Modernist Cuisine
Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvoldby Nathan Myhrvold
Shares rank 2 of 7 cookbooks by recommenders
People recommend it for its technique depth, including mass-based baker's percentages and a home-cooked filet that people say beats many restaurants.
People recommend it for its technique depth, including mass-based baker's percentages and a home-cooked filet that people say beats many restaurants.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Mass-based baker's percentages
“those are all done by mass with baker's percentages”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “You Need a Kitchen Slide Rule” Filet better than most restaurants
“produces a filet better than most restaurants”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “Almost no skill required to cook a steak”
Other cookbooks people recommend
The four most recommended other cookbooks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Food Labby J. Kenji López-Alt | 7 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Modernist Cuisineby Nathan MyhrvoldThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| On Food and Cookingby Harold McGee | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Sourdough Frameworkby Hendricius Ruppel | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| The Flavor Bibleby Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“produces a filet better than most restaurants”
“those are all done by mass with baker's percentages”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.