.

 

they preferred the Sansaire circulator , based on a quicker beet the water up , and an accuracy of 0.2F

 

they did fairly note that it required a program on a mobile device , and if you didn't want that feature , the Anova WiFi was the

 

way to go.   in their book , the downgraded the Anova as they said it had a 2 degree accuracy , and 

 

that was too much for eggs.  they did not mention this on the show.  My Anova's are perfectly accurate for eggs

 

at what ever temp I set them for.

 

anyway , a decent introduction for those who knew nothing about SV

 

parched I am.

Edited March 19, 2019 by rotuts (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, rotuts said:

parched I am.

 

Well I know the feeling.  But speaking as someone who collects thermometers my anova is spot on.

 

[rotuts]

and so are mine.

 

that's why I think ATK frequently " mails it in "

[ElsieD]

9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Well I know the feeling.  But speaking as someone who collects thermometers my anova is spot on.

 

 

So is mine.

[eugenep]

hey guys - check it out 

 

ATK's book, Sous Vide for Everybody, mentioned EGullet: 

 

“The technique slowly spread to chefs in the U.S.— largely thanks to the Internet. Chefs began to acquire sous vide circulators for their kitchens in the early 2000s. (Thomas Keller was one of the first.) The only problem: No one really knew how to use them. None of these chefs had come up in the kitchen world using them. No one had spent time experimenting with them. Enter: the website eGullet. The forums on this culinary-minded site were a place for people to geek out on food-related issues, and sous vide was a perfect subject.

 

On eGullet, explained Boston chef Tony Maws, people like Grant Achatz, Sean Brock, Wyliê Dufresne, and many others “would talk about what they were playing with, and [how they used] different times and temperatures for different proteins. There was a lot of sharing of knowledge, and over time we figured out this technique.”

 

 

Excerpt From: America's Test Kitchen. “Sous Vide for Everybody.” 

"

[nickrey]

If you're interested in sous vide, you could do a lot worse than consulting the eGullet sous vide index.

 

[gfweb]

On 4/28/2019 at 9:45 AM, eugenep said:

hey guys - check it out 

 

ATK's book, Sous Vide for Everybody, mentioned EGullet: 

 

“The technique slowly spread to chefs in the U.S.— largely thanks to the Internet. Chefs began to acquire sous vide circulators for their kitchens in the early 2000s. (Thomas Keller was one of the first.) The only problem: No one really knew how to use them. None of these chefs had come up in the kitchen world using them. No one had spent time experimenting with them. Enter: the website eGullet. The forums on this culinary-minded site were a place for people to geek out on food-related issues, and sous vide was a perfect subject.

 

On eGullet, explained Boston chef Tony Maws, people like Grant Achatz, Sean Brock, Wyliê Dufresne, and many others “would talk about what they were playing with, and [how they used] different times and temperatures for different proteins. There was a lot of sharing of knowledge, and over time we figured out this technique.”

 

 

Excerpt From: America's Test Kitchen. “Sous Vide for Everybody.” 

"

 

It was pretty cool back then on eG.