A Sneak Peek of America's Test Kitchen

Located in an unmarked building and situated down a small side street in Brookline Village, America's Test Kitchen is hard at work doing what they've done for decades - testing recipes, products and kitchen equipment. From the looks of the building, you wouldn't know that there are so many people inside buzzing about creating the content for Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country Magazines as well as the TV shows, online content and annual cookbooks.

Cook's Illustrated Photoshoot

When you walk up the rickety staircase, the smell from the test kitchen starts to intensify and when the door opens, the excitement begins. There, sitting around massive tables, a couple of chefs sit in their white coats surrounded by rows and rows of cookbooks. Some are reading the books and feverishly taking notes while others are sitting before giant trays of tiny cups, all bearing a bit of whatever is being tested. Walking past the prop rooms, which neatly houses a variety of tablecloths and plates of all different sizes, there's a small room where the food to be photographed is set up and arranged.

Prop Room

Just past the library, photo and prop rooms is a swinging door that leads to the test kitchen itself. Oven after glorious oven and all the kitchen supplies you could ever imagine are stacked up on shelves. Simply put, it's a chefs dream playground, but make no mistake, there's some serious work being taken care of. Here, chefs are busy testing and retesting items and products, as well as making preparations for the show, which gets filmed in a small, but very brightly lit corner of the kitchen.

America's Test Kitchen

It's easy to see why Cook's is such a reputable and award winning publication house and the intensity behind the work that is being done is palpable. Cook's is all business from top to bottom. It doesn't rely on flashiness and glossy pages or a fancy location. Instead, it's just simple facts, backed by lots of knowledge and experience and it's all presented in a straightforward approach and for that reason, Cook's has been and always will be one of my favorite go-to sources for culinary knowledge.