He was definitely an 'acquired taste' for me, but now I'm a fan. If you ignore the cheesy stuff, he offers an incredible amount of information and some really good recipes. Getting past the foolishness is sort of like getting past Julia's voice, I think. Irritation soon gives way to respect.

sm

I love AB. I record every episode on my DVR, in fact I think "Good Eats" is what breaks my DVR about once a year - I just had to swap it out AGAIN!

The irony, however, is that I'm rarely inspired to try any of his recipes and when I do, they're often just ok or seem to have something considerably wrong. Specific examples that come to mind early before coffee:

Chateaubriand - WAY oversalted. Almost ruined a not-cheap cut of meat. (Aside from that, liked the recipe and used it again.)

Meatballs - I burped garlic powder for days. And I love garlic. (Again, aside from that, liked the the recipe and method, used it again often. I just don't see how he could be so far off. I'm not talking a matter of taste, I'm talking a matter of "wrong".)

Buffalo wings - I had fun making his 3-tier steamer basket, but the concept of steaming off some fat before baking the wings didn't work for me; they still smoked up the oven. Deep frying wings is fast and foolproof.

Duck - What a disaster.

So why do I watch him? I like watching him go shopping, whether for ingredients or for equipment. I like the goofy "science". I find him entertaining. And yes, I do really like some of his recipes (gyros - yum) and methods (my simple omlette improved ten-fold after seeing his show.)

Another Alton fan here. I love watching his shows & am always disappointed if they are pre-empted by some FN special. I've never actually prepared one of his recipes but his 'food science' has made me a better cook no matter what I'm tackling in the kitchen. A show on "Cup Cakes" aired last night that I really enjoyed. I'm a trivia fan & that's part of what I look forward to with AB's shows...culinary anthropology. I used to find cooking tedius & much prefered baking. It was AB who inspired me to expend more time/effort on a recipe that didn't include yeast. I was never able to watch or learn from Julia Child. Her voice & mannerisms threw me over the edge in about 5 seconds flat. In fact, Julia actually turned me OFF from cooking in my thirties. Yet, goofy AB manages to hold my interest long enough for me to learn something & doesn't take the whole cooking thing too seriously. I mean, gosh, it's just food. I like that approach.

"Slicing a warm slab of bacon is a lot like giving a ferret a shave. No matter how careful you are, somebody's going to get hurt. Oh, bother!"

/tricia

I overlook the Sesame Street stuff to get to the inner workings of food that I find helpful in making me a better cook--and I need all the help I can get.

My young nephews showed an interest in cooking. They are near the store that AB frequents and has held workshops so I bought them a session for their birthday a few years ago. They totally enjoyed it, my SIL said that he really held their interest. Come Thanksgiving, these pre-teens made the most delicious turkey dinner! They were really into the mechanics and monitored the turkey from brining to slicing.

I love him, too.

Sherry

I also love him but not the recipes. I don't have cable anymore; thanks for the youtube hint! His show is on DVD, too.

Oh yes, I really enjoy AB. Of course, I also enjoyed Julia, I just got a big charge out of her nearly all the time.

I don't use many of his recipes, but I like the show. The chocolate chip cookie show with his annoying sister immediately comes to mind, as does the Christmas cookie show with the magic Santa.

Does this mean I'm wanting cookies? Yup, it does.

Annie

I tried a lot of his recipes, here are some of the better ones; Humus, he uses creamy peanut butter rather than tahini. Tahini always tastes too bitter for me. Tofu chocolate pie, I love surprising people with the secret ingredient. Onion soup was good. Homemade mayo. Pear and plum sweet pickles. Brined turkey. Pizza. His shrimp cocktail was one of the best I've ever had, he brines the shrimp for a few minutes and makes a wonderful cocktail sauce, yum. Rice pilaf. Risotto. Peach ice cream. Pancakes. There are more but those are my favorites.

I love his reviews of kitchen gadgets too, always check out www.goodeatsfanpage.com before I buy something new.

Yep. I watch his show religiously.

I've also met him in person at a cookbook signing a few years ago. Just as funny in person.

I started curing and smoking my own bacon because of him.

I also started making my own sauerkraut because of him.

I use a LOT of his recipes as bases and adjust them to match my and my family's tastes.

The recipe for Mac and Cheese that I posted Sunday is a prime example.

Another good one is his chuck roast recipe.

I like Alton Brown, but it's been almost a year since I've had the time to sit through his (or any Food Network) shows.
I particularly liked Alton's silliness, but I think that's because I've always been a kid at heart, and there's just no cure for people like me ... not that I'm looking for an antidote.

His recipes -for me anyway- have always been hit or miss. But, he's still entertaining.

Sol

Another who gets a kick out of him but not so hot on his recipes. I find I always learn something from him, which is more than I can say for most of the shows that air on FN these days.

I never tried the Chuck Roast, the raisins put me off I think.

I like to watch the show. I have probably learned a few things from it, although I'll be danged if I can tell you what they are. I have to laugh every time he peers into the oven, microwave or fridge that have their backs removed so we can look through from the other direction as he talks to us. That's an Alton Brown exclusive.

Mustangs, I enjoyed the story about your nephews a lot. More power to them. It's quite surprising what kids can achieve if given opportunity and encouragement. I love to see that happen.

Jim

I used to enjoy his show until I tried his Sauerbraten recipe. It was way too salty and I ended up throwing it out. I was so disappointed that I don't think I've watched his show since. To me, he's a prime example of an "entertainer", rather than a real cook, and even though I used to enjoy the food science that he presents, I've been kind of skeptical about his abilities if he can't be troubled to make sure his recipes taste good.

Becky

I like and watch AB, primarily because I learn things from him. I've only tried a few of his recipes, but so far they've been ok. My husband loves his english muffins. I really wasn't thrilled with his mac and cheese recipe when I tried it a couple weeks ago, but the DH liked it. It was too greasy for me, but maybe I'm looking for the holy grail of a perfect mac and cheese.

I also like the show for the info on cuts of meat (something I'd not really paid much attention to before) and cooking gear recommendations although America's test kitchen has a similar appeal. I fast forward through the skits and other silly stuff. Helps keep me sane. :) I like him much better than some of the other FN hosts, but I won't elaborate lest we start a FN host war!

Bri

I am not a big fan, but I have watched parts of shows here and there. Tim loves his show, tho. Loves the silliness and the science.

Me? I'm a more serious person.....(yeah ,right!)

Londa

"To me, he's a prime example of an "entertainer", rather than a real cook, and even though I used to enjoy the food science that he presents, I've been kind of skeptical about his abilities if he can't be troubled to make sure his recipes taste good."

Taste is, as with everything, HIGHLY personal.

I've eaten the sauerbrauten recipe and found it to be under salted, myself.

I have to wonder, though, would you throw out an entire cookbook because the one recipe you tried didn't turn out for you?

Sorry, but such a limited sampling seems to be a pretty silly reason for abandoning something entirely.

As for Alton being an entertainer rather than a cook, he graduated the New England Culinary Institute (with honors, I believe).

I love his shows. I'm tired of nothing but reruns. I especially like his food science and can't remember trying any of his recipes.

I love his show. I have his two "just here for the food" books and his gear book (I believe, they are packed away). I have liked all his recipes that I have tried.

I would run away with him if he came to my door and asked me (I have a thing for geeky men apparently ROFLMAO). DH and I have an agreement that he can do the same if it is Sandra Bullock calling for him ;).

There is a joke from those that know me (including DH) who said that I should never meet AB in person. I would be likely to use the question period to ask if I can put my tongue in his mouth *!*

Now that was WAY more info than you needed BWA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!

Dances,

Spitting (pun intended) my Diet Pepsi all over the monitor!!!!!! roflmao

/t

I like watching Alton, he's quite a character. He holds a degree in acting, not chemistry or anything related to cooking. But he's funny. I have never made any of his "recipes".

AB does have a culinary degree.

From Wiki:

"Brown received a degree in drama from the University of Georgia. He first worked in cinematography and film production, and was the director of photography on the music video for R.E.M.'s "The One I Love." He also worked as a steadicam operator on the Spike Lee film School Daze.

At some point, he noticed that he was very dissatisfied with the quality of cooking shows then airing on American television, so he set out to produce his own show. Not possessing the requisite knowledge, he enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute, from which he graduated in 1997.[1] Brown states that he had been a poor science student in high school and college, so he began to study the subject as he took cooking training and felt the need to understand the underlying processes of cooking."

/t

I guess I'm in the minority with Linda. I find him annoying.

Ann