As a former employee of Cook's Illustrated, the notoriously detail-obsessed, recipe-based cooking magazine run by the gloriously anal-retentive Chris Kimball, I'm always a bit tickled when someone has a bit of fun poking them in the ribs. I mean, I'm still a huge admirer of the magazine and enjoyed every second of working there, but let's face it: They're really, really easy to parodize. More
March means sugaring season in Vermont. After a series of warm days and freezing nights, it's time to tap those trees and begin the maple syrup-making process. Cook's Illustrated editor Christopher Kimball hopped on his four-wheeler through his farm, Two Pigs Farm, to retrieve sap from his maple trees and "sugar," or boil down the liquid. This video is not only informative but set to his bluegrass band's cover of the Grateful Dead hit Eyes of The World. More
In this video over on the Christopher Kimball Blog, Kimball is full of great tips on figuring out when your cake is donezo. First, know your oven. Is it lying? When it says 400°F, does it mean it? He also recommends buying an oven thermometer—a worthy investment at $8. Watch the video for more cake-baking wisdom. More
Amazon is offering an exclusive Kindle download through a partnership with America's Test Kitchen. The Cook's Illustrated How-to-Cook Library will be available free for the Kindle starting February 24. More
Every Thanksgiving we check in with food magazine editors around the country to see how they have gone about putting together their Thanksgiving issues. The reductive and obsessive Chris Kimball, founding editor and publisher of Cook's Illustrated and host of America's Test Kitchen, is always refreshingly honest and forthcoming. "I am not in favor of green vegetables. I'm a white, tan, and orange food guy." Your subhead on the pumpkin pie piece in the magazine is fighting words in some quarters: "The best thing about pumpkin pie is that you only have to eat it once a year." Once in awhile we do back and do something again if we learn something about it in the interim. I made our... More
No surprise, Cook's Illustrated finds farm fresh eggs are tastier than standard supermarket eggs. If you can't farm fresh, organic eggs are the next best thing and "worth the premium." [via Baking Bites]... More
If your new year’s resolution doesn’t involve starving yourself or 100-cal packs, then get over here. Cook’s Illustrated is looking for another year’s line-up of recipe testers. Not a bad thing to have on your resume, eh? But as they warn, seasonal recipes are tested about six months in advance. That means you could be baking heavy casseroles in July or strawberry shortcakes in December.... 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
This is the time of the year when turkey buying panic sets in for those of us obsessed with finding the best-tasting (responsibly raised if possible) turkey to roast. There seems to be more and more choices every year, and I don't know about you, but I think there's a conspiracy afoot to befuddle and confuse us with these choices. Just consider what we are confronted with: fresh, frozen, frozen basted, free-range, free-roaming, all-natural, heritage fresh, heritage frozen, organic, wild, kosher fresh, kosher frozen. It's mind-boggling. Maybe that's why one year I switched to an all-pie Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't have to choose one pie. I just bought a dozen pies of every variety imaginable, including a turkey pot pie.... More
