Praise for the Cooks Illustrated series
THE COOKS ILLUSTRATED BAKNG BOOK
This book is a comprehensive, no-nonsense guidea well-thought-out, clearly explained primer for every aspect of home baking.
Wall Street Journal
Its safe to say that with The Cooks Illustrated Baking Book, you need never buy another basic baking cookbook again. This book has it all.
The Kitchn
THE COOKS ILLUSTRATED MEAT BOOK
Carnivores with an obsession for perfection will likely have found their new bible in this comprehensive collection.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
THE SCIENCE OF GOOD COOKING
The Science of Good Cooking is a one-volume kitchen seminar, addressing in one smart chapter after another the sometimes surprising whys behind a cooks best practices.You get the myth, the theory, the science and the proof, all rigorously interrogated as only Americas Test Kitchen can do.
National Public Radio
The 400 recipes and 50 in-depth techniques are enough to grab the interest of even the most experienced cook.
New York Times
Its a kitchen education between hard covers.
Boston Globe
THE COOKS ILLUSTRATED COOKBOOK
The Cooks Illustrated Cookbook is the perfect kitchen home companion.
Wall Street Journal
Revered by serious chefs as well as aspiring home cooks, this book is the bible of basic (and not-so-basic) kitchen knowledge. It focuses as much on technique (how to trim asparagus spears or frost a layer cake) as it does on recipes (roasted sesame green beans and chocolate cream pie).
USA Today
Copyright 2013 by the Editors at Americas Test Kitchen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Americas Test Kitchen
21 Drydock Avenue, Boston, MA 02210
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Cooks illustrated baking book : baking demystified : 450 recipes from Americas most trusted food magazine / the editors of Americas Test Kitchen.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-936493-58-6
1. Baking. 2. Cooking, American. I. Americas test kitchen (Television program) II. Cooks illustrated.
TX765.C634 2013
641.5973--dc23
ISBN 978-1-945256-81-3 (color edition)
Distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Tel: 800-733-3000
Ebook ISBN9781945256820
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Jack Bishop
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, BOOKS: Elizabeth Carduff
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Julia Collin Davison
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Lori Galvin
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Alyssa King
DESIGN DIRECTOR: Amy Klee
ART DIRECTOR: Greg Galvan
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Beverly Hsu
DESIGNER: Taylor Argenzio
ILLUSTRATION: John Burgoyne
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY: Carl Tremblay and Keller + Keller
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Daniel J. van Ackere
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Guy Rochford
SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jessica Quirk
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER: Alice Carpenter
PRODUCTION AND TRAFFIC COORDINATOR: Brittany Allen
WORKFLOW AND DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER: Andrew Mannone
SENIOR COLOR AND IMAGING SPECIALIST: Lauren Pettapiece
PRODUCTION AND IMAGING SPECIALISTS: Heather Dube, Lauren Robbins
COPYEDITOR: Cheryl Redmond
PROOFREADER: Debra Hudak
INDEXER: Elizabeth Parson
PICTURED ON FRONT OF JACKET:
v5.3.1
a
Contents
Welcome to Americas Test Kitchen
This book has been tested, written, and edited by the folks at Americas Test Kitchen, a very real 2,500-square-foot kitchen located just outside of Boston. It is the home of Cooks Illustrated magazine and Cooks Country magazine and is the Monday-through-Friday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
We start the process of testing a recipe with a complete lack of preconceptions, which means that we accept no claim, no technique, and no recipe at face value. We simply assemble as many variations as possible, test a half-dozen of the most promising, and taste the results blind. We then construct our own recipe and continue to test it, varying ingredients, techniques, and cooking times until we reach a consensus. As we like to say in the test kitchen, We make the mistakes so you dont have to. The result, we hope, is the best version of a particular recipe, but we realize that only you can be the final judge of our success (or failure). We use the same rigorous approach when we test equipment and taste ingredients.
All of this would not be possible without a belief that good cooking, much like good music, is based on a foundation of objective technique. Some people like spicy foods and others dont, but there is a right way to saut, there is a best way to cook a pot roast, and there are measurable scientific principles involved in producing perfectly beaten, stable egg whites. Our ultimate goal is to investigate the fundamental principles of cooking to give you the techniques, tools, and ingredients you need to become a better cook. It is as simple as that.
To see what goes on behind the scenes at Americas Test Kitchen, check out our social media channels for kitchen snapshots, exclusive content, video tips, and much more. You can watch us work (in our actual test kitchen) by tuning in to Americas Test Kitchen or Cooks Country from Americas Test Kitchen on public television or on our websites. Listen to test kitchen experts on public radio (SplendidTable.org) to hear insights that illuminate the truth about real home cooking. Want to hone your cooking skills or finally learn how to bakewith an Americas Test Kitchen test cook? Enroll in one of our online cooking classes. If the big questions about the hows and whys of food science are your passion, join our Cooks Science experts for a deep dive. However you choose to visit us, we welcome you into our kitchen, where you can stand by our side as we test our way to the best recipes in America.
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