Inside America's Test Kitchen: All-New Recipes, Quick Tips, Equipment Ratings, Food Tastings, Science Experiments from the Hit Public Television Show [Hardcover]

Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Covering the recipes, tastings, equipment tests and experiments of one of PBS's cooking programs, this latest volume from Cook's Illustrated magazine features its editors' customary expertise, pithy comments and well-researched results. Each chapter covers an episode from the show, which, while allowing viewers to follow week by week, gives the volume an overall lack of cohesiveness as it jumps from Salad 101 to Summer Tomatoes and One-Pot Wonders and an eclectic range of ingredients and methods. However, as with all the show's work, the editors' first discuss the dishes' objectives, the flavors desired, the textures and mouth feel wanted, before enumerating the experiments and variations explored to reach the final recipe, all of which allow the more experienced cook to understand the whys and wherefores that enable the final creation. Whether it's the fluffy Blueberry Pancakes, the flavorful Sesame Noodles with Shredded Chicken or the tangy Greek Salad, the results are reliable and flavorful. Liberally sprinkled throughout are the customary rating of products from tasting panels evaluating mayonnaises and milk chocolate to equipment, covering such diverse objects as ice cream makers and skillets.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: America's Test Kitchen; First Edition edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093618471X
• ISBN-13: 978-0936184715
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Test Kitchen Book, November 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside America's Test Kitchen: All-New Recipes, Quick Tips, Equipment Ratings, Food Tastings, Science Experiments from the Hit Public Television Show (Hardcover)

The books that accompany this PBS cooking show just keep getting better. I have seen criticsms of the previous two Test Kitchen books that say they contain a number of recycled recipes from the "Best Recipe" series, but in fact there is little, if any, cross-over. Additional research since some of the early cookbooks were published has sometimes resulted in a completely re-worked and improved recipe for a particular dish, but never the same recipe just re-printed from the Best Recipe series to the Test Kitchen series.

I enjoy cooking very much, and the staff of Cook's Illustrated produces the best recipes I have ever tasted. Blind taste testing at each step of recipe development hones these recipes until it would be hard to think of a way to improve them. Tasters are drawn from a pool which includes staff members, volunteers from the community, and visiting chefs, so a broad range of palates is represented. Furthermore, potential pitfalls are charted ahead of time so that you can reliably avoid them.

Often a team effort waters down the "voice" of the product. An interesting cookbook results from the passion of one or two cooks for their subject. But not in this case. The team effort produces a whole more potent than any one person could accomplish alone. This is a terrific cookbook.

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping it rolling -- ATK pulls out another stellar volume, March 9, 2004

By 

Brian Connors (Yarmouth, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Inside America's Test Kitchen: All-New Recipes, Quick Tips, Equipment Ratings, Food Tastings, Science Experiments from the Hit Public Television Show (Hardcover)

The scrappy, fun America's Test Kitchen books, companions to the top-rated TV series of the same name, tend to compare to the more staid Best Recipe series the way classes at the local adult education center compare to college courses -- not necessarily as deep or down to earth, but a lot more varied and just as informative. This, the third Cooks Illustrated book devoted solely to the TV series, carries on the fun of last year's party-and-comfort-food oriented book and the original ATK Cookbook with an emphasis on things that might fall into the category of diner and cafe food.

Organized by episode like its predecessors, Inside America's Test Kitchen goes down home with pan-roasted chicken and a quickie ragu bolognese, revisits Chinatown with beef and broccoli (a followup to last year's Kung Pao shrimp), and has fun with ethnic home cooking like cassoulet (trimmed down for weeknight use) and pollo fra diavolo. Trips to your local luncheonette include blueberry pancakes, Denver (i.e western) omelettes, the German Apple Pancake (i.e. the Baby Apple to New Englanders), corn muffins, and lemon cheesecake; even the espresso bar makes an appearance with chocolate chip cookies (including reviews of prepared cookie doughs) and a full frontal assault on the often-sawdusty oatmeal scone (flour choice is critical).

In my review of last year's book, Here in America's Test Kitchen, I pointed out that it was a keg party; if that's so, this is the hangover cure for the next morning. It's perhaps a bit difficult to top the fun factor of a cookbook that starts you off with the best buffalo wings ever, but with yet another cool factor that's off the charts, the ATK crew have at least equaled it.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside America's Test Kitchen: All-New Recipes, Quick Tips,, December 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside America's Test Kitchen: All-New Recipes, Quick Tips, Equipment Ratings, Food Tastings, Science Experiments from the Hit Public Television Show (Hardcover)

Fascinating and instructional book. They explain not only how to prepare the recipes but WHY you use different methods. I found the comparisons of brands of foods and utensils extremely helpful.