Almost every cuisine that cooks over a live fire has developed a method for overcoming the challenge of grilling a whole chicken. Americans spike chickens on tallboys of Schlitz and bathe them in low, smoky heat. Italians take another route, cutting out the backbone and cooking the butterflied bird over a hot fire. The Italian secret: The bird is weighted with bricks. But America's Test Kitchen improved upon the method with a novel twist. Watch the video above for step-by-step instructions or get the recipe at AmericasTestKitchen.com (free registration required). More

The best olive oil comes from Italy or Spain, right? Maybe so, but California olive growers are working to change that. Wondering if California already sells olive oils as good as America's favorite imports, America's Test Kitchen anonymously purchased 10 extra-virgin oils from the state's largest and most established producers to see if a domestic oil could replace Europe as the winner in this intercontinental battle. More

When it comes to corn, grilling is a great alternative to boiling. But it's not without its shortcomings: The corn is usually burnt by the time it's taken off the heat, and any sauce to enhance its flavor is more likely to end up in a pool on the plate instead of on the kernels. America's Test Kitchen set out to develop a a recipe inspired by Mexican street vendors, who slather add kick to grilled corn by slathering it with a creamy, spicy sauce. Check it out in this video and then get the recipe from AmericasTestKitchen.com (free registration required). More

Before they started to test solar cookers, America's Test Kitchen-ers were skeptical—could anything simply left in a pot or box to cook in the sun actually taste good? They had good results with some (but not all) of the recipes they tested. One big caveat: You need a lot of sun to make dinner in a solar cooker. More

Never mastered the perfect French omelet? The ingredient list is minimal but the technique is hardly easy. The instructions in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking run 11 pages. America's Test Kitchen spent weeks cracking eggs to simplify this recipe. Its final recipe for Perfect French Omelets defies 100 years of French culinary tradition. More

Admit it. You don't always make homemade stock and instead rely on store-bought broths. Of course, commercial broths are never very good—and some are downright awful. And vegetable broths seem especially problematic. Some are opaque, others are clear, and flavors range from salty to sweet to oddly sour. To find the best option, America's Test Kitchen rated 10 top-selling brands, tasting them straight from the package and in several recipes. More

I frequently work as a freelance recipe tester. Most people think that it must be a dream job—they imagine me puttering about my kitchen, popping delicious creations in and out of my oven all day long. This couldn't be further from the truth. Like any job, recipe testing is often incredibly stressful. Recently, I spent six hours slaving over homemade croissants—pounding the butter, rolling the dough, chilling them, letting them rise, and tying them into little knots—only to have them emerge like butter-drenched hockey pucks. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. Along with the failed croissants, the same assignment yielded recipes for a perfectly balanced chilled cucumber soup, and to-die-for apricot-almond bars. But nothing is more upsetting... More

We caught up with Christopher Kimball, founding editor and publisher of Cook's Illustrated and host of America's Test Kitchen, a couple days ago on the phone to talk turkey (day) with him. It turns out that, among other things, the man hates green beans, and he's not afraid to admit it. More