Introduction

In the decades since Cook’s Illustrated magazine was first published, we’ve received thousands of letters from curious, clever, and just plain confused home cooks who have come up against stumpers in the kitchen. The questions range from basic, practical queries about how to cook fried chicken without making a hot mess (see here) to highly scientific investigations into the chemistry behind why the starchy batter on that chicken crisps up in the hot oil (see here). Readers also turn to us for a gut-check on common food and cooking myths, and we’re happy to go toe-to-toe with traditional wisdom to figure out the truth: Do you really need to rinse off chicken before you cook it (see here)?

Today, with the ubiquity of tablets, computers, and smartphones, most of us simply run an Internet search any time we have a kitchen question, no matter how strange that question might be. But when you search online, you end up with a cacophony of answers, and it’s a real challenge to figure out who truly knows what they’re talking about. Luckily, in this book we’ve packed together hundreds of definitive, researched, kitchen-tested answers to questions large and small, common and bizarre. As the saying goes, there are no dumb questions, but we would add that there are dumb—and wrong!—answers. We’ve been in the answer business for many years and here, for the first time ever, we’ve collected all that hard-earned wisdom in one place. We’ve done the equipment testing, ingredient tasting, and recipe development required to get to the bottom of your kitchen conundrums. We’re even here for the questions you didn’t know you had: For instance, have you ever noticed that stews taste better the day after you make them? Want to know why? See here!

Whether you’re playing fast and loose with recipe substitutions, dying to understand the physics behind how a whisk works (see here), or just want to make sure you know how to pronounce mirepoix without embarrassing yourself (it’s meer-PWAH; see here), we’re here to give you all the answers you need to become a better, more confident cook.