The WORST episodes of America's Test Kitchen
Every episode of America's Test Kitchen ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of America's Test Kitchen!
In "America's Test Kitchen From Cook's Illustrated," a team of expert chefs continue to provide viewers with practical recipes and recommendations that they can use to save money, time and effort in the kitchen. With its uniquely scientific flavor, the show uses blind tasting judges, flash animations and laboratory procedures to answer a variety of kitchen questions. Putting everything from pasta and pasta pots, cheese and cheese graters, as well as host Chris Kimball to the test, this series offers surprises that often defy price points and move beyond fancy packaging and brand expectations.
#1 - German Chocolate Cake
Season 6 - Episode 26 - Aired 7/1/2006
The ATK team creates a German chocolate cake destined to impress. Our less sweet version has a more intense chocolate flavor than most. Recipes: German Chocolate Cake with Coconut-Pecan Filling Science Corner: Butter Temperature and Baking Tasting: Cocoa Powders
#2 - Summer Tomatoes
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/10/2004
Say goodbye to thick, bland gazpacho and soggy tomato tarts. It’s feast or famine when it comes to good tomatoes. Recipes: Gazpacho; Quick Summer Tomato Tart Tasting Lab: Mozzarella Cheese
#3 - Grill Roasted Pork Loin
Season 6 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/13/2006
Lightly dressed French potato salad perfectly complements this smoky roast pork. Recipes: Grill-Roasted Pork; French Potato Salad Equipment Corner: Kitchen Twine Tasting Lab: Dijon Mustard
#4 - Texas Chili
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/15/2003
The best chili: hearty, heavy on the meat, and spicy.
#5 - Two Ways with Shrimp
Season 8 - Episode 24 - Aired 6/14/2008
We explore two elegant approaches to shrimp—one hot dish and one cold—and find the best way to prepare each. Recipe: Garlicky Shrimp with Bread Crumbs, Shrimp Salad Equipment: Kitchen Timers Taste test: Tuna
#6 - Lightening Up Chocolate Desserts
Season 8 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/3/2008
Skipping dessert or eating a piece of fruit is an obvious way to cut calories, but where’s the fun in that? We set our sights on lowering the fat and calories in two favorite chocolate desserts—chocolate mousse and brownies. Recipe: Low-Fat Chocolate Mousse, Fudgy Low-Fat Brownies Taste test: Light Vanilla Ice Cream
#7 - Indian Favorites, Simplified
Season 8 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/17/2008
We develop home-cook-friendly versions of two Indian favorites: vegetable curry and chicken tikka masala. Recipe: Indian-Style Curry with Potatoes, Cauliflower, Peas, and Chickpeas, Chicken Tikka Masala Taste test: Crushed Tomatoes
#8 - Sunday Roast Chicken and Stuffing
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/27/2007
We wanted a streamlined version of roast chicken with plenty of stuffing to go around—and to solve the problem of cooking the stuffing to a safe temperature without drying out the delicate breast meat of the chicken. The idea of roast chicken and stuffing is very appealing—moist, well-seasoned meat and plenty of flavorful stuffing to satisfy everyone at the table. But in reality, a chicken, even one upwards of 5 pounds (serving 4 to 6 people), doesn’t contain a cavity large enough to accommodate the amount of stuffing you’d need to serve everyone at the table. Sure, you can bake the stuffing separately in a baking dish, but you miss out on all the flavorful juices imparted from the chicken. Our aim, therefore, would be to develop a recipe for roast chicken and stuffing where we could somehow still mimic the flavorful benefits of cooking the stuffing inside the bird. A quick sauté of spinach, especially one with garlic and lemon, goes well alongside roast chicken (in addition to many other dishes). But this simple approach can often go wrong—overcooked spinach, burnt garlic, too much oil—the list goes on. We would focus on avoiding these pitfalls to turn out a tasty side dish you can rely on again and again. Recipes: Stuffed Roast Butterflied Chicken Mushroom-Leek Bread Stuffing with Herbs Currant-Pecan Bread Stuffing with Shallots and Herbs Couscous Stuffing with Fennel, Dried Apricots, and Cashews Sauteed Garlic-Lemon Spinach Equipment Center: Kitchen Shears—Update
#9 - Summer Cooking
Season 7 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/28/2007
We tackle the best way to grill delicate shrimp as well as chicken destined to be served cold for a picnic. Grilling imparts a smoky dimension to foods that is just about impossible to replicate indoors. So it’s no wonder that once the weather turns warm, we’re eager to get our favorites foods like steaks and burgers onto the grill. But delicate foods, such as shrimp, are trickier to cook over the grill’s intense, dry heat. We wanted to find the best way to grill shrimp so that it’s tender, moist, and flavorful, not dry and rubbery. And we wanted to do so without grilling shrimp in their shells. It’s true that the shells act as a protective barrier, but peeling shells at the table is cumbersome and messy, not to mention that with the discarded shells, the flavorful spice rub is also lost. Warm weather isn’t always about cooking outdoors—it’s about eating outdoors too. Cold barbecued chicken is a classic whether you’re planning a picnic or packing for a road trip. But once chilled, the meat can become very dry and the skin, once thin and crisp, can turn tough and flabby. We wanted to solve these problems and turn out moist chicken with spicy flavor and to boot, we wanted to make it easier to eat, so we didn’t have to use a knife and fork or rely on a wad of napkins to wipe our hands of sticky barbecue sauce. Recipes: Charcoal-Grilled Shrimp Skewers Gas-Grilled Shrimp Skewers Spicy Lemon-Garlic Sauce for Shrimp Skewers Fresh Tomato Sauce with Feta and Olives for Grilled Shrimp Skewers Charmoula Sauce for Shrimp Skewers Spice-Rubbed Picnic Chicken Broiled Shrimp Skewers Tasting Lab: Supermarket Veggie Burgers Lemonade—Updated Equipment Center: Skewers Science Desk: Salting: Better Than Brining?
#10 - Strawberry Cream Cake
Season 7 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/26/2007
For our Strawberry Cream Cake, we wanted lots of strawberry flavor, a buttery sturdy cake that could stand up to them, and a lush whipped cream filling that would stay put, so even when cut this cake would be a stunner. Looking for a drop-dead gorgeous summer dessert? Look no further than strawberry cream cake—a snazzier, more presentable version of strawberry shortcake. The components are almost identical—juicy strawberries, sweetened whipped cream, and layer cake (in place of biscuits). The cake, cream, and strawberries are layered, chilled, and served in tall wedges. It’s a terrific way to celebrate summer. We wanted to find the ultimate version of this dessert and solve the problems that often plague it. Because the cake, cream, and strawberries are all layered, cutting this cake can be tricky—the whipped cream can squirt out the sides or the strawberries will ooze out. The strawberries pose other problems too—their juices can soggy a cake that’s too delicate. Some recipes get around this pitfall, by using fewer strawberries, but this results in muted fruit flavor. We wanted those strawberries front and center. Recipes: Strawberry Cream Cake Equipment Center: Mix Masters—Standing Mixers—Updated Science Desk: Heavy Cream versus Whipping Cream
#11 - Rainy Day Barbecue
Season 7 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/19/2007
If you’re a fan of barbecue but never thought it could be replicated indoors, our menu should change your mind. For many of us, it doesn’t seem fair that we can only enjoy barbecue during the short summer months. What about year-round cravings? Take barbecued ribs. If it’s February and a hankering for ribs strikes, does that mean a trip to a local barbecue joint or could we find the answer in our home kitchen? We wanted to develop a recipe for oven-barbecued ribs, so even in the darkest, coldest winter months, we could satisfy our barbecue urges. And these ribs would need to stand up to their outdoor counterparts: tender, fall-off-the-bone meat infused with smoky flavor. Rich, meaty ribs are best enjoyed with a side of tangy coleslaw—specifically buttermilk coleslaw. But while buttermilk provides a trademark tang, it can also make a dressing so thin that it sinks to the bottom of the bowl instead of clinging to the shreds of cabbage. Cabbage poses its own challenges too. We wanted even shreds that were easy to fork and toss with the dressing. And, we wanted crisp cabbage that won’t leach moisture into our dressing, diluting its flavor and turning our coleslaw bland. Recipes: Oven-Barbecued Spareribs Quick Barbecue Sauce Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw Buttermilk Coleslaw with Green Onions and Cilantro Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw with Lemon and Herbs Tasting Lab: Is There a New King of Ketchup?
#12 - Meat and Potatoes for Company
Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/10/2007
We found a unique way to tame the bite on our pepper-crusted filet mignon. Few main courses are as impressive as filet mignon, but such cachet comes with a hefty price tag. The hallmark of this luxury cut is its buttery, tender texture, but some argue that the beefy flavor is too mild, lacking the oomph of fattier (albeit chewier) cuts like the rib eye. So we aimed to boost the meat’s flavor with a lively peppercorn crust and a rich pan sauce. Peppercorn crusts, however, have their issues. They can be overwhelmingly spicy, masking, rather than enhancing, the flavor of the meat. We’d need to strike just the right balance. Getting the crust to evenly adhere to the meat would be a challenge too. In looking for a potato dish to serve alongside our steak, we quickly settled on the simple, but elegant, potatoes Lyonnaise—sautéed slices of buttery potato sweetened with caramelized strands of onion. But getting this dish just right can be a challenge. Buttery potatoes can easily turn greasy. And caramelizing the onion alongside the potatoes is difficult to do without steaming them. We’d need to find a way to get these two ingredients in sync. When you’re aiming to impress and willing to splurge a bit, you can be confident that these dishes will deliver. Recipes: Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon Port Cherry Reduction Sauce Blue Cheese Chive Butter Potatoes Lyonnaise Tasting Lab: Filet Mignon Equipment Center: Cocktail Shakers Science Desk: Taming Peppercorn Heat
#13 - Lighter Cheesecake
Season 7 - Episode 26 - Aired 6/30/2007
Join us as we uncover the secrets to low-fat desserts that you'll really want to eat. While a crisp apple or bowl of juicy berries makes an admirable end to a meal, there’s an allure to baked desserts that is hard to resist. But many desserts carry a lot of fat and calories; for most of us, they should be more the occasional indulgence than regular weeknight fare. We wanted to come up with recipes for two classic desserts, carrot cake and cheesecake, that would make them both light enough and good enough to enjoy most any day of the week. Many light carrot cakes look like the real thing, but one bite quickly dispels the notion. Not only dry but also heavy and dense, these cakes may be "light" when it comes to fat and calories but not when it come to texture. We wanted tender cake, sweet and lightly spiced. And we wanted our cake to be slathered in a thick, creamy frosting. The recipes we tested for light cheesecake were no better than the carrot cakes — in fact, they were worse. Most were plagued by a rubbery texture and pasty, Spackle-like consistency. And in place of the lightly sweetened, tangy flavor of a full-fat cheesecake, these lightened cakes were tinged with off, artificial flavors. We would have to do some serious testing to come up with a lightened cheesecake that would pass muster among tasters. Recipes: Light Carrot Cake Light Cream Cheese Frosting Light New York Cheesecake Light Fresh Strawberry Topping Tasting Lab: Coffee--Tasting Supermarket Whole Bean Coffee
#14 - Easy Apple Desserts
Season 7 - Episode 24 - Aired 6/16/2007
For a not-too-sweet apple dessert, pair a tart apple such as Granny Smith with a sweet apple like Golden Delicious or McIntosh, as we did in Skillet Apple Brown Betty and Easy Apple Strudel. When it comes to apple desserts, apple pie may be the most popular, but it’s also the most involved. When you don’t want to fuss with pie, but you still want that warm and comforting combination of apple and pastry, there are other options. Take apple brown betty—apples, sugar, and buttered bread crumbs. This baked fruit dish is decidedly humble, but delicious nonetheless—especially when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But this often-overlooked dessert needs a serious makeover—too many versions are a soggy mess with muddied flavors. Classic apple strudel, a European specialty, consists of lightly sweetened apples, raisins, and nuts wrapped in paper-thin pastry. Traditional recipes involve hours of preparation, rolling and pulling the pastry dough until it is so thin you can read a newspaper through it. We reasoned that there must be an easier (and quicker) way. Determined to find out, we set about streamlining this sophisticated dessert, without compromising its flaky texture and sophisticated flavors. Join us as we resurrect one humble apple dessert and streamline another. Recipes: Skillet Apple Brown Betty Skillet Apple Brown Betty with Golden Raisins and Calvados Skillet Apple Brown Betty with Pecans and Dried Cranberries Easy Apple Strudel Tasting Lab: The Scoop on Vanilla Ice Cream—Updated Equipment Center: Pastry Brushes—Updated Science Desk: Overrun and Ice Cream
#15 - Best Beef Stew
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/20/2007
Join us as we uncover the secrets behind a favorite beef stew and streamline a hearty side dish. A basic beef stew can be altered in dozens of ways, usually by adding more ingredients to the pot. But can you go the other way and strip beef stew down to its bare bones (or, to be more precise, to its beef)? If you trade the carrots and potatoes for a mess of onions and add a good dose of beer (instead of red wine) as part of the braising liquid, you’ve created a simple Belgian beef stew called carbonnade à la flamande. Beef, beer, and onions have a natural affinity—think burger, onion rings, and a beer. In a carbonnade, the heartiness of beef melds with the soft sweetness of sliced onions in a lightly thickened broth that is rich, deep, and satisfying, with the malty flavor of beer. We aimed to create the very best version of this cold-weather favorite. Sweet acorn squash makes a worthy partner alongside carbonnade or with many other dishes during the cold weather season, but too often this squash turns out dry and stringy. We wanted to devise a method that ensured sweet, tender squash, without a lot of hassle. Recipes: Carbonnade a la Flamande—Belgian Beef, Beer, and Onion Stew Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar Acorn Squash with Rosemary-Dried Fig Compote Tasting Lab: Beer for Carbonnade Equipment Center: Paring Knives—Updated Science Desk: Are All Microwaves Created Equal?
#16 - Passover Celebration
Season 24 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/20/2024
Test cook Carmen Dongo makes host Julia Collin Davison Chraime. Tasting expert Jack Bishop talks about bitter herbs on the Passover seder plate and equipment expert Adam Ried reviews copper skillets. Test cook Keith Dresser makes Julia Coconut Macaroons with Chocolate Chips and Almonds.
#17 - Old-Fashioned Birthday Cake
Season 6 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/24/2006
Perfect the ultimate birthday treat with this recipe for classic layer cake. Recipes: Classic White Layer Cake with Butter Frosting and Raspberry-Almond Filling Equipment Corner: Cake Pans Tasting: Raspberry Preserves
#18 - Italian Classics
Season 6 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/8/2006
Flavorful recipes bring Italy into the test kitchen. Recipes: Fettuccine Alfredo; Beef Braided in Barolo Tasting Lab: Parmesan Cheese Science Desk: Braising vs. Roasting
#19 - Deep-Dish Apple Pie
Season 6 - Episode 23 - Aired 6/10/2006
A demonstration of the absolute best recipe for deep dish apple pie. Creating a pie with a high filling-to-crust ratio poses challenges. Recipes: Deep-Dish Apple Pie Equipment Corner: Rolling Pins Tasting Lab: Premium Butters
#20 - Four-Star Desserts
Season 5 - Episode 26 - Aired 6/25/2005
When our test cooks eat in restaurants, they always come back to the kitchen and talk about the dessert. Dramatic and artful presentations rightfully garner a lot of attention. Recipes - Chocolate Volcano Cake with Espresso Ice Cream - Caramelized Pears with Blue Cheese and Black-Pepper-Caramel Sauce Equipment Corner - Handheld Mixers
#21 - There's a Hole in Your Cake
Season 5 - Episode 24 - Aired 6/11/2005
Cakes baked in Bundt pans and tube pans are popular for a variety of reasons. Recipes - Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake - Angel Food Cake Equipment Corner - Bundt Pans
#22 - Bake-Sale Favorites
Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/28/2005
Every afternoon around three, editors come sniffing around the test kitchen looking for cookies fresh from the oven. Given how many cookies we make, our test cooks appreciate bar cookies. Recipes - Classic Brownies - Congo Bars Equipment Corner - Baking Pans Tasting Lab - Boxed Brownie Mixes
#23 - Ultimate Sticky Buns
Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/21/2005
Sticky buns are things of breakfast-time debauchery. In bakeries, they are often plate-size buns, warm and glistening, heady with brown sugar and spices. In our opinion, anything less than a great one is not worth its calories. Recipes - Sticky Buns with Pecans Equipment Lab - New-generation Coffee Makers Tasting Lab - Supermarket coffee
#24 - Italian Classics
Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/30/2005
There seems to be an endless supply of "classic" Italian dishes. Just when we think we've mastered the canon, we realize there are more seminal Italian dishes to learn-recipes as important as pesto, steak fiorentina, or pasta with garlic and oil. Recipes - Pasta all'Amatriciana - Mushroom Risotto Equipment Corner - Rotary cheese graters Tasting Lab - Jarred pasta sauces
#25 - In an Italian-American Kitchen
Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/23/2005
In the test kitchen, we enjoy authentic Italian dishes such as pasta all'amatriciana (episode 18-Italian Classics) and osso buco and polenta (episode 19-Winter Supper). But we also like to prepare Italian-American dishes. Recipes - Eggplant Parmesan - Pasta with Chicken and Brocoli