Modernist Cuisine at Home Book:
Nathan Myhrvold presented Modernist Cuisine at Home, a smaller, more accessible version of the encyclopedic “Modernist Cuisine” book. The focus is on practical techniques and recipes that can be done at home with common equipment and ingredients. The book features step-by-step photos, cutaways of cooking equipment, a washable kitchen manual, and a focus on less formal and more accessible recipes.

Physical Quality and Production:
The book boasts high-quality paper, stochastic screening for better image quality, and chromocentric inks for a wider color gamut. Myhrvold emphasizes the importance of print for delivering large, high-resolution pictures, especially for traditional chefs.

Book’s Content and Statistics:
Two volumes, weighing 9.9 pounds, with 684 pages (228 waterproof) and 23 chapters. 210,000 words, 405 recipes (114 with step-by-step photos), and approximately 86,000 pictures taken, of which 1,500 are included in the book. If the text were arranged in a single line, it would stretch for 1.4 miles.

Cost Comparison:
Modernist Cuisine at Home is priced at $140, making it cheaper per recipe and per pound than its predecessor, Modernist Cuisine. Myhrvold humorously compares the book’s price to that of Parmesan Reggiano cheese, stating that it’s cheaper and thus a better value.

Emphasis on Practicality:
The book includes lots of step-by-step photos and uses teaspoons for measurements, catering to the home cook’s preference for convenience and accuracy. Myhrvold advocates for the use of digital thermometers and scales in the kitchen for precise and efficient cooking.

Ingredients:
Nathan Myhrvold prefers using ingredients that are easy to find but not necessarily familiar. He introduces ingredients like agar, whey protein powder, and xanthan gum, which are commonly found in health food stores or grocery stores. Myhrvold encourages home cooks to experiment with these ingredients to create new and exciting dishes.

Science and Cooking:
The new book includes scientific explanations behind various cooking techniques and recipes. Myhrvold provides references to external resources, such as websites, other books, or his previous book, for further exploration of the science behind cooking.

Experimentation and Creativity:
Myhrvold emphasizes the importance of experimentation and creativity in cooking. He encourages home cooks to explore variations of recipes and to use different ingredients to create their own unique dishes. Myhrvold provides multiple examples and variations of recipes to inspire creativity in cooking.

Sous Vide Cooking:
The new book includes sous vide recipes, acknowledging the growing popularity of this cooking technique. Myhrvold provides alternative methods for sous vide cooking without specialized equipment, such as cooking salmon in a sink full of hot water or cooking steaks in a cooler filled with hot water.

Kitchen Tools:
The book includes a chapter on stocking a modernist kitchen, focusing on various countertop tools and equipment. Myhrvold discusses the importance of having the right tools for specific cooking techniques and recipes.

Recipe Variations:
Myhrvold emphasizes the importance of having multiple variations for each recipe to encourage home cooks to explore different flavors and ingredients. He provides examples of how a single recipe can be transformed into various dishes by experimenting with different ingredients and techniques.

Equipment and Methods:
High-speed photography captures the dynamics of cooking processes, revealing insights into popcorn popping and steam expansion. Cutaways of kitchen appliances, such as pressure cookers, whipping siphons, and microwave ovens, provide a deeper understanding of their inner workings. A machine shop allows for precise cutting and modification of cooking equipment, enabling unique experiments and demonstrations. An EDM machine uses electrical sparks to cut through metal, allowing for precise sectioning of cookware.

Cooking Techniques:
Spritzing olive oil onto the fire during grilling enhances the flavor of vegetables by mimicking the fat flare-ups that occur with fatty meats. Using a hairdryer to increase the heat of a grill can create intense heat, but caution must be taken to prevent coals from falling through the grill.

Photography Techniques:
When photographing food cooked in a pan cut in half, a digital image of the other half is used to replace the red silicone sealant, creating a seamless appearance. High-temperature silicone is used to glue Pyrex glass to the edges of pans, allowing for cooking in the cut-open pans.

Key Differences between Grilling and Broiling:
Grilling involves heat coming from below, allowing fat to drip and create char-grilled flavor. Broiling, on the other hand, has heat coming from above, preventing fat from dripping and resulting in a different flavor profile.

Focus on Ingredients:
The book emphasizes the importance of ingredients in cooking, with a chapter dedicated to understanding and selecting the best ingredients.

Sauces, Stocks, and More:
A chapter covers the basics of making sauces and stocks, essential components in various dishes.

Eggs, Salads, and Cold Soups:
The book includes a chapter on eggs, salads, and cold soups, providing recipes and techniques for these dishes.

Labor-Intensive Photography:
Nathan Myhrvold personally took many of the photographs in the book, requiring meticulous preparation and timing, such as dropping several pounds of raspberries one by one to capture the perfect shot.

Pressure-Cooked Vegetable Soups:
The book features a chapter on pressure-cooked vegetable soups, including a popular carrot soup recipe that was initially made using a centrifuge.

Steak, Carnitas, and Braised Short Ribs:
A whole chapter is dedicated to steak, with recipes and techniques for cooking various cuts of steak. The book also includes chapters on carnitas and braised short ribs, providing instructions for these flavorful dishes.

The Ideal Roast Chicken:
A roast chicken’s ideal state involves juicy interior flesh and crispy exterior skin, but achieving both is challenging due to their proximity.

The Science of Brining:
Brining a chicken with salt water enhances its juiciness by promoting water absorption into the meat’s proteins.

Injecting Brine into the Meat:
To avoid rubbery skin, brine is injected directly into the meat using syringes, preventing salt accumulation on the skin.

Drying the Skin:
Hanging the chicken inside the refrigerator uncovered allows the skin to dry out, making it easier to achieve crispiness.

Cheese Sauce without Starch:
Adding sodium citrate to a cheese sauce prevents emulsion separation, eliminating the need for starch. This results in a cheesy sauce with a more intense flavor.

Melted Cheese Sandwiches:
Using a cheese sauce made without starch, melty cheese sandwiches can be made with no gravity, a technique developed for the International Space Station.

Accessible Recipes:
The majority of recipes in the book are suitable for home kitchens, with some requiring additional equipment like sous vide or pressure cookers.

Sous Vide Techniques:
Sous vide cooking involves precise temperature control, which can be achieved using digital technology or by manually maintaining a constant temperature.

Sous Vide at Home:
Sous vide can be approximated at home by maintaining a pot of hot water on the stove or by using a large volume of water in a sink, allowing the food to cook at a constant temperature.

Technology’s Role:
The author’s background in technology influences the Modernist Cuisine series, emphasizing the use of digital technology for precise temperature control and other culinary techniques.

Modernist Cuisine and Technology:
Nathan Myhrvold used digital technology to control the thermostat accurately and to predict heat distribution in food and pans. He discovered that pan thickness doesn’t significantly affect lateral heat movement, emphasizing the importance of matching pan size and burner size for optimal performance.

Science and Culinary Arts:
Myhrvold believes that science has always been a part of cooking and that understanding the science behind cooking techniques enhances the culinary experience. He compares the role of science in cooking to the role of understanding building principles in architecture, highlighting the importance of preventing disasters and ensuring success.

Target Audience and Book Inspiration:
Myhrvold’s books are intended for passionate and curious individuals who seek insights into the science of cooking rather than simply following recipes. He emphasizes the importance of understanding “why” and “how” in cooking, which is the primary focus of his books.

Inspiration for Modernist Cuisine:
Myhrvold’s interest in food began at a young age, and he pursued formal training at a chef school in France after leaving Microsoft. He realized that there was a lack of comprehensive resources explaining cooking from a scientific perspective, leading him to create Modernist Cuisine.

The Role of the Internet and Community:
Myhrvold engaged with the online community on eGullet, sharing knowledge about sous vide and modern cuisine. Feedback and encouragement from the eGullet community motivated him to write Modernist Cuisine.

Favorite Discovery: The Barbecue Stall:
Myhrvold’s favorite discovery was the cause of the “barbecue stall,” a phenomenon where the temperature of meat plateaus during cooking. He found that the stall occurs due to evaporative cooling caused by the meat’s moisture, similar to how sweating cools the human body. Traditional remedies like slathering sauce on the meat actually hinder the heating process due to evaporative cooling.

Favorite Cookbook: Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire:
Myhrvold credits Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire as a historically inspirational cookbook. He acknowledges Escoffier’s influence on chefs worldwide but also identifies aspects of Escoffier’s approach that he wanted to avoid in his own work.

Nathan Myhrvold’s Approach to Cooking:
Nathan Myhrvold’s approach to cooking emphasizes making delicious food without strictly following tradition. His recipes provide precise instructions, including temperature and cooking time, to ensure successful results even for inexperienced cooks.

Food Trends and Buzzwords:
Myhrvold criticizes the misuse of buzzwords like “organic” and “local,” which have been manipulated by corporations to increase profits rather than promote genuine quality. He highlights the example of commercial honey producers feeding bees with high fructose corn syrup and labeling it as natural honey, a practice he refers to as “fructose laundering.” Similarly, he points out that nitrite-free bacon often contains concentrated celery juice, which has the same nitrate content as traditional brines, making the “nitrite-free” label misleading.

Modernist Cuisine Essentials:
Myhrvold’s essential kitchen ingredients include fish sauce, sesame oil, and rendered duck fat.

Baking as a Potential Next Step:
A questioner suggests that baking, with its more precise and scientific nature, might be an easier subject for exploration compared to traditional cooking. Myhrvold does not directly respond to this suggestion, leaving it open for future consideration.

Baking and Pastry: A World of Precision:
Baking and pastry demand precise measurements and techniques for successful results, unlike cooking savory dishes, which allow for more flexibility in seasoning and eyeballed quantities.

Baker’s Percentages: A Pastry Chef’s Tool:
The use of percentages in baking and pastry recipes (baker’s percentages) facilitates scaling up recipes and ensuring consistency, a practice commonly employed by pastry chefs but less prevalent in savory cooking.

Pastry Books Leading the Culinary Frontier:
Unlike savory cooking books, pastry books often showcase cutting-edge recipes and techniques, providing aspiring chefs with more innovative and up-to-date culinary knowledge.

Pastry Chefs Pioneering Modern Techniques:
Many modern cooking techniques, such as sous vide cooking, were first adopted by pastry chefs and later spread to savory cooking, demonstrating their receptiveness to culinary innovation.

Sous Vide Smoking for Exceptional Ribs and Pork Shoulder:
Sous vide cooking, typically associated with precise temperature control, can be combined with smoking to create exceptional ribs and pork shoulder. Cooking ribs at 140 degrees for 48 hours sous vide, followed by a brief smoking session, results in tender, succulent ribs. Similarly, pork shoulder cooked sous vide for 48 hours at 145 degrees and then smoked produces incredibly flavorful and tender meat.

Short Ribs: A Culinary Delight Worth the Wait:
Short ribs cooked sous vide at 145 degrees for 72 hours, followed by smoking, deliver an extraordinary culinary experience, earning praise from renowned barbecue expert Stephen Reikland.

Sous Vide Convenience: A Flexible Approach:
The sous vide cooking method offers flexibility, allowing cooks to prepare dishes in advance and store them in the refrigerator or freezer before finishing them with a quick smoking session.

Smarter Cooking with Technology:
Nathan Myhrvold highlights the efficiency of smoking food for a shorter duration, as the penetration depth of smoke follows an exponential decay.

Beyond Technique: Exploring Aesthetics and Creativity:
Myhrvold emphasizes that technology cannot fully replace the aesthetic and creative aspects of cooking. Experimentation with flavor combinations, textures, and presentation adds unbounded value.

Optimizing Kitchen Skills:
In the age of cooking technology, Myhrvold advises home cooks to utilize their time in developing aesthetic skills and exploring new culinary dimensions.

The Thermometer Dilemma:
Myhrvold emphasizes the importance of understanding the uneven temperature distribution within meat. Simply relying on a thermometer reading might not suffice, as exemplified by his experience of a raw Thanksgiving turkey despite using a probe thermometer.

Multi-Probe Thermometers: A Game-Changer:
Myhrvold showcases the utility of multi-probe thermometers that provide temperature readings from multiple points, allowing for precise monitoring of the cooking process.

Choosing the Right Measurement Point:
Myhrvold suggests selecting the thickest part of the food item for temperature measurement. In the case of poultry, it is traditionally the hip joint, but the thickest part is often the breast, which is crucial to avoid undercooking.