Good Grape Wine Company

NICE, BUT DISAPPOINTING

I regret to say that I was disappointed by this 25th anniversary update of a venerable old classic. It seems to be chock full of information, but when you look up a specific category, remarkably few items are actually reviewed. The author states in the Introduction that many thousands of products were tested, and there was not enough room to list all of them. Granted, but there seems to have been plenty of space for tangential stories, recipes, and cartoons. I also object to the emphasis on obscure and rarely used tools; they are quite interesting, but also quite superfluous. Please note that the items are not ranked or compared in any way, nor are there specific recommendations as to what to buy (except in a couple of rare cases, and even then they do not come right out and say that you should have one of these) or what to avoid, so this book is only marginally useful as a shopping guide for kitchen tools. In this edition, they have also decided not to include prices. The stated justification for this is that the prices become out of date within weeks of publication. True, but very expensive and very inexpensive tools are listed side by side, and some indication as to their costs would be a big help, as many buying decisions will be based on price. A simple warning in the preface would have sufficed about constantly changing prices. I also find the reviews of electrical equipment to be suspect; for these, I recommend you stick to a tried and true resource, like a consumer magazine. It also lacks a beginner's list of essential kitchen tools to have. This can be a problem, as a kitchen novice might draw the conclusion, after reading this book, that many hundreds of tools are necessary kitchen basics.

Still, I greatly enjoyed going through this elegant coffee table book. I even learned a couple of things, like the $40 cooking spoon, the griddle made of green soapstone, and the vacuum pot coffee maker. I found out about the $40 price not from the book, but when I tried to buy one at a nearby kitchenware store. The most valuable part of this book is the list of recommended cookbooks at the back. At $30 or $40 a throw, there are far too many mediocre cookbooks in print today.

If you approach this book as an all-inclusive, everything-including-the-kitchen-sink encyclopedia of kitchen tools, it works. However, if you are interested in a list of basic items to equip a home kitchen or some type of buying guide, you will have to look elsewhere.


Every cook's essential tool guide!   November 10, 2000
 34 out of 38 found this review helpful

Kudos to Burt Wolf for creating an indispensable collection of kitchen cookware, gadget, tool, electrical appliance and everything but the kitchen sink reviews for both the new and experienced cook. There are tons of books dedicated to recipes and cooking, but this book gives you wonderful information on what cooking equipment to buy. I feel so much more informed and confident in my purchases since I've used this book. It has reviews and information on kitchen essentials all the way to esoteric gadgets you never knew existed. It's a great way to inventory and stock your kitchen. I also love the fact that it includes pictures and descriptions of currently available items with reviews written from an unbiased viewpoint. Also included are insights from many well known and talented chefs.

This should have been called, "The Kitchen Equipment Bible." It's that good! Highly recommended.