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Summary: A MUST own cookbook!
Review: I have read nearly all the other reviews and agree with the majority of them. I would just like to say that The Banana Nut Bread recipes are worth the purchase of this book alone let alone the pie crust, the Meatloaf, the chicken pot pie or apple pie!!!
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Summary: The Best of Everything!
Review: I bought the Best Recipe cookbook after reading a review for the Joy of Cooking mentioned how great it was. So I brought it home for a test drive. This book is better than I could have ever imagined. Every receipe is easy to follow and designed for variation. My husband (a very picky eater) has loved everything I've tried so far. Absolutely delicious! No cookbook collection is complete without it!
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Summary: Refreshingly Scientific Approach
Review: This book is perhaps the single most important cookbook to have in your kitchen. Today's cooks are swamped with recipes, be them from aisles of selections or vast databases on food websites. In short, the amount of recipes available today is truly overwhelming. This book, and generally all of the Cooks Illustrated series, allows today's cook the liberty to be highly discriminate.
If you plan to actually cook in today's fast-pased convienience based lifestyle, doesn't it make sense to spend your time cooking the best possible dish? Before I bought this book, I was solely a "free-hand" chef, using a little of this and some of that or whatever struck my fancy at the momement...whatever was available in my fridge or at my grocer. Yes, that approach to cooking is creative, spontaneous and can be fun, but let's not forget that cooking is also a science, and this book will awaken the attention to detail in any cook, with stunning results. Excellent gift.
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Summary: Must read for all serious cooks
Review: I am a budding home chef and out of the 400 cookbooks I own, this one is the one I use the most when I am trying to find the best way / secret to cooking any ingredient. I was stumped when preparing BBQ pork ribs and the secret I learned was to wrap the ribs after cooking in aluminium foil and let it rest in a paper bag. It works like a charm! My seared Ahi Tuna was a failure until I found out that the secret was to soak it in extra virgin olive oil for 1 hour. This is the only cookbook I read cover to cover. Yes, the prose is rather dry but if you are a serious cook intent on improving your technique, the book is worth every penny. It sure beats trial and error. Read this book and get it right the first time!
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Summary: One of the best cookbooks I have ever purchased.
Review: I have just purchased a copy of "The Best Recipe" and I think that not only does it live up to the "tradition" of Cooks Illustrated, but it is one of the best "for my money" purchases I have EVER made!! Each chapter lists master recipes, variations, preparation tips, and equipment tips. I love it!!! Extra copies would make great Christmas presents!
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Summary: Wonderful results, every time...
Review: Wow. The Peanut Butter Cookies were good. The pie crust was great. And then last night I finally made the Chicken Noodle soup - with stock from scratch. It took under two hours two make a little over 3 quarts of soup - the stock was made in an hour. The technique - browning the onion and chicken pieces, cooking to release the juices, and then simmering with water - resulted in one of the quickest and yet most flavorful broths I have had (Yes, even better than my mom's - not an easy task...)I am one of 'those' who reads cookbooks for fun - and I love discovering the science behind the recipie. Even if you don't want the whole nine yards of 'why what works and how', you will be pleased with the recipes. I especially enjoy trying the 'master recipe', and then experimenting in subsequent productions. Good for: folks who like the 'why and how' of cooking, college students or recent grads, wedding gift.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good, But if You Already Own The Cook's Bible Skip It
Review: I'm an avid cook and, while I no longer subscribe to "Cooks Illustrated" magazine, I respect Chris Kimball and his expert kitchen team and have had good luck, more or less, with their recipes which, if followed EXACTLY, are virtually foolproof. I also never fail to learn something from their informative kitchen commentary. All in all, his recipes and advice are beneficial to both novice and experienced cooks. That having been I have to point out that taste is, of course, subjective. For instance, I've found, from trying a number of Kimball's recipes, that he is a salt-a-holic. I prefer to cook with little or no salt, as I find the taste harsh and unpleasant, and if I followed Kimbell's recipes exactly I'd be drowning in the stuff. I prefer pepper and tend to double or triple the often meager amounts Kimbell calls for in his recipes (usually he calls for four or fives times more salt than pepper, and I tend to reverse those ratios). The recommendations too, are, of course, all one man's opinion. He speaks harshly of Le Creuset, which is my favorite cookware, despite the expense (don't listen to Kimball: the enamel service is as good or better than non-stick), and frequently raves about plain cast iron which, while I'm sure can be great, takes a great deal of patience to properly season (I've NEVER had any luck doing so), can't be washed in a dishwasher (big downfall, in my opinion) and can easily destroy an induction cooktop (something Kimball fails to even mention). He also highly recommends an electric rice cooker which is, perhaps, the least useful tool in my kitchen and is quite scornful of breadmakers, an appliance I use several times a week quite happily. All of Kimball's cookbooks follow the same basic format: a long-winded, but often interesting, discourse on how Kimball views the "perfect" version of whatever it is he's showing you how to cook, including a lengthy explanation of variations he has tried, followed by his "Master Recipe" for the food. I recommend carefully reading the introduction, focusing on what Kimball considers "perfection," before attempting the recipe. For instance, he prefers very hard, extremely crusty bread (one of the main reasons he despises breadmakers, by the way) with a light, "air-filled" interior, while I like a soft, almost blonde, crust and am quite fond of the "cakelike" bread consistency Kimball is so disdainful of. So, in terms of bread, Kimball's "master" recipe is obviously not going to suit me. In short, if your taste is the same as Kimball's when it comes to a particular food his well-researched and thoroughly-tested recipes will be amazing. If you don't feel the same way about, say, chicken (he likes it quite salty and greasy--though he uses the terms like "savory," "succulent" and "moist" to describe what I think of as "salty" and "greasy") as the author, his recipe for roasting a chicken will leave you cold. But my biggest problem with Kimbell cookbooks is this: If you have one, you have them all. He lifts whole passages and recipes and uses them in multiple books. "The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook," and the "Cook's Bible," for instance, have at least 50 identical recipes, not to mention verbatim introductions to each section and cookware recommendations repeated word-for-word. "The Best Recipe" features ALL of the recipes (as far as I can tell) from the "Cook's Bible," with the same commentary, which is, in turn, lifted in whole chunks from past issues of "Cooks Illustrated." I'm sure this saves Mr. Kimbell a great deal of time when compiling his cookbooks but it leaves little reason to own more than one edition of his work. Exceptions to this rule are his specialty cookbooks, such as his "Complete Pasta and Noodle" or "Complete Poultry," which again contain exact repeats from other books but also add a wealth of new recipes and information. If you're going to buy a Kimbell cookbook, and I do think it's a worthy investment for any semi-serious cook, buy "The Best Recipe" which is the most complete and contains a minimum of what I feel are Mr. Kimball's fairly useless opinions on cookware and appliances. On the other hand, if you already own, say, "The Cook's Bible," don't bother with "The Best Recipe." In addition, as mentioned earlier, Kimbell's specialty cookbooks, focusing on one particular item, are also worth the purchase price, but only if you're interested in that particular food type.
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Summary: CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS FANTASTIC BOOK!
Review: There are 700 recipes in this great book and so far, I have not tried one that wasn't absolutely delicious! Whether you are a faithful vegetarian, a die-hard meat and potatoes person, a pasta lover or a sweet-tooth fanatic, "The Best Recipe" contains a vast assortment of recipes that truly are the best! Whatever you are looking for, you are bound to find something here to please everyone. In addition to the great mouth-watering recipes, the reader will find tons of tips, techniques and "how-to's" This book would make an excellent gift for that bride-to-be. Even those who are experienced in the kitchen will find something here to tweak their interest. The book also contains the results of test tastings and has plenty of info on equipment reviews. This book is well worth the cost. Great book - great recipes!
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Summary: Not JUST a cookbook
Review: I must tell you, this is much more than a cookbook. It gives you tips and tricks of why the recipe is better along with the selection or better yet the best foods to incorporate in your recipe. It goes beyond measurements and hows, it gives you strong information. From the most novice cook to the highly seasoned cook, this is a must have for your cookbook library as it will not only teach, but it is worthy reading, from page one. I recommend this for wedding gifts, graduation gifts or just a gift to yourself to learn more about food and well you get 700 recipes along the way. Again, this is more than just a cookbook, it sings with a lot of useful information for all people that want to learn or those that love to cook and have been around a kitchen a long time. It's a must have for all kitchens.
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Summary: I usually hate the term "must buy" ....
Review: ... but in the case, this is one of the rare books that has truly earned this moniker. The editors of cook's illustrated have tested and retested recipes and cooking techniques for many of your favourite recipes. They have distilled the results of these experiments into a series of easy to follow, sure fire recipes that rarely fail to delight. Even if you using a different cookbook, the description of the techniques (what worked versus what failed) will help you modify your recipe for even greater success. The descriptions of the testing process and the science behind the results are fascinating reading that will make you a better cook. If you have ever wondered if there is any truth behind some of those "kitchen secrets" that people swear make a difference, then this book is for you. The book covers all types of food preparation (soup, salads, vegetables but not vegetarian, pasta, meats), grilling, baking (pizza, breads, cakes) and desserts. It is also liberally sprinkled with the results of taste testings and equipment reviews which I have found to be pretty accurate. Like many people, I usually only try 2 or 3 recipes out of the cookbooks that I buy. I have tried 2-3 recipes out of each of the twenty chapters in this book. This is a "must have" cookbook.
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