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 The Joys of Joy November 14, 2008
Joy of Cooking is downright amazing. It's rare that I need a recipe that I can't find in here. And never has this book let me down.
I love cookbooks. I have the ones by famous chefs, I have the local collections put together by churches. I have the ones that are put out by magazines and the ones put together by websites. I've got some like this, densely packed with information but not a lot of pictures (aside from instructional ones) and I have some that seem like they exist only to show off pictures of the food. (And that's fine by me!)
But when I'm making something for the first time, I come to Joy. When I need to do a recipe and I don't have time to try a recipe that might turn out awful, I go to Joy. When I just want to eat really good food, Joy of Cooking is bound to be my first stop.
And why wouldn't it be? There are so many recipes in this book! For everything! See the number on the cover? 4,500? They're not kidding. There will be some of those recipes that you don't like. But that will probably come down to your own taste -- you couldn't get me to eat borscht in a million years -- and not a bad recipe.
A lot of people say that if they could only keep one of their cookbooks, this is the one they'd grab. I'm going to echo that sentiment. This is the only cookbook a lot of people will need. If you're a cookbook addict like me, you'll still buy more, but if you just need a comprehensive book to help you out in the kitchen, then look no further.
However, there are mistakes in this book! With any cookbook or craft book or anything that gives you instructions on doing something, you should always look for the errata. Joy of Cooking has a pdf file of their corrections on the website [.....]. There's a section right at the bottom of the front page talking about it. The recipes that will need corrections are:
Orange and Onion Salad (Sicilian Salad), Chicken Marengo, Chicken Paprika (Paprikas Csirke), White Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, Pancakes or Griddle Cakes, Pecan Lace, Caramel Buns (Schnecken), Crisp Chocolate Cookies, Beer Bread, Sponge Cake, Orange Curd, Filled Sweet Crepes, and Madeleines.
If you notice any others, please let them know so that we can all get them fixed!
There are two kinds of people looking for cookbooks that I would not suggest this book to. The first kind are people who don't really cook, and don't really care about the recipes. You know who you are! You like to look at the pictures of delicious looking food and maaaybe you think, "One day, I might make that." but you know you won't. I was like that once, and owned many many colourful cookbooks. Once I started cooking, I got this book. And there are very few pictures. The black and white drawings that do occasionally show up are, as far as I've seen, not of the finished product. You'd be better served with a different book.
The other type is the person who only wants a cookbook for one kind of food or one method of cooking. It's not that there aren't recipes from various regions and cultures, or that there aren't tons of things to bake, barbecue or deep fat fry. But if that's ALL you want, then there may not be enough, say, Greek recipes for you, or everything that doesn't involve grilling may get in your way.
But for everyone else in the cookbook market, I would say, if you don't have this book yet, you have to get it!
I haven't even mention the other things in the book. The Know Your Ingredients section could probably be a book in itself, and doesn't just cover background information on ingredients or help with how to use them, but in many cases, how to grow them, get them and prepare them. There are instructions for choosing a maple tree to get syrup from and how to tap it. Seriously!
Cooking Methods and Techniques covers kitchen equipment and cookware and of course, methods and techniques such as cooking in your fireplace, outdoor cooking, high altitude cooking, deglazing, skewer cooking, microwave cooking, and how to deal with burns and get out stains.
It's time to end my gushing now though. If I don't stop writing you'll never finish this review and then how will you get it?
If you're only going to own one cookbook. November 2, 2008
When I'm looking for ideas, just want to browse some recipies, or have a food question, this is the book I turn to 90% of time. It covers a great deal of culinary territory and packs tons of information into every section. In short it gives you the basics and enough info to get cooking and creative. It's straight forward, well written, and in my case, as is the sign of any good cookbook, the most worn in my collection.
I have plenty of that other type of cookbook, you know, the food porn ones. They're filled with all sorts of beautiful, glossy, mouth watering pictures, and for the most part they sit nice and neatly on the shelf, barely ever getting touched.
If you're only going to buy one cookbook--this is it. If you've got a young cook in your life that could use a starting point--this is it. If you need to brush up on your basics or need a quick referance guide--this is it.
Sure no cookbook can do it all, but this one does far more,far better then most of the other ones out there.
TOP of the Line Cookbook... October 29, 2008
If you want one cookbook to serve your every need in the kitchen, this is your book. A person who has never even boiled water can take this book and cook anything.
This edition has healthy substitutions, if that interests anyone. Nigella Lawson owns this book.
 Pretty good, but Bittman is better October 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I like the Joy of Cooking well enough, but my go-to, all-purpose cookbook remains Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Maybe its the layout, the larger font, the thicker paper, the writing style or, most likely, the recipies, How to Cook Everything is just a better book. The recipes are easy to follow, give variations on a theme and tips for improvising, and consistently turn out great. If you just want one cookbook in the house, go for the more modern and easier to use How to Cook Everything.
As good as ever October 13, 2008
The Joy of Cooking just never gets old! My husband and I love reading all about the foods we're using in the great recipes.
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News 
"Great cookbooks are not just collections of interesting recipes. They are, first and foremost, books that tell a story, the story of how people lived and cooked at a particular point in time. They reveal, to borrow an expression from James Beard, their delights and prejudices, their view of the social order, their appetite for serving others food that meets the expectations of their social class. Food can be anything and everything from fuel to an object of intellectual curiosity to full-bore hedonism that transports the mind and body far from the dinner table with just one overwhelming bite. 
"I'm often asked to pick my favorite cookbook. Considering that there are over 3,000 cookbooks published each year, it's a daunting task to try to narrow them down. Speaking as a chef who never went to cooking school, I've been enthralled by certain cookbooks, immersing myself from cover to cover and learning about exotic cuisines from all over the world. But for just plain basic information, both the original and revised Joy of Cooking are still my bibles. I can't tell you how many times my wife Jackie and I have thumbed through the stained and broken-backed copy of Joy in our home kitchen, looking for our favorite angel food cake recipe, our favorite skillet corn bread, our favorite fluffy biscuits, and crisp waffles, and on and on. It's tough to picture my family table--or, in fact, the American table--without a well-worn copy of Joy of Cooking in the background." " --Tom Douglas, author of I Love Crab Cakes! 
"I highly recommend this book as a must-have in your kitchen. Chock full of great information, this book takes all of the guess work out and leaves no stone unturned." --Paula Deen, author of Paula Deen Celebrates! 
"In our kitchen, Joy of Cooking is a tool as indispensable as the chef's knife, the scale, the whisk. We actually own two copies--a shelf-copy for reading, and one whose sauce-splattered, dog-eared pages bear witness to just how much joy we get from Joy." " --Matt Lee and Ted Lee, authors of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook 
"Joy of Cooking is the ultimate reference guide that I have been using for years. It's timeless and packed with perfect recipes for the home cook that stands up to the test of time." --Tyler Florence, author of Tyler's Ultimate 
"Joy of Cooking is a book I turn to whenever I have a question about food or cooking. The new edition is the combined effort of some of the best cooks writing today; I know I can trust its information. And trust is, to my mind, the essential quality of all great cookbooks." --Sally Schneider, author of The Improvisational Cook 
"When Andrew first contemplated becoming a chef in the 1980s, he asked two Boston chefs of his acquaintance what books he should read. Each independently recommended Joy of Cooking as THE classic with reliable recipes for just about everything. (The second chef urged him to look for an early copy for the sheer entertainment value of reading how to cook a possum.) A decade later, when we interviewed 60 of Americas leading chefs for our first book Becoming a Chef, we asked them the same question--and again Joy was one of their five most recommended books. In fact, we recommend buying two copies, like we did: we keep our chocolate-smudged copy of Joy in our kitchen, and a reading copy on our bookshelves." --Andrew Dorenburg and Karen Page, authors of What to Drink with What You Eat 
"Our Joy of Cooking is dog-eared, flour dusted, chocolate smudged, oil spattered, and easily the most used cookbook on the shelf. The staggering amount of information in the book taught us the basics when we were in our teens and has informed our cooking for the decades since. We wish we had written it!" --Johanne Killeen and George Germon, authors of On Top of Spaghetti 
"I received a copy of Joy of Cooking in my late teens. I have treasured the cookbook ever since and still use it frequently as a reference. In the late 80's I was asked to represent American Cooking in Italy. I cooked all over the country for 2 months. The only book I took was Joy of Cooking. When ingredients that I had ordered did not show up and I had to totally wing it, I used this book to get me out of a few jams--like what the proportions are to make your own baking powder! If I could have only one cookbook--other than my own of course!--it would be Joy of Cooking-as it is the bible of American cooking" --Kathy Casey, author of Kathy Casey's Northwest Table 
"I have purchased Joy of Cooking for all my restaurant libraries as well as my own. The recipes always work--always--and the informational chapters are accurate, to the point, and incredibly helpful--couldnt live with out it!!" --Cindy Pawlcyn, author of Big Small Plates 