Rating: 
Summary: More of the same.
Review: I agree with the reader from California. I treat Cook's Illustrated as gospel, and use only Cook's recipes. I bought The Best Recipe, I bought Soups and Stews, and Grilling. I ordered American Classics with The America's Test Kitchen book, and upon opening both books, I discovered that they're just full of repeats. Granted, this book had less than the ATK book but I became a little fed up and returned both books. It seemed as though I was paying for a Boston Baked Beans recipe. Maybe I'll give this book another chance.
Rating: 
Summary: A cottage industry run amok
Review: I fell in love with Cook's Illustrated magazine -- I've subscribed since the charter issue ten years ago. So I bought Chris Kimball's COOK'S BIBLE when it appeared. It included many of the same recipes lifted from the magazine, but that was okay, because it made searching for a particular dish easier. Shortly after that came his YELLOW FARMHOUSE COOKBOOK. More of the same. Meanwhile, the magazine is issuing individual-theme "booklets" for $15. It's up to a couple dozen by now, and all of them simply riffs on previously published material in the magazine. Then came Pam Anderson's (she was former exec ed and her absence is sorely missed) THE PERFECT RECIPE, which contained 30 of her COOK'S magazine articles. More repeats of the same information. A year later Cook's puts out THE BEST RECIPE, virtually identical to Pam's. More repeats of the same classic American fare. Now we have the BEST RECIPE SERIES, up to four at last count, the most recent being, AMERICAN CLASSICS, yet ANOTHER spin redux on mac-cheese and lemon meringue pie (by the way, if you want the ultimate lemon pie recipe, buy Anderson's PERFECT RECIPE, which contains the EXACT same lemon meringue pie recipe as the one featured on the cover of AMERICAN CLASSICS; confused? -- the COOK'S marketing machine no doubt hopes you are, so you'll end up buying all of their books, no matter how superfluous ). All of this is perfectly legal of course. You can't be arrested for plaigirizing your own recipes. But is it ethical? How many more printed versions of the same roast chicken recipe do we need? You can find nearly the same one in all of the COOK's books. Furthermore, I've begun to notice that there are odd discrepancies creeping into their recommendations. A recent chocolate dessert recipe, for instance, advocated using one of two different brands of chocolate -- these two brands, in fact, being the only two "not recommended" of the dozen taste-tested in an issue the previous year. For me, this wholly undercuts the credibility of the magazine, making me doubt the judgment of Cook's staff, which is really the main thing going for it since their shtick is testing and then declaring the best, whether it's an ingredient or technique. It's no wonder that so many recipes are simply dragged and dropped from one book to another -- there's no way that the relatively small staff of the magazine could produce this amazing and tireless flood of COOK'S products. It's a shame because, for me, all this marketing and mercenary publishing have made me mistrust an old friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Cookbook for First Time Cooks
Review: I have tried nearly every recipe in this cookbook. All of them came out well, and the explanations that come with the recipes are excellent.You can find more recipes in the Joy of Cooking, but you won't be as assured the food will taste good. Cooks Illustrated runs through several iterations to create the "perfect" recipe. Most of the ingredients are simple and readily available. The instructions are easy to follow. This is an excellent cookbook for inexperienced and experienced cooks alike.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Cookbook for First Time Cooks
Review: I have tried nearly every recipe in this cookbook. All of them came out well, and the explanations that come with the recipes are excellent. You can find more recipes in the Joy of Cooking, but you won't be as assured the food will taste good. Cooks Illustrated runs through several iterations to create the "perfect" recipe. Most of the ingredients are simple and readily available. The instructions are easy to follow. This is an excellent cookbook for inexperienced and experienced cooks alike.
Rating:
Summary: An Essential Kitchen Companion!!
Review: I love this book. It is a well-thought-out collection of recipes and techniques that have brought tremendous joy to American kitchens and bellies for decades. I have been using The Best Recipe cookbooks and Cooks Illustrated magazines for three years and have found that they are in a number of ways far superior to other recipe sources: 1.) They are enjoyable and easy to read; When I read the American Classics Cookbook, I feel as if I am reading an educational book bursting with personality; 2.) This book (American Classics) appeals to all levels of cooking experience and literacy; 3.) It encourages exploration of diverse flavors and spices; 4.) Rather than just explaining what to do, this book and the others in The Best Recipe family explain how and why certain techniques are to be used; 5.) This book holds the recipes that many, many people are looking for! Hats off to the folks in America's Test Kitchen! You have once again provided others with the benefits of your hard work. American Classics has found a place on my bookshelf and will for years contribute to many wonderful meals with family and friends. Thank You!
Rating:
Summary: Cook's Does It Again!
Review: I own The Best Recipe and now own American Classics and I love them both. Is there some duplication? Yes. Do I mind? No, because there is enough new material and the focus is--as the title implies--classic American fare. Having these great themed recipes together in one volume just makes it that much easier to create a meal that reflects American cuisine. As with their other products, the staff at Cook's has done a fabulous job of painstakingly researching their recipes and presenting them with wonderful background information and a transparancy to their thinking process that provides useful insights and understanding that I apply to other cooking endeavors. I have yet to be disappointed by a single recipe in this book, and am looking forward to a long summer of dining with American Classics.
Rating:
Summary: Revisiting Old Favorites - That's the Point
Review: Some other reviewers have complained that this book seems to have a lot of repeats of recipes or feature things that don't seem very new or original. In this book though, that is the very point. These are the old fashioned recipes with which all Americans are familiar. There is no attempt to dress them up, only to make the best comfort food you ever had -- using ordinary ingredients. Cook's Illustrated continue with their high standards of performance and this is one of my favorite cookbooks ever.
Rating:
Summary: Revisiting Old Favorites - That's the Point
Review: Some other reviewers have complained that this book seems to have a lot of repeats of recipes or feature things that don't seem very new or original. In this book though, that is the very point. These are the old fashioned recipes with which all Americans are familiar. There is no attempt to dress them up, only to make the best comfort food you ever had -- using ordinary ingredients. Cook's Illustrated continue with their high standards of performance and this is one of my favorite cookbooks ever.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the more original in the series
Review: These books are great! I love my Cooks' Illustrated Books and use them all the time. Many of the recipes from this book have become favorites. My one and only complaint is that they have now published the Best Recipe series and now the Test Kitchen books and they don't have enough recipes to fill them each one with enough unique recipes to distinguish one book from another. A few repeated recipes is forgiveable, but they have gone way over the top. If you buy more than two of their books, the third is bound to be composed of a third the recipes from each of the first two. Same test info, everything. This only leaves 1/3 of the recipes as original. Because of this, I say look carefully before deciding which from this series you purchase unless you want multiple copies of the same testing articles and recipes.
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