How to judge cookbooks

Since a 16-round, head-to-head cookbook tournament is not the simplest way to decide which cooking guides should enter your kitchen, perhaps you should consider some straightforward alternatives when perusing the aisles of Barnes & Noble.

You could take the approach offered by Eat Me Daily, which involves comparing books according to their price per pound. EMD put 18 of the heaviest cookbooks to the test, cross-referencing them by weight and price. The Big Fat Duck Cookbook takes the cake at 11.6 pounds and $13.57, but the most valid use of heavy cookbooks might not involve the recipes:

Either way, heavy cookbooks seem to be here to stay, and at least they earn their keep: the stack pictured above has been known to press quite a few eggplant slices and store several chef’s knives in addition to being the inspiration for some mighty fine meals.