Books on Food Science *updated*

I love the library. I am interested, at any given moment, in at least ten different subjects. I love having access to the library because otherwise I'd go broke. And usually, I don't read all of the books I borrow. I skim through them just enough to determine which ones are worth a purchase and which ones are worth a better look before returning (with no post-purchase). Currently, I am in the process of looking into books on the science of cooking. Lately, I've been enjoying cooking very much. It helps immensely that I have two cheerleaders at home and at least a dozen at my husband's work place.

Here are some books I've borrowed from the library...

The Bread Baker's Apprentice
This one is great! I actually ended buying this one. This book essentially explains how bread works. There are lots of great pictures to help. I've tried the pizza dough and italian bread and although I did not follow the directions fully, both came out better than what I had previously made. The italian bread was interesting in that the directions said to "prepare the oven for hearth baking", which involves steaming the oven. It's easier than it sounds. I also love that within the directions, there are lots of page references, so you can learn more as you actually make the dough, which I think is a more effective way of learning.

I'm Just Here for the Food
I've just recently discovered Alton Brown (have I been living in a cave?). I so love AB and am so grateful that he is here to help. I was so excited about this book when I first skimmed through it. The book is broken up into mainly processes like searing, boiling and microwaving, but also goes over eggs, sauces and water. AB is really funny and the book is cute and fun and best of all, educational. I'm not sure that it has enough to be a lasting reference, so I'll probably try to get through most of this before returning to the library, but wouldn't purchase. I also requested I'm Just Here for More Food from the library, but haven't gotten it yet.

Cookwise
This book is set up in a learn-as-you-go format. There are lots of recipes and after each there is commentary about the applicable techniques or issues. I think this one might be a future purchase.

On Food and Cooking
This is most like a textbook about food science. If I decide to homeschool, I'd use this as the textbook for a Cooking course. I'm thinking this would be great to purchase as a reference.

I came across this other book that isn't so much food science...

Alton Brown's Gear for the Kitchen
This is an interesting book to flip through. He explains what all types of kitchen tools are used for and whether he thinks they are actually useful or not. I was surprised that he endorsed the salad spinner, because I have one and frankly, I thought it was a waste of time. But after he explained that water on lettuce is bad, I have now started using it and do notice that my lettuce keeps longer. I thought the sections on pots & pans and knives were really interesting.


**UPDATE**

So, I got a few more leads on food science books to check out. I'm really surprised at how many books there are on this subject.

The Curious Cook

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained
I'm curious about the book entitled What Einstein Told His Barber that shows up in the "Customers who bought this item also bought" section. Maybe this is a series like The Dummies Guide to...

Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor

The Science of Cooking

Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking

All these new books make me feel a bit overwhelmed. I think I will choose only two more to check out from the library. Otherwise, I will become overwhelmed and move on to some other subject without learning much at all. Not that that's happened ... more than 100 times or so.