The Do-It-Yourself Cookbook: Can It, Cure It, Churn It, Brew It

by America's Test Kitchen (Editor)

Why buy it when you can make it?

From smoked bacon and dill pickles to your own home-brewed ale, trust the test kitchen experts to guide you through more than 100 foolproof kitchen projects. Pantry Staples For the freshest, best results, make your own ketchup, hot sauce, and vanilla extract. For the adventurous, there's sriracha, harissa, and wine vinegar. Jams and Jellies Preserve the seasons with orange marmalade, strawberry jam, and apple butter, while wine jelly and bacon jam are great year-round options. Pickled Favorites Get your pickle fix with classics like bread-and-butters and sour dills, plus test kitchen favorites like dilly beans, giardiniera, and kimchi. The Dairy Best Making fresh cheeses like ricotta and goat cheese, churning butter, preparing yogurt, and even making soy milk (for tofu) are simpler than you think. Charcuterie at home From artisanal pancetta, prosciutto, pâtés, and terrines to everyday favorites like bacon, chorizo, and beef jerky, our recipes have the carnivore covered. Snacks and Sweets Make store-bought favorites like rich buttery crackers, marshmallows, and graham crackers fresher and better. Or take the fancier route with lavash crackers, grissini, salted caramels, and chocolate-hazelnut spread. Beverages Stock your fridge with root beer, ginger beer, and cold-brew coffee. Stock your bar with sweet vermouth, cocktail bitters, and tonic water. Plus, our IPA beer recipe is ideal for first-time home brewers.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Food Preservation

1154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

America's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.

Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!

Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really glad I bought this one; it will be a reference book that I will return to many times. The presentation worked well on my Samsung tablet using the Kindle app, so I'm not sorry I bought the ebook rather than a paperback copy. We're trying to thin the cookbook herd since we're planning a remodel that will do away with a bookshelf that currently houses a pile of cookbooks that I never use.

I saw a reviewer complain that there is no table of contents, but there is a Master Recipe List that has clickable links to the recipes and worked flawlessly. Glad I sprung for this one.

[Miss Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Invaluable really. Clear instructions.


Big Batch Summer Tomato Sauce
Vanilla Extract
Easy Refrigerator Jams:
Raspberry-Peach Spreadable Fruit
Apple Butter
Red Pepper Jelly
Cultured Butter
All the cured and smoked meats from Bacon to Prosciutto
Chocolate-Toffee Bark

How to make your own graham crakcers, butter crackers, etc. Your own root beer!

[Melissa Massello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Featured in 35 Budget Living Picks for National Book Lovers Day on ShoestringMag.com :

"Perfected and packaged for the age of urban homesteading, this "foolproof" guide to canning, curing, churning, brewing, smoking, drying, baking, and otherwise scratch-making gourmet goodies comes tried & tested by the expert team at America's Test Kitchen in Boston. Check out Tara's adventures in making homemade nutella from this must-have cookbook over on our DIY Boston blog. (I can personally vouch: better than store bought!)"

Featured in Easy Homemade Nutella on Boston.com:

"When you pair the tried-and-true recipe testing power of America's Test Kitchen with one of our favorite topics, pantry staples, you know we're going to love it. The Brookline-based team behind Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country hits it out of the park with this one, delivering step-by-step photo instructions for each of the 100+ foolproof kitchen projects."

[Mrs Elizabeth Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you would expect this is an excellent book.

I really don't care for food additives and like food to taste like it used to. That pretty much means make it from scratch and I have several cookbooks for the purpose. This book has a little bit of everything so is perfect for propping on the kitchen counter on my kindle, yes I most likely have a book which has a similar recipe, but propping a big cookbook on the counter with ingredients everywhere isn't very convenient, my kindle is. Plus this has some unique recipes in it. A Worcestershire sauce recipe and a Sriracha style sauce recipe, how to make creme fraiche and good European style butter to name but a few. I heartily recommend it.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must for the kitchen DIY-er. In the true tradition of America's Test Kitchen, they explain both why and how to do a myriad of wonderful things that sound delicious.

Update: 10 years later, I have a bit of a different feeling towards this. ;P Yes, a kitchen DIY-er would still find it indispensable, I just no longer feel like DIY-ing these types of kitchen staples. (Or if I did, I'd probably just Pinterest search for a recipe). Still a quality book, just not something I feel a need for anymore.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook was pretty good. Although I didn't make anything in it, I can definitely see myself purchasing this and/or just borrowing it again. The pictures were great and it made me think that I could make some of the things with no problem. Lots of these recipes require a food processor which is something I hope to acquire soon.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one I may have to buy in the future. I try my best to make most things from scratch when I can and this book is full of do-it-yourself-made-from-scratch recipes. There lots of great tips and techniques with each recipes and tons of color, step-by-step pictures too. I would highly recommend this one for anyone who wants to make more from-scratch food.

[Michelle Amos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook is great and will make a good addition to most people's cookbook collection. Unlike some other America's Test Kitchen cookbooks I've read through, the recipes in this one are items I really want to make. I got it from the library, but am planning on purchasing it because of all the useful recipes. I can't wait to try the candied ginger recipe!

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because I have food sensitivities now and think it's sometimes fun to make things from super-scratch. I made the home made magic shell. I had to tweak it for more chocolate flavor but, the bones were there and so I got it to work. In AZ you need more solid chocolate in the mix or it is too soft. I will probably try more stuff too.

[Doris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed reading this, although I'm not sure how likely I am to make any of these recipes any time soon. (A lot of the ones that most appeal to me feature ingredients hard to come by in Turkey, alas. :-() I particularly appreciate the ample photographs, although in some cases, videos would be even more helpful!

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unsuccessfully trying to talk myself out of buying this one.

In 4-page entries or less, with simple ingredient lists and endearing anecdotes, you can learn how to make everything from peanut butter to ketchup to marinated artichokes to salted caramels to pickles to cheese to crackers.

Whoa.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about making basics, well, what would have been basic for our grandparents - making your own mustard, ketchup, canning. I would have liked more information on canning, but still exciting to know that I can make my own GF Worcestershire sauce.

[Varina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't think of anything I have wanted to try making at home that isn't covered here (maybe hard cheeses, but those really probably need a whole book of their own), and every recipe comes with clear, illustrated instructions that make even the most arcane of kitchen arts seem approachable.

[Philip Schramp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently written recipes, which is a given with ATK cookbooks. This is an great collection of recipes for everyday products that we all buy at the grocery store without thinking of the cost involved or what ingredients are included.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous collection of recipes to try to learn more about pickling, canning, brewing, and other kitchen DIY projects. I would highly recommend this to someone wanting to start learning more about kitchen crafts.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful resource with things I would never make on my own. This would be a great gift for family night, home school families or folks who like to make their own stuff...certainly would be healthier.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book that I will review on my blog. The short of it, is that if you are someone who is trepidatious about trying new recipes and one who follows them to a 'T' (see what I did there Theresa) then this book is very comforting.

[Brianna Sowinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for when you feel the need to tackle more adventurous and involved recipes, from ketchup to beer brewing. Tons of fun projects especially if you find yourself with a lot of something, produce to can or left over wine to make vinegar.

[Liz De Coster · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ATK, so I'm confident it's good stuff, but since it's ATK, I'm not sure about the amount of effort involved.

[Traci Sumner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook is full of sticky notes. I can't wait to make all the recipes, ok, not quite all of them, but most of them. Love the cookbooks from America's Test Kitchen!

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great & I plan checking it out again soon.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good stuff in here I will be trying soon.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buying my own copy of this. Nicely illustrated steps for the recipes with a good mix of simple and more complicated preservation techniques.

[Jessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent reference for all sorts of home cooking projects, and it has an engaging voice, for a cookbook.I read it from cover to cover the first time through.

[Mary Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of DIY's. A must have for any cook or baker who wants to make a few or a lot of things from scratch without preservatives and fillers.

[Andrew]

Great resource, the red pepper jelly is delicious.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tore through this and made every recipe, front to back. Totally grew my confidence as a cook and tinkerer of all things worth imbibing.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cook book I would like to own. It has a ton of basic staple recipes: almond butter, ketchup, marshmallows, vanilla extract, preserved lemons, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, various cheeses, the list goes on and on.
And the recipes are given that America's Test Kitchen thoroughness that makes them so reliable and trustworthy. I already tried the almond butter recipe and it worked out just like the recipe promised it would. I will never buy almond butter again.
Best of all there are tons of color photograph detailing steps and procedures which is exceptionally beneficial to a visual learner like myself.
If you like watching America's Test Kitchen or enjoy a good cookbook then you should definitely give this a try.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the more basic recipes might find their way into my kitchen. But often the recipes are more fussy than I want to deal with (a long-standing complaint of mine about ATK).

An enjoyable read even if you don't make any of the recipes - they do a great job of explaining why things work (or don't work).

[Kristi Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for the make it yourselfer!

Plenty of recipes on condiments, pickles, cured meats, cheeses and sweets.
I checked this book out from my local library, but this one I am saving my money to bring this baby home forever.
I know I will use this recipe book again and again.