Man Meets Stove: A cookbook for men who've never cooked anything without a microwave.

I bought this for my boyfriend because I'll be living abroad for a few years and he's graduating in May, so he'll have to learn how to cook. I looked through the book and was very pleased to find the first almost 3rd of the book was dedicated to giving explanations for cooking terminology, basic cooking tips, advice on keeping a clean cooking environment, and what tools to buy/use. The recipes seem to be basic enough for a beginner, but appealing for a variety of occasions.Pros:-There is almost a full page dedicated to explaining "al dente". This is kind of an inside joke with me and my boyfriend, but I am glad that they took the time to explain terms like this. I hadn't realized it until my boyfriend told me he didn't understand the term, but people who didn't grow up helping in the kitchen don't understand a lot of cooking terms. This book is great for teaching!-There is an entire section on how to deal with chicken. I don't mean how to cook it, I mean how to handle it and clean up after handling it without spreading disgusting chicken bacteria around your kitchen and into your raw food. Like with the last point, this is a great learning tool.-All the writing is both beginner- and guy- friendly. Everything is explained in the most man-cave, basic tough-guy language. It's over the top, but informative, and makes for a fun read while giving you the instructions you need to survive in the kitchen.-The recipes look really good. While they are mainly 'man-food', there are some that are more like 'impress-your-date' food. They are simple, well explained, and even come with a clever playlist of songs to listen to while you cook.Cons:-The recipes seem pretty simple and 'man-food'-y, which means they will be good for a beginner, but are not the healthiest. If you want something more health-food focused you'll have to find another book.-I'm not a big fan of the organization of the book. There are multiple recipes per page and some recipes run over to the next page. This may be different with the Kindle version. Not something that inhibits the usefulness of the book, but just a bit of a bother for me. Don't think my guy is as picky, so not a problem.Overall I think this is a great beginner tool for cooking successfully. It gives you the basic knowledge to feel comfortable in the kitchen, and if you want to branch out into more health-food type recipes, you can use the knowledge you gained from this book and apply it to recipes found online or in other, more advanced cookbooks.

This may appeal to you if you are a heterosexual white dude but otherwise, this is the stereotypical "all men are good at masculine things...grilling...and must be obsessed with girls etc." I guess I can appreciate some of the humor and that they try to introduce guys to a generally less-masculine-viewed topic. I just wish it was a bit more inclusive.

Great gift for a man who enjoys adult humor! I even ordered a second book just to be able to read it all. Skimming through it I was laughing so hard!!! Hands down amazing gift idea . I have zero ideas how the recipes turn out though. Still gets 5 stars from me for the humorous read alone.

Bought this for my adult.son who has limited.cooking skills. he has made several recipes from the book and said they are easy to follow and taste good. Yea! goal accomplished.

It's a good beginner cookbook if you really want to learn to cook. You have to like lots of food to actually use it though. I bought it for my BF who is totally inept in the kitchen and he got some pointers about the basics of cooking, but a lot of the recipes are kind of fancy and he wouldn't eat them. But if you like fruit and want to impress the ladies (according to the book) it's for you!

Got this for my brother who has recently moved out. who has never cooked anything without a microwave hopefully he will use it . the only thing he seems to cook are eggs and when the weather's good steaks on a grill

Got it for my boyfriend as a funny gag gift. He's still a terrible cook, but I enjoyed reading the cookbook while dinner was being ruined.The former BF tried making the apricot chicken which SOUNDED amazing. The sauce was to die for, however the book didn't leave explicit directions for how much oil to use when pan frying the chicken. This one piece of missing information resulted in using 1/2 bottle of olive oil in the frying pan. It was a bit excessive and resulted in the WORST chicken I have ever had in my life. For those who have not tried "boiling" chicken in oil, it's rubbery and chewy. We decided we would cook together after that.

The book is hilarious but I find a lot of the meals to be difficult for a man who’s never cooked before to make. If you’re looking for easy and simple recipes, don’t buy this book. It’s great for a gag gift or for someone who’s interested in making different recipes but stick with something more simple for a college boy or just-moving-out-the-house boy. I love that they joke around in the book and give you soundtracks to play for each recipe. Also explains the different cuts of steak which is definitely important!

Great

Bought this as a gift for a male roommate who wanted to get into cooking. No pictures, did not peak interest for long. Although there were funny parts, it did not make up for the amount of writing between the recipes. Recipes were so-so once we got into making them, not as simple as other books we got for a newbie in the kitchen. Also, the binding of this book does not allow you to lay it flat on your counter, I had to break the spine to make it useful in the kitchen

This is a cookbook with no yummy pics, it is more of a novel than a cook book. It has no appeal to cook with at all. Very disappointed. Wish I could return for money back.

Slightly difficult to read and very few pictures. Not enticing enough for the men in my household

Interesting