When you're out to make the perfect frosting, tried-and-true tasting methods work best.
May 17, 2012 Chris Kimball samples a fingertip's worth of cream cheese frosting as Bridget Lancaster uses what's left to frost a carrot layer cake during taping of season 13 of America's Test Kitchen. Tweet | Permalink
He came, he saw, he taught us about short ribs: just another day behind the scenes.
May 16, 2012 America's Test Kitchen TV meat supplier Ron Savenor, right, cuts into a whole beef rib primal with a bonesaw on the library table (lined with sheet trays, mind you – safety first!) as Cook's Illustrated senior editor Keith Dresser, America's Test Kitchen TV producer Melissa Baldino, Chris Kimball and test kitchen director Erin McMurrer look on and learn more about how the whole primal cut is broken down into parts before filming of an introduction for a grilled short ribs recipe. Tweet | Permalink
Chris learns making burger buns at home isn't just more satisfying, it's a lot more fun, too.
May 15, 2012 Bridget Lancaster and Chris Kimball shape potato burger buns into rolls before their second proofing during filming of a recipe segment for season 13 of America's Test Kitchen. Tweet | Permalink
Sometimes when filming breaks and we've got a whole bunch of citrus, well... this happens.
May 14, 2012 Cook's Country senior editor Bryan Roof tracks an airborne lime lobbed to him by test kitchen director Erin McMurrer while attempting to juggle leftover zested citrus from a previously recorded recipe during a break in between filming segments for season 13 of America's Test Kitchen. Tweet | Permalink
Honestly, what sort of reaction did Chris expect for doubting a recipe technique?
May 11, 2012 Julia Collin Davison gives Chris Kimball a wary look during taping of a recipe for hot smoked salmon after Chris mentioned that one usually only sees entire sides of salmon receive that particular treatment. Stay tuned for our recipe, which does, in fact, feature individually-sized portions! Tweet | Permalink
It's the most wonderful time of the year: TV filming has officially begun.
May 10, 2012 A camera rolls on Becky Hayes and Christopher Kimball as they carve into a dish of potatoes boulangères on the first day of filming for season 13 of America's Test Kitchen. Tweet | Permalink
We've entered the final stages of setting up for filming, and as such, the cooks have left the kitchen.
May 9, 2012 Surrounded by equipment awaiting setup, members of our TV crew work to put a camera rig above the countertop (a new addition last season) while preparing to film Season 13 of America's Test Kitchen. Tweet | Permalink
A sure sign that TV filming is imminent: the crew arrives in the kitchen.
May 8, 2012 Cook's Country assistant test cook Nick Iverson labels lids destined for cups of pre-measured ingredients to be used on the set of America's Test Kitchen while members of the television crew set up their lights on the ceiling of the small kitchen. Tweet | Permalink
Our pre-television-filming office organization shuffle goes all the way to the lobby.
May 7, 2012 Copyeditor Nell Beram, left, checks out the contents of the take-home refrigerator (where we store all our leftovers) as receptionist Henrietta Murray looks on. We promise our reception area doesn't usually look like this, but the room adjacent to the test kitchen where the fridge usually lives gets re-purposed during filming of our TV show into the control room. Luckily, there was space for it in our lobby... once we moved our huge shipment of boxes of plasticware out of the way, that is! Tweet | Permalink
Inventing temporary storage solutions ahead of taping our show is quite a process.
May 4, 2012 Cook's Illustrated associate editor Andrea Geary walks past a countertop cache of food processors and matching bowls, currently awaiting storage for the duration of filming for America's Test Kitchen's thirteenth season. Much of our equipment, usually stored on racks throughout the test kitchen, is moved to other parts of our offices so our set can look its best on the air. Tweet | Permalink
