This is the single most useful cookbook i own, and i own quite a few. After cooking cook's illustrated recipes, i find myself doubting recipes from other sources. The articles included with the recipes tell you exactly why they call for specific techniques, equipment and ingredients and what happened when they tried other things. It also provides an excellent reference with a multitude of supermarket taste tests and equipment ratings. The entire cook's illustrated series is wonderful but this is an absolute must have for anyone to loves to cook or wants a fool-proof collection of fantastic recipes.