Ever wondered how to pan-fry a steak using a charred crust and an interior that’s properly medium-rare from edge to edge when you cut into it? Steps to make homemade macintosh ‘n’ cheese that is as satisfyingly gooey and velvety-smooth as the blue box stuff, but significantly tastier? How exactly to roast a succulent, moist turkey (just forget about brining!)-and use a foolproof method that works each time?

As Serious Eats’s culinary nerd-in-residence, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt has pondered each one of these questions and more. In The Food Lab, Kenji targets the technology behind much loved American meals, delving into the connections between high temperature, energy, and molecules that induce great meals. Kenji implies that often, conventional strategies don’t function that well, and house cooks can perform far better results using new-but simple-techniques. In hundreds of easy-to-make quality recipes, you will see out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes, how exactly to transform one simple tomato sauce right into a fifty percent dozen dishes, how to make the crispiest, creamiest potato casserole ever conceived, plus much more.