The Science of Dinner

An in-depth guide to seasoning, browning, and doneness—accompanied by 60 recipes to practice these kitchen skills—so readers can cook with confidence.  

Is it done? That’s the million-dollar question home cooks ask when trying to get dinner on the table. Anyone can put chicken in the oven; knowing when to take it out is what makes or breaks a dish. Expert culinary school instructor and star YouTube creator Helen Rennie teaches thousands of home cooks how to transform ingredients into flavorful meals. Drawing on her extensive experience, research, restaurant training, and engineering background, this book distills 20 years of teaching into a single volume that cooks can return to again and again. 

Part One covers the building blocks of flavor, including a primer on mastering and balancing taste (the secret: you probably need more salt). It also explains why browning matters; how to make skillets, well-aged baking sheets, and the grill the reader’s go-to dinner workhorses; and how to course-correct if food sticks to the pan, or worse, burns. Part Two focuses on texture—how to tell when vegetables, eggs, fish, meat, and poultry are properly cooked, tender, and safe to eat. It also includes 60 recipes that allow readers to practice and refine these skills. 

With helpful, easy-to-scan charts and many step-by-step photos, this informative cookbook teaches the essential techniques other cookbooks often overlook and is destined to become a classic reference for home cooks.