Cook's Illustrated

My favorite articles are those that delve into the development of the recipe featured. These articles all provide a standard format of describing the "perfect" representation of the items and then the authors explain their process for creating their final recipes and the method by which to read and make the recipes. While this sounds scientific (and indeed, it is), the writing is delightful and down-to-earth, not dry or esoteric as other gourmet magazines. In addition, sidebar articles explore choosing particular ingredients or comparisons of different brands or gadgets relating to the recipe shown and give clear direction where the more elusive ingredients and gadgets can be purchased.

While I am not always confident that the recipes in other magazines or cookbooks have been tested, I am always certain that the recipes in Cooks Illustrated have been rigorously reviewed and have been designed to be made by the average cook, not trained culinary experts. If you are seeking a magazine that provides tried-and-true recipes for basic food items (ranging from Beef Stroganoff to Salade Nicoise), this is a perfect choice. It is obvious that this magazine is a work of love for its editors and writers. There are no advertisements, and the only color photos are on the inside of the back page of the magazine.

(At one time, Cooks Illustrated had a special featured area on Amazon.com. The articles posted there are still available on Amazon.com, but you have to dig. Search under the book The Best Recipe, click through to the book description, and under "Book Information" in the left column, click the Amazon.com articles link and explore from there. These articles are great--albeit more brief and non-illustrated--versions of the articles in the magazine.)


A great magazine even for the culinarily-challenged   November 4, 2004
E. A. Lovitt (Gladwin, MI USA)
63 out of 64 found this review helpful

"Cook's Illustrated" serves as a mentor to me and others who refused to learn the art and science of cookery in the kitchens of their loved ones. I did take a home economics class in high school, but my main memory of it is my teacher's repeated iteration of "Oh mercy, Elaine. Mercy." It took a long diet of college jello and Spanish Rice, and then a marriage in which neither of us fathomed the mysteries of the kitchen to get me interested in the art of cooking for myself and others.

Most of the other magazines in the culinary market don't seem to cater to the cooking-challenged. For instance, the seemingly simple instruction "beat enough sugar into the meringue to stiffen it" caused me to set the oven on fire. I added cups and cups of sugar to my three egg whites and the darn meringue finally got grainy, which I figured was the equivalent of 'stiff.' Not so. Once enough heat was applied, the meringue flooded over the sides of the pie plate and set the oven ablaze. It was not easy explaining my culinary mishap to a sceptical fireman.

My inadvertent attempt at incendiarism wouldn't have happened if I had been following a recipe in "Cook's Illustrated." Here the recipes are lovingly detailed, and there diagrams on 'simple' techniques such as How to Slice an Onion. Most of you probably learned about such matters at your mother's knee, but I was more interested in Astronomy than Onions back in the good old days when someone cooked for me. As a consequence, I've been slicing onions incorrectly until the December 2004 "Cook's Illustrated" hit the newstand.

The contributors to this magazine test their recipes multiple times, varying the ingredients, using different cooking utensils, until they get what they consider to be the perfect outcome. For instance, in the article on "Balsamic Braised Chicken," John Olson writes: "At that point, I stopped my tests with the high-end vinegar. Simmering such a vinegar might well be considered high crime in Italy. All the time and effort expended to create its subtle flavor balance would be wasted, as boiling destroys it. (This is not a problem with the cheap stuff.)"

"Cook's Illustrated" recipes are adventures into a mysterious art, as well as producers of wonderful dishes. The editors don't accept advertisements, so you can trust their ingredient and product recommendations. If you are a fan of the show, "America's Test Kitchen" on public television, then you'll definitely love the magazine that details this program's favorite recipes. Also check out their website at cooksillustrated.com for eleven years worth of recipes.



"Fine Cooking" magazine is a better choice   December 23, 2005
An honest cook (Virginia)
49 out of 64 found this review helpful

Cook's Illustrated and Fine Cooking both take a somewhat Consumer Reports-like approach to cooking, and both appeal to the enthusiastic home cook. But there are several key differences that set FC apart and make it superior to CI:

1. In FC, not all the voices sound alike. In CI, every article, no matter who writes it, sounds as though it were written by the same person. I understand why they do this (keeping the focus on the food not personality, maintaining consistency), but it gives the magazine a creepy, musty, claustrophobic, Stepford Wives-like quality. This is magnified by the fact that there are no "outsiders" allowed into the CI kitchen--no visiting experts, no well-known chefs, just the CI staff and their identical voices.

2. In FC there's no Christopher Kimball essays: CI's bow-tied editor fills up an entire page in an already thin magazine with a folksy, Prairie Home Companion-like homily on why owning a large, upscale farm in rural New England makes him morally superior to everyone else, replete with a recurring cast of curmudgeonly cranks and crackpots--all of which has absolutely nothing to do with any of the food in the issue, or with the lives of anyone else on the planet, with the possible exception of Martha Stewart. It's an embarrassing, self-indulgent soapbox. But he is leader of the cult, so don't expect his sermons to dispappear any time soon.

3. CI advertises itself as "ad-free"--and then proceeds to glut its pages with print ads and blow-in cards touting CI's cottage industry of recycled books. I'd rather peruse the offerings of FC's advertisers, whose products are at least potentially useful to me.

4. FC has no constantly recycled material. For such a supposedly modest operation, CI puts out a staggering number of books, many of them single-topic tomes that borrow heavily from the recipes already printed in the magazine, as well as from other, previously published CI books (and there's an evil twin in the "America's Test Kitchen" series of books and DVDs). You're likely to find the same pie crust or tomato sauce recipe in about 16 different books. The incestuous nature of this recipe factory casts an unflattering mercenary shadow across the CI mission.

5. FC offers superior quality production methods. The glossy paper and attractive, full-color photos in FC put CI's faux-downhome matte paper and hand-drawn illustrations to shame.

6. FC has much more variety. FC also has its own group of regular contributors, but they are supplemented in each issue with experts from a variety of fields in the culinary arts (and who write in their own unique voice--imagine that!), giving the magazine a broader scope and a much fresher feel than CI, which tends to stick to a standard set of All-American classics, which they recycle every five years (how many times can you revamp "The Secrets of Macaroni and Cheese"?).

Give Fine Cooking a look. It's hands-down the best food magazine for home cooks.


For those who love to cook   July 10, 2002
Matthew B. Montgomery (Lexington, KY USA)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful

This magazine series is an excellent source of information beyond the wonderful recipes and cooking tips. For each simple recipe, there is a story behind how the formula was derived. Each recipe is painstakingly prepared in a test kitchen to get the best results -- with suggestions for alternative approaches.

The standard format is that each magazine has approximately ten good recipes plus some cooking gear/tips. Each recipe is given with a brief history, the trials in the kitchen and then the recipe/instructions/hints.

As an example, the editor goes into great detail about the perfect New York Cheesecake. He provides information about the impact of adding additional eggs or egg yolks, tips on making a graham cracker crust easier to fill the pan, and why cracks happen (and how to avoid them.) All of this was done as a learning process (I tried this and the result was... so I tried this and ...)

The recipes are all wonderful. I have yet to be unsuccessful with anything I have tried. You will find this magazine well worth the cost if you enjoy the process as much as the preparation.

However, if you are just looking for the best recipes, I would suggest skipping the subscription and buying the cookbooks from the "Best Recipe" series that the magazine editors have also published.


The Ultimate Kitchen Companion   February 2, 2004
prisrob (New EnglandUSA)
24 out of 26 found this review helpful

Cook's Illustated gives us a master's cooking class with every magazine. This is the ultimate in food preparation.

Founder and Editor Christopher Kimball writes a superb editorial. This issue he expounded on a family funeral that ended as a real Thanksgiving dinner. He has a way with words as he does with food. He loves, food, family and cooking- as do I!

This issue continues with "Quick Tips" from readers. Who would have thought to put milk in the bottom of your coffee carafe, resulting in a pot of steaming hot coffee with milk? Or how to really clean your cheese grater.

And then on to recipes for chicken and rice Indian-style, juicy weeknight pork chops, provencal pizza, spinach lasagna, perfecting baklava and better orange salads. On to finding the perfect brownie- chewy, not-over-the-top, yet chocolatey brownie. The baker tired many recipes until she perfected this recipe for us!

A tasting of nine "dark" chocolates revealed an industry with little regulation and two widely available and inexpensive brands that beat out the pricier competition. No, I am not going to tell you which brands are best-you will need to find out for yourself.

What makes a better baking pan-you can spend from $9 to $95 does more money buy you a better pan? Ah Ha..

And finally "Kitchen Notes" test results, buying tips and advice related to stories past and present, directly from the test kitchen.

You cannot go wrong with this magazine. I share it with friends. I give subscriptions as a gift. I read it from cover to cover. I try the recipes- making the brownies as I write....No home should be without this Cook's Illustrated magazine. prisrob