Overview: Cook’s Illustrated is a leading American cooking magazine published bi-monthly by America’s Test Kitchen. It emphasizes rigorous, advertisement-free testing of recipes, equipment, and techniques to identify the most reliable “bulletproof” methods Serious Eats+4Greater Phoenix Digital Library+4Amazon+4.
Science Angle: Their companion book, The Science of Good Cooking, organizes content around 50 core culinary principles, each demonstrated through controlled kitchen experiments. With over 400 tested recipes—like perfect burgers and brownies—it shows why folding, salting, or temperature control matterAmazon+5Bold Fork Books+5eBay+5. A reviewer noted: “These experiments range from simple to playful to innovative—showing you why you should fold (versus stir) batter for chewy brownies… and why the simple addition of salt can make meat juicy”eBay+2Bold Fork Books+2Greater Phoenix Digital Library+2.
Why it matters: Ideal for those who want to understand why techniques work, not just follow recipes. It's a blend of food science and practical kitchen wisdom, grounded in nutritional editing by experts like Guy CrosbyFoodCrumbles+1eBay+1.