Book Review: Tips Cooks Love

The other day I received this book in the mail.  The concept of the book was intriguing.  Written by the culinary minds at Sur La Table with Rick Rodgers, Tips Cooks Love is a quick manual for home cooks.  It contains over 500 tips, techniques and short cuts that will make you a better cook.

This book is filled with tips and tricks to ease your time in the kitchen. Have you ever wondered how to bake even cake layers, how to perfectly roast a turkey, or the difference between the grades of meat. This book answers those questions and more. This book is organized alphabetically for quick reference. You are cooking eggs, turn to E and there is everything that you need to know. Fried, poached, hard boiled and even the difference between white and brown eggs.

As a baker my favorite part of the book was the volume and weight equivalents. Knowing how many ounces of a ingredient are in a cup is valuable. For instance, if you spoon confectioners’ sugar into a measuring cup and sweep it level you have 4 ounces per cup. If you sift the confectioners’ sugar you only have 3 ounces per cup. Knowing this shows why my cookies are different each and every time that I make them.

Overall this is a great companion for the kitchen. You can pick it up at your local bookstore or from Amazon here.