Cook's Illustrated Magazine

Pros: Chock full of content, not the least bit intimidating, well researched information
Cons: none for the magazine, the web site requires a fee for viewing parts of the site

Now this is an education! I would have loved to trade my accounting classes for just one cooking class now that I look back on my college days. Not that I ever desired to be a professional chef, and I never wanted to be an accountant, but it would have...

Pros: photographs and detailed illustrations, lots of information, recipes, no advertising
Cons: limited color photography, only six issues a year

I'm not a gourmet cook (though I like to think I can rise to the challenge if necessary).  My bookshelves overflow with cookbooks and recipe magazines, and I frequent internet recipe sites.  So why, with so many resources, am I enthralled with ...

Pros: Great recipes, practical info on ingredients & equipment, no ads!
Cons: Only 6 issues per year

Long ago I had subscriptions for “food & wine” and “Bon Appetit”, then when I got “Cooks Illustrated” as a gift from my mom I quickly noted the difference. All the other cooking magazines I’d ever bought paled in comparison to ...

Pros: Kitchen-tested recipes. Honest product ratings. Handy tips. Gorgeous cover art.
Cons: Only six issues a year! Website costs extra. Not much vegetarian content.

My boyfriend and I could be considered “foodies” from some perspectives. My boss and coworkers are always teasing me that I’m a food snob, and it's true that Food TV, along with Tech TV, is one of the most popular channels at our house. But ...

Pros: Fabulous Techniques, Simple Lay-Out
Cons: doesn't arrive monthly

Cook’s Illustrated has no partially nude swimsuit models. That is Sports Illustrated. This magazine on the other hand is a dynamic, informative glance into the world of cooking.

First off, this is a BI-monthly issue. It is only six issues a...

Pros: All (and I mean all) good cooks depend on it for solid information.
Cons: Endless and irritating self-promotion. Stilted, standardized format. Necessary triple-cost options.

Quite simply, this is the only indispensable cooking magazine. An absolute treasure-trove of meticulously-researched, exhaustively-tested, straightforwardly-explained, usefully-illustrated recipes. Throw in their no-sacred-cows-here equipment ...

Pros: recipes, test results, directions, how to's hints
Cons: none

Cook's Illustrated
Six issues a year
19.95 for subscription
With paid subscription you can receive Charter Issue of Cook's Illustrated


A magazine with no ads. None. No commercial breaks at all in this...

Pros: Wonderful, well illustrated advice on American cooking
Cons: It only comes out 6 times a year

What a marvelous magazine for either beginning cooks or experienced cooks. I was just introduced to this magazine at a recent Boston Cook's trade show. I met several of the Cook's Illustrated folks at their trade show booth and was enticed enough by...

Pros: Useful information without being cluttered with advertising
Cons: A bit more expensive than other cooking magazines

Cook's Illustrated is the Consumer Reports of cooking magazines. I subscribe to a number of cooking magazines but this is the one that I would select if I were limited to one. There are no advertisements, so the magazine is considerably shorter (and...

Pros: Easy, precise, no fail instructions
Cons: Baking recipes don't always work out at a high altitude

I've always been a serious foodie all my life.  Loving the way food looked & tasted, but hating spending time in the kitchen.  Mainly because any attempt I made at creating a masterpiece left the kitchen looking like a tornado had blown ...

Pros: Wonderful recipes, fully explained
Cons: Only comes out every other month

Cook's Illustrated is not only the best cooking magazine, it is the best magazine I've ever read. If I could only subscribe to one magazine (a frightening thought to this magazineholic!) it would be Cook's. This is a magazine that you will not only read...

Pros: wonderfully obsessive descriptions and recipe analysis, good practical tips, no ads,
Cons: no color photos, no special deep discounts on subscription price

In an alternative life, I would have gone to the Culinary Institute of America, in this one -- part of it spent as a restaurant reviewer -- I just have time for "Cook's Illustrated." It's time well spent. I've subscribed now for just over a...

Pros: Focus on food, accuracy, thoroughness
Cons: none

Cook's Illustrated is a bi-monthly cooking magazine. Even flipping through Cook's will immediately show that it is a one-of-a-kind magazine. Unlike other full-color cooking magazines that are more focused on style rather than substance, Cook’s places...

Pros: A beautiful, well-written magazine.
Cons: It only comes six times a year.

More than just a how-to, Cook's Illustrated is literature. This is the only cooking magazine I subscribe to, and there is no single reason I keep turning to it, but a variety of reasons, primary among those are the few recipes each issue that I know I...

Pros: No advertising, lots of information
Cons: Doesn't come every month, not a low-fat cooking magazine

This magazine was recommended to me by a friend who has been a gourmet cook for years. He fell in love with this magazine because of the detailed articles and the lack of advertising.

The magazine is very informative, and will explain in...