Whether your own microclimate has bought into it or not, spring is here, which means that in theory publishers will be taking their annual 8-week hiatus from publishing slow-cooker cookbooks so they can concentrate on grill books.

I always wonder at the everlasting popularity of slow-cooker books.  I mean, slow cookers are so forgiving - you could be off by an hour or two and things will still be basically OK.  The sorts of things you make in them are forgiving too - you can substitute vegetables or herbs or spices or proteins and you'll still have a good hot supper.  You don't necessarily need the precise quantities or instructions of a good recipe.  I'm equally puzzled by the recent slew of cast-iron skillet cookbooks.  It's a skillet! You use it like...a skillet! (I'm sorry.  I don't mean to offend the 123 members who own this book.  It must be great - tell me why!)

Of course, not every gear book (you can find them all with the handy EYB filter for appliance-related cookbooks) is like that.  I can see strong arguments for getting book help using a pressure cooker, or a griller/smoker like Big Green Egg.  I've only just heard of the "halogen oven", but it sounds like something I'd want some advice for.  I can see arguments for ice cream maker, bread machine, panini press books, even though personally I think I'd be happy with just the manual.

The one technique where I'd spring for a helpful book right now is sous-vide. For Christmas I got a sous-vide controller device that turns my slow cooker into a sous-vide bath.  I've mostly been learning from the Modernist Cuisine at Home spiral-bound not-cookbook thing - I think they call it a "kitchen manual.  There's a small selection of sous-vide books out there already, among which I will search for something focused and authoritative.  I'll use it for a year, and then I'll probably be confident (or maybe overconfident) enough not to look at it much again.

What gear books do you gravitate toward, if any?