Isaac loves to cook. His sister, Evie, gave him a subscription to Cooks Illustrated magazine
for Christmas one year and now we're hooked. I'm pretty sure I would
never have picked up this magazine from the shelf of a bookstore. But
it's great!
Cooks Illustrated covers the science of
cooking in a fun, easy-to-follow format. In any given issue, you might
learn how to best hard-boil an egg so the yolk stays centered (helpful
for deviled eggs), or which brand of stone-ground mustard is the most
flavorful, or the science behind aged cheese. Who knows — all kinds
of interesting things. Their test-kitchen cooks tirelessly compare
techniques and recipes to arrive at the best methods and flavors. Then
they quickly outline their test results and make suggestions in the
magazine. Even better, their research and info is completely unbiased
– like Consumer Reports
for cooking techniques, food, & recipes. The magazine doesn't have
any ads and is illustrated in old-fashioned pen-and-ink-drawings, which
I love.
Anyhow. Yes, I'm recommending a cooking magazine as a favorite tool for March of the Tools. Next time you're out shopping, stop by the magazine row and take a peek through Cooks Illustrated. I love knowing the 'why' behind a good recommendation. And Cooks Illustrated is full of 'whys' — and good recommendations.
LOVE that magazine. I get it from the library and own a copy of their wonderful cookbook! Great stuff!
Very good technique cooking magazine and it is so easy to follow/understand. I love to cook and this is one of my favorite magazines. Good suggestions.
My favorite cooking magazine as well. I love reading the detailed accounts that describe how they achieved the recipe, I love that sort of perfection. I like know “why” certain steps are important. The cover art is also beautiful.
You guys would probably love Heston Blumenthal’s In Search of Perfection. He is a genius. The Christmas episode was pure magic. I can’t find the episode online but one link is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jod7PY8pj40 He is an alchemist/chef and one of the best in the world. SO COOL! He also has books available on Amazon.com 🙂
I love this magazine. I even bought the Baking Illustrated book and love to just read all the whys and whats of baking.
My mom just told me about that magazine this weekend. She loves the science aspect of it. 😀
I am never able to see/hear the phrase “The Pen is Mightier” w/o thinking of SNL’s Celebrity Jeopardy!
Oh yeah, Cook’s is an excellent magazine! I love their test kitchens.
Oh, I love this mag – I used to pour over them when I worked in the culinary field… and you’re right – the unbiased reporting and pen & ink drawing are just lovely. It was soothing reading. 🙂
I love the PBS series from the same people, America’s Test Kitchen. It’s one of my favorite Saturday morning activities. Chris also appears via voice on The Splendid Table on NPR sometimes. He’s such an interesting character.
If you like the magazine, you’ll love their cookbooks, especially The New Best Recipe. It’s the same info and style as the magazine, but you don’t have to wait a month for another fix. By the way, try their Peanut Butter Cookie recipe. And the Molasses Cookies. And the Chicken and Dumplings. And the Meatloaf. And, well, you get the picture.
My husband is a chef and we both love this magazine! Another great cooking one is Saveur, it’s completely different than CI, offering up recipes and stories about chefs, cooks and the destinations the recipes came from. Their tag is Savor a World of Authentic Cuisine. Both magazines are awesome! Needless to say our home is filled with food and crafts.
I have the CI “The New Best Recipe” cookbook. This is my all time favorite cookbook and I have A LOT. I would highly recommend trying their “Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies”. I also love the science aspect to their recipes and I can’t help but to sit and read this cookbook like a novel.
I gave to his myself for Christmas also. You should catch “America’s Test Kitchen” show also. It’s on PBS. They talk about the best equipment and make delicious yumminess. So if you have the time. They also do taste testing!
I agree — it’s a great magazine. I actually know of a woman who wallpapers her kitchen with its covers.
You can always trust anything from America’s Test Kitchen. I love how they explain their reasoning behind all their choices for ingredients and techniques. My friend recommended one of their cookbooks: The New Best Recipe. When I took too long to buy it, she bought it for me, and it is a fantastic resource.
I haven’t ever picked up the magazine, but they do put out a great video podcast.
Heston is a great scientific cook – but goes a little further than I can cope with. if you’re into perfect recipes Gary Rhodes is your man – the Rhodes around Britain is a great book – I know the world thinks british cooking is all very dull and heavy – but it’s well worth it for the perfect Sunday Roast!
I am a long time reader of this publication. I truly love the simplcity and format. It also started as a gift from someone. I, too, was hooked. 🙂
I have never bought the mag, but the PBS show is AMAZING. I love it. Everytime I watch it I come away feeling like I could make what ever they did and be successful!
If you love this, you should try Cook’s Country put out by the same people but geared more toward simple home cooking. I love how they test every recipe and explain why certain things worked and certain things didn’t.
I, too, am an unabashed lover of CI and their companion PBS show “America’s Test Kitchen”. All of their cookbooks and magazines are fab. Their recipes have never led me astray. In fact, I threw almost every single cookbook in my cupboard after discovering Cook’s Illustrated. I tell everyone I know about it. (They should pay me for advertising!)
Yes, I love this magazine and read it before bed! If you haven’t picked up the ATK Family Cookbook – it is great too!
I just won your stacking toy pattern from the Free Spirit giveaway! Thanks! I’m so excited to try it!
One of my best friends gave a subscription to me for Christmas last year and I LOVE it. I love to cook and I would never have picked this up. Great recommendation.
My husband LOVES that magazine and has made us some pretty amazing stuff out of it! Great tool!
I’ve been thinking about subscribing to this one for a while.
I’m so glad that you like Cook’s, too. I think it’s great, and I love the little b&w illustrations in the reviews and reader write-in section (do you think they are illustrations, or a stipple effect applied to photos?).
My favorite part of Cook’s magazine is the letter in the beginning!
Do subscribe, it’s wonderful.
Teresa
I love Cook’s Illustrated. I buy them for the front and back covers — they are frame-ready!
I’m not sure why I’ve never subscribed–I may have to break down soon, especially after your review!
Recently I’ve just completed a collection of cooking books. Every book speak about the tipical cook of every italian region: it is very interesting and useful!
I love CI for the same reason I love Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” on the Food Network. I am all about the hows/whys of cooking!
The CI baked ziti recipe has been made at least three times already : )
I also love this magazine, in fact I was looking at it about an hour ago!! LOVE IT!!
I love this magazine! I read it from cover to cover.
I have full-on geek love for Christopher Kimball.
This is a terrific magazine! I think you can access their recipes online but maybe only if you subscribe to the print mag. I know that every time I want to make pasta with broccoli I have to look it up again in the CI online database because I don’t have a good system for saving the print outs. (lame – I know)
I love this magazine too. I just discovered it a few years ago, and I’ve liked everything I’ve tried so far. You can get a 14-day trial period to access their recipes online, which is what I’m doing now. The online subscription is separate from the print one, but I like being able to search for certain ingredients so that I can make something with what I already have on hand.