Kitchen Gear: The Final Proprietor’s Handbook: Increase Your Tools IQ with 500+ Skilled Ideas, Optimize Your Kitchen with 400+ Beneficial Instruments

This is the Kind of Book that Pays for Itself
This is the kind of book that pays for itself. Good, reliable kitchen tools make a big difference both in your cooking experience and in your wallet in good ways. Let me tell you a story. The first time I learned this lesson was decades ago, when I was in my early 20s. It wasn’t about a kitchen tool, but the same concept applies. My sister bought $25 leather boat shoes. I bought leather boat shoes too, but I bought a different brand that was higher quality and looked better. I spent $52, which was more than double what she spent. We wore our shoes all the time. Her shoes wore out every 6 months, primarily because of stitching. She kept buying the same brand for years and kept replacing them every 6 months! I could never talk her into buying a better brand instead. So, she spent hundreds of dollars on her boat shoes, while I was still on my original pair for $52. And, mine always looked better.She never changed her approach towards buying things in general, not just shoes. So, I understand people who think they are somehow getting a better deal by buying the lowest priced stuff. It’s a mindset.A worse situation is fighting with your kitchen tool but getting through the fight. An even worse situation is buying a tool that doesn’t work well to the point that you don’t even want to use it or don’t use it at all. What a waste of money! It’s just better to save up a little more money, say 5%, 10% or 20% more money, depending on the tool, to buy a good, long-lasting tool. In the long run, you’ll waste less money, spend less money overall, and enjoy using your tools more at the same time. It doesn’t get better than that!I only discovered America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) after I retired. It was their YouTube videos and Lisa McManus in them. She explains things so well, including her whys and reasoning. I love her! Before that, I relied on a paid subscription to Consumer Reports, Amazon reviews, and internet research. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how many exact same products I bought and ATK recommends. This includes both ATK’s YouTube videos and book. Because of the YouTube videos, I came to trust ATK’s recommendations. After reading the product recommendations in the book, I trust ATK even more.I bought the book because I can’t find all of ATK’s recommendations in YouTube videos. There are things in the book that I didn’t know about and wouldn’t even have known to look for. Especially when I hear about things that costs less than $15 or $25, I go with ATK’s recommendations and Amazon reviews. It saves me research time, especially when Consumer Reports doesn’t cover a product type. Throwing away $15 or $25 at a time on poor kitchen tools that I don’t use has added up over the years. Again, this book pays for itself, not only on small items, but especially on big items. For example, if you’re into food processors, the food processor you buy makes a big difference in many ways.In addition, ATK doesn’t just recommend the best of a given product type. If a particular product is expensive, then they have a best-buy recommendation too. So, if I want a tool that I don’t use very often, I prefer ATK’s best-buy option. The latest example is a boning knife. The best is $100. The best buy is $27.Although I bought the book for kitchen-tool recommendations, it’s only a small portion of what the book offers. There’s a lot of other useful information in it too. You may be surprised by how much there is to learn. It covers everything kitchen related, including even, cleaning the kitchen. I’ve become a huge fan of ATK in general, not just their kitchen-tool recommendations. If you don’t know about ATK, like I didn’t not all that long ago, you might want to look into them.ATK’s specific product recommendations will age out over time, although some products seem to be ageless, like Victorinox knives. But, the book’s features to look for in specific product types would still be helpful. I can’t recommend this book highly enough to a smart shopper!

Loved It
I enjoyed reading the book. However, be warned that once you purchase it, you will want to buy much of the gear suggested and cook many of the recipes. So, the cost of the book is just the beginning.

Great Guide to Gear
They provide insightful reviews of many products that help inform our decisions. I love the Youtube presentations also.

Finally everything under one cover!
Conversion charts; knife and utensil designs and uses; helpful food tips; preparation, serving and food storage advice; recipes; nutritional information; benefits of various cooking techniques; and suggestions on how to save money and time in the kitchen — all and more in this book!I’ve been a cook for 45 years, making most of our meals from scratch. However, since updating my kitchen pans, utensils and appliances, I fine-tuned my gear with ideas from this book. I am much more efficient in the kitchen now. Cooking is my hobby and this book was an investment I made after checking it out at the library as a new release last fall. I just didn’t want to return it! So I bought it. Very, VERY good decision.I have made and can recommend the Food-Processor Pound Cake, both the regular and Lemon Pound Cake versions on page 135. Who knew I could make pound cake without my stand mixer? Pages 362-405 will highlight ATK (America’s Test Kitchen) Recommended Equipment, a resource you will check for years to come. It confirmed I have many of their recommendations already in my kitchen.This book retails for $40 but Amazon gives a discount. Why not use it? No buyer’s remorse here. I bet you won’t have any either.

A mi me parece que no solo da buenas recomendaciones de que productos salen buenos,si no que también te ayuda a determinar que en realidad vas a usar para no llenar tu cocina de cosas que o no sirven o que para ti no tiene caso comprar para lo que sueles preparar.TRAE UN VERDADERA ENCICLOPEDIA DE INFORMACIÓN UTIL.