Alton Brown

In his book, I'm Just Here For the Food, Alton stresses that he does not view himself as a chef, for he says he has no talent for creating new dishes, but wants more to make the inner workings of food understandable. "In that regard I'm more a mechanic more than I am a cook,"

Alton: (On what his favorite curse word is) Oh bother. I'm from the South.

Alton: The brain is the most important tool in cooking.

Alton: Everything in food is science.

Alton: There are no bad foods, only bad food habits.

Alton: Even people who don't actually cook can enjoy the show.

Alton: In the first days, when we first made the test pilots, we didn't even think much about market. I just wanted to make the show.

Alton: I'm going from doing all of the work to having to delegate the work - which is almost harder for me than doing the work myself. I'm a lousy delegator, but I'm learning.

Alton: I love to have battles of the wits with people that can dish fast and dirty - and it leads to problems occasionally, 'cause I can sound mean without attempting to be mean.

Alton: I love poking fun at myself. I have a rather mean sense of humor.

Alton: I like television. I still believe that television is the most powerful form of communication on Earth - I just hate what is being done with it.

Alton: I have nothing but sympathy for the people who are forced to work with me. I'm better now at picking out those that want to play that game with me, and those that don't.

Alton: I had kicked around the idea for Good Eats when I was directing commercials.

Alton: I can't talk about anything or write about anything if I don't understand it. So a lot of the stuff that I go through and a lot of the time that I spend is understanding.

Alton: Although I don't take myself very seriously, I do take my work extraordinarily seriously.