Culinary Reactions: The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking Paperback – Illustrated, November 1, 2011

As advertised.I enjoyed reading this book as it explained a lot of what goes on with a cooking recipe, like what the different components do.Happy Camper.

I took food chemistry for my culinary degree, but there was no textbook for the class (we just used notes provided by the professor). I purchased this book as supplemental material because I am interested in food chemistry and wanted to get a little extra out of the class. I found that a lot of the topics covered in the class were the same as what is in this book, and if I had some difficulty understanding certain topics in the class, this book did a good job explaining them and assisting my understanding. For only $10.00, this was a great buy!

Hear the oil popping, watch the shine as the salmon flips, taste the tangy orange flavor of the crispy skin. If you had just heard that, what would you think of? Cooking right? What if I told you that you were wrong. Actually you’re right but let’s talk about the interesting stuff, the magic behind the scenes! What they don't want you to know! The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking! by Simon Quellen Field.Culinary Reactions takes you on a rollercoaster of new experiences as it explores the chemistry behind cooking. From periodicity to electrochemistry, from molecule to mouth, Culinary Reactions covers it all.I began this book thinking about how I hated doing another assignment but I was fabulously wrong. As a home cook myself my view on cooking and food completely changed after reading this book. I found myself waiting to get home everyday to read and was able finish the book in the 5 days after it arrived.This book would be best suited for those who cook and I would highly recommend it to honors chemistry students. For readers who do not cook or dislike cooking this book will not be your cup of tea. It goes very in depth about every reaction and even backs up the claims with evidence. One thing that I enjoyed was the recipes included in the book. It includes a variety of recettes that tailor to the chapter and topic. One thing that could be improved was the cooking alongside the lessons at times. The book introduces different meals and then tailors the chemistry to the cooking. The cooking could be improved as it is oftentimes very basic.For chemistry students I would recommend this book as it covers all the AP topics in depth in a fun manner. From how it covers acids and bases alter tastes of dishes to the need for precise measurements in order to create a culinary masterpiece. Field mentions a lot about how the method and temperature of heating affects the proteins and how they decompose.In conclusion, I would rate Culinary Chemistry: The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking a ⅘ stars. It is an amazing reading that I would recommend to anyone who has the slightest interest in chemistry or cooking.

This is a great book and it does an excellent job of combining interesting recipes with a clear explanation of the science that goes into controlling them. I have an advanced chemistry degree so it was a very easy read for me but I think that it could be understood by anyone willing to spend a little time going through it. I found a lot of useful things that I was unaware of or had never thought of and would highly recommend this to anyone with a solid foundation in cooking who want to gain a better insight into why various culinary reactions occur.

Such a great book! I bought it as a Christmas gift for a friend and she loved it!

While this book is informative, and scientifically accurate, it is completely disorganized. The author will ask a question such as why do we sift flour, then go off on a tangent about why you should weight eggs, just to come back and say sifting flour isn't all that important anymore. Additionally, the topics covered in a single chapter often are not all that related. For example alongside the flour conversation was a conversation about how to test for bad eggs and how to estimate the calories in the meal.However, there is still some great science in this book. In between explaining things such as the difference between egg foam and fat foam, the author would outline topics like how to read an organic molecule diagram. This definitely has it’s pro’s and con’s. For me as a soon to be Chemical Engineering graduate, it’s great, it keeps me intrigued by talking shop about chemistry. To the average reader without a STEM degree, it might be a little overwhelming, verging on completely useless.The never ending stream of science facts kind of take away from this book being about food. The author does go into great detail into many things that it would be helpful to know in the kitchen. However he often does not tie an idea back to cooking after he has fleshed it out. For example the chapter on fats and oils did not really leave me with many cooking tricks but much more knowledgeable about the organic structure of different types of fats. The fact that it doesn't exactly cover the science well enough and isn’t really a cookbook makes it difficult to see what this author was going for or what he wanted the reader to get out of it. It does also concern me that people with less knowledge in chemistry are potentially learning some of the more difficult parts of chemistry through a cookbook.For those of you with a science background looking for a textbook to tell you what's happening in the kitchen, this book is for you. You will relearn many of the topics you cover in organic and general chemistry, in the context of cooking. However if you are a science novice looking for advanced cooking techniques you seem to be out of luck. Additionally, I wish it covered more of the health effects of food, and how different foods affect our bodies. This seems like a great venue for that kind of information and I was left disappointed it was missing.A side note, I read this book on kindle, and did not at all like the formating. The pages really felt like a wall of text and there were not nearly enough diagrams of some of the organic chemistry lessons. An inclusion of more visual aids would definetly help a lot of readers understand some of the chemistry better.

Love this book. It goes in depth into the science and reactions behind cooking. I have enjoyed using it with my children, especially during this time. It is making me very glad they are out of school and at home learning with me.