Book Review (and a note about silicone bakeware)

posted by joeli under book reviews

I've decided that once a week, I will post a review of some cooking related book. I should note that I'm not actually a big fan of most cookbooks but if I don't hate it then I probably love it. I don't like recipes with lots of fancy ingredients and I don't generally cook with meat or fish, nor do we usually have fruits or wine in the house. So mostly, I flip through a cookbook, see maybe one recipe I like and put it back on the shelf. But by forcing myself to review one cookbook a week, it's making me really look at the book and decide what I like and what I don't. Hopefully I'll find a few more that deserve a place on my shelf. Most of the cookbooks I review will be ones that I get from the library, a few will be ones that I own. My reviews will honest and if I recommend buying a book it'll only be because I think it's a genuinely good book and worth owning. Keep reading for my views on On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee and also my views on silicone bakeware.

First up is On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. This book has really impacted how I cook. It contains everything you ever wanted to know about anything related to food. Seriously, ask me anything and I bet I can find the answer in this book. I enjoy sitting down and picking random sections to read. One day I might learn all about the fat content of different milks. Another day it might be about different types of tea or about how much honey bees produce. But perhaps you aren't the studious type and don't enjoy reading nonfiction for fun. That's okay, this book will still appeal to you. Harold McGee explains the (useful) scientific details of how to cook foods in a way which can any one can understand. For example, my husband loves eggs for breakfast. I don't and so I've never learned how to cook eggs. So when I want to make him breakfast, I simply get down this book, skim the small section on the method of cooking eggs that I want and I'm ready to go. I can now make perfect poached eggs (add 1/2 tbl vinegar and 1tbl salt per quart of water and the eggs will float when done) or nicely soft-boiled eggs every time (5 1/2 minutes in water which is no colder than 70C/160F and no warmer than 90C/195F--yes I use a candy thermometer to boil eggs, deal with it). I seriously can't explain how much I love this book. If you have problems making bread or whipping egg whites or cooking meat or are simply curious about things then get this book.This is a book I own and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a bit of reading.

Details: This book has 811 pages (not including appendix, references or index) and 15 chapters. It covers: Milk & Dairy; Eggs; Meat; Fish & Shellfish; Edible Plants (Intro); Vegetables; Fruits; Herbs & Spices, Tea and Coffee; Seeds: Grains, Legumes and Nuts; Cereal Doughs and Batters: Bread, Cakes, Pastry and Pasta; Sauces; Sugars, Chocolate and Confectionery; Wine, Beer and Distilled Spirits; Cooking Methods and Utensil Materials; and The Four Basic Food Molecules.

PROS: The depth of information in this book is unbelievable. It is the second most useful and referred to book in my kitchen.

CONS: There are no photos nor recipes in this book. Oh, and reading the section about all the ways ordinary vegetables can poison you kind of made me a bit wary of potatoes for a few days.

My rating: 4.5/5; The only way this book could be better is if basic recipes were included along side some of the techniques. For example, here is the basics of how ice cream is made and to get you started here is a simple recipe and ways you might adapt it. And maybe pop in a glossy photo or two.

Now, for a note about silicone bakeware. As you can probably tell from my photos, I bake all my cupcakes in silicone liners. I am a huge fan of the silicone. However it seems that I am in the minority. I can only say that I have never had any problems with my Wilton individuals cupcake liners (any red, blue, or green liners you see on this blog). They are nice and thick, and have a line which tells you how much to fill them. I place them on a thick baking sheet before placing in the oven. My cupcakes cook nicely, pop out easily and I find the liners extremely easy to wash (I turn them inside out and give them a quick scrub). Your experience might not be the same. I also have these Calphalon ones (any light purple, green, or yellow liners you see on this blog). These are thinner and I guess meant to be used in a cupcake pan instead of paper liners. I don't have a metal cupcake pan anymore so I use them on a baking sheet as well. It's taken me a bit of trial and error but I am learning what recipes work well in this thinner liner and which don't. If the cupcake needs to rise then they definitely need a thick liner or you need to put the liners in a pan. But if the cupcake (or muffin) is a bit thick and dense then they work great in these liners. For example, the cheddar apple pie cupcakes I made cooked better in the Calphalon liners. The nice thing about individual liners is that they allow me to experiment in this way. I can make 11 cupcakes in one type of liner and just do 1 in the liner I think won't work as well. Also thin cupcake liners could be used to make individual brownies, meatloaf, quiche, cheesecake, etc.

I also have mini cupcake liners (by Wilton) and a mini cupcake pan, and I love both. I have had bad experiences with cheaper silicone bakeware but the good stuff has never let me down. I also have a loaf pan to bake bread in, which i've used loads and never had any problems with. Additionally, I have bundt/flute pans but so far have only served potato chips in them, cake pans (used once, no problem) and a silicone baking mat (great if you like soft and chewy cookies).

Comments

Hi thank you very much for your answer, that's brilliant!
I am a fan of silicon myself indeed. I know now that I should use the thicker individual cupcake moulds ones, as I'd want to use these on their own. They look great on photos that's for sure!

This is a great post. I've been wanting to post on some items I would not do without myself ...

Very interested in that book too now...

You should plave the foodbuzz voting logo on your site, I would have voted for you! :)))

@Christelle You're very welcome! I'd love to read about items that you find useful. For some reason, I always trust it a bit more when I read it on a blog rather than on amazon or something. Like, if you took the time to actually write a full post, it must be a good item.
I put that foodbuzz voting thing on my sidebar...though I confess, the whole "buzzing" thing still confuses me.

Im like you- I dont like recipes that are over fancy. Have you seen Jamie Olivers new Ministry of food book? Hes having a laugh- some of the recipes contain so many OTT and expensive ingredients, it will never catch on!

I love the sound of this book and all the science etc. Delia does this to an extent but I would be really interested in a whole book dedicated to this.

Great review!

Oh, Joeli, I LOVE McGee's book. I couldn't agree with you more. It's the second book that I usually reach for (right after my grandmother's original Betty Crocker). I do wish that it had pictures, though. He has a few other books, too, that I've had my eye on. Haven't picked them up yet, though...

+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse

p.s. love your blog, by the way!!

@Katie: I have seen Jamie's book (and watched the show) and I completely agree! I wish he had gone as basic as possible and then added notes for how to make it better. I do like Delia's books but I find she can be a bit out of date.

@Jessie: Thank you for the lovely compliments! I'll have to check out his other books. The first cookbook I reach for is also a classic Better Home & Gardens cookbook.

Thanks for the insight about using different mold for different recipes. We have the Wilton molds (I think) and have noticed that not everything turns out the way we expect them to.

Silicone Cupcake Cups and National Devil's Food Cake Day
http://www.gastronomicfight...

I found some very cheap silicone items recently in quick save, at the shockingly same quality (or so it seems) as the ones sold in the usual shops I go to if you are interested... there must be one of these shops in Wigan?
To answer your question on my hor Fun post though: I live a stone throw away from Manchester Chinatown so it makes the ingredients quite cheap right away. Also, I already have all the asian sauces and condiments in my cupboard because i mostly cook asian these days...
I like the question you raised about cost thought. not so long ago (and i remember that from the 70s), the cookbooks (at least the french ones) systematically had cost along with ingredients, time and difficulty for each recipe. there is a massive return of these consideration in France, one can already see that on the websites as well as blogs. It's not yet so obvious in britain I thing, but it's coming our way :)
i do enjoy 'cupboard cooking' and optimizing. Look at my 'succulent duck' post, you'll like that :)

I like very much your review of the book too: It is important to get back to basics and McGee seems to cover a wide range of subjetcs.
I'm not so keen on Delia, especially since i saw her make what she then called mayonnaise (I fell of my chair then, outraged!), and I don't think her cheats are that a good idea, i like doing things from scratch because you know what you eat then, and you don't pay extra for packaging and preservatives...

That book sounds great, I do read non-fiction for fun! Good post!

I love silicone bakeware. It is truly great and makes it a pleasure to bake and cook

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