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Recipe For Finding Good Cookbooks

Updated on October 1, 2024
TreasuresBrenda profile image

Brenda loves comfort food. Especially homemade comfort food.

What Makes Good Cookbooks Good?

Are you searching for a good cookbook? The best cookbook? Perhaps even a perfect cookbook? Maybe you are a casual cookbook collector (like so many of us) or maybe you are a serious collector. In either case you know that many cookbooks are NOT great. There are good ones. There are bad ones. There are middling ones. What should you look for, then, when you are choosing a new cookbook?

This page will provide you with eight ideas to consider when choosing a new cookbook. I hope it helps you with your next cook book purchase!

Click here to purchase this art print of a stack of cookbooks on eBay.

Eight Considerations That Make A Cookbook Great

When the Executive Editor of Gourmet magazine, Doc Willoughby, announced he had given away almost all of his cookbooks there was, understandably, chaos. But it was not long before someone asked the most important question - "How did you choose?" What followed was most likely a strong discussion but Willoghby summed it up with, "The recipes have to work," he said. "Otherwise, I'm not interested." That, naturally, is of the utmost importance. However, there are other considerations for a good cookbook:

Format - consider a book that opens flat. Spiral-bound cookbooks are great because they open nicely. A regular hardcover book can be difficult to work with.

Good Photography - there are some books that do not have pictures that are good but in general, a cookbook with pictures draws you in and engages you and allows you to see how the food will appear when it is prepared. Great photos makes a cookbook more fun to read. However, do not make the mistake of buying a cookbook just because the cover is pretty!

Clear Instructions - instructions should be clear, detailed and easy to follow as well as suitable for your level of cooking ability. A beginner would be better off with a beginnner's cookbook than with one that is too advanced.

Personality - personality will shine through, you should feel like you know the author's style a little bit, their lifestyle, their skill.

Theme - theme is a personal choice but without a theme a cookbook is just a collection of recipes. The subject could be a type of cuisine, a country, a produce, a type of cooking or a style of writing. Watch for recipes that you know you and your family and friends will enjoy eating and watch out for exotic and/or expensive ingredients.

Extra Features - are often helpful and might include a list of ingredient substitutions, conversion tables or basic cooking techniques.

Bargain Cookbooks - they are no bargain if you buy a mustard cookbook that you use once and never open again! Remember this bit of advice when you approach the sale table at the bookstore.

Recommendations - there is no better way to know the quality of a cookbook than from someone who has used it and loves it. If a friend owns it and recommends it, you can be sure that it is great!

My Favourite Cookbook

My favorite cookbook? Well, as usual, a favorite is hard to pick. One that I positively, absolutely love though is a 1989 Time-Life book from the American Country series called Country Cooking. It is my favorite because several of the best recipes I have ever tried came from it. They include an absolutely amazing corn chowder and a delicious chicken pot pie. - Treasures By Brenda

Time Life's out-of-print American Country cookbook can still be found on eBay by clicking here.

Do you collect cookbooks?

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Do you have a favorite cookbook author?

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Cookbooks Worth Collecting: The History and Lore of Notable Cookbooks, with Complete Bibliographic Listings and Up-to-date Values

Cookbooks Worth Collecting: The History and Lore of Notable Cookbooks, with Complete Bibliographic Listings and Up-to-date Values
Cookbooks Worth Collecting: The History and Lore of Notable Cookbooks, with Complete Bibliographic Listings and Up-to-date Values | Source

Cookbooks Worth Collecting is a book dedicated to collecting cookbooks. If you are looking for more information to help you collect cookbooks this is an excellent one. It discusses many of the considerations for collectors including notable titles, what is collectible (or what might be), cookbook categories and more.

Fast Cookbook Facts

We all know that there are a lot of cookbooks out there and every season there are more which, of course, people buy. The New York Times says that cookbooks are a $530 million dollar business in the United States. That figure represents about 14 million cookbooks. Every year since 2002, more cookbooks have been sold than in the previous year and the trend continues.

MONEY-SAVING TIP

Check out cookbooks from the library before you buy them! This allows you to decide if you really like a cookbook and if it is worth owning. If you don't like it, you will have saved yourself some money! - Design For Less

What brings you to this page about finding good cookbooks?

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Will you be buying a new cookbook today?

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© 2008 Treasures By Brenda

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