Perfect for long-term reference, the Cook’s Illustrated 2008 Annual contains all six of the 2008 issues bound in one cloth-covered edition. Bound inside you’ll also find an invaluable 2008 Recipe and Article Index to help search a year’s worth of test kitchen recipes and cooking information- fast! Attractive enough for a library, the case-bound construction makes it a sturdy tool for the real world of the kitchen, able to withstand many years of sauce spatters and spills.

2008 was great year of kitchen discoveries, innovative cooking techniques, and the foolproofing of hundreds of family favorite recipes.

Featured Discoveries from 2008 include:

• We developed a foolproof cooking technique for an ultracrunchy Baked Pork Chop: cook the chop on a raised baking rack for air circulation, and to keep the crust sticking to the chop, we upgraded the standard egg wash with mustard and a bit of flour to create a protective sheath that stuck to the pork and added a great tangy hit of flavor.
• To pick a perfectly ripe pineapple at the supermarket: gently tug at a leaf in the center of the fruit. If it releases with little effort, it is a winner.
• We developed an ingenious way to make a Roast Chicken with super-crisp skin and tender, juicy meat: all you need is a little baking powder, and a 12 hour stay in the fridge.
• Can super-premium orange juice compete with fresh-squeezed? The answer is a qualified yes -- while fresh-squeezed won our blind taste tests hands down, its prohibitive cost left a bitter taste in our mouths.
• Has the humble spatula has been improved with the introduction of silicone? It sure has--our test-winner is a workhorse that is a bigger, better version of the rubber spatula it replaced.

And because Cook's Illustratedmagazine is 100% Advertising-Free, you can count on our equipment ratings and ingredient tastings to be completely objective.

• Should you pay a premium price for a coffee maker that makes a premium cup of coffee?
  We wanted to see if there is a drip coffee machine out there that could duplicate at home the deep, complex flavor of properly brewed coffeehouse java? We judged eight models on ease of use, brewing time, and of course, flavor.  Sadly, we found only one machine that brewed a Starbucks-worthy cup of coffee every time--the TECHNIVORM Moccamaster Coffeemaker. And wouldn’t you know it, it was the most expensive model tested, at $239.95. Yes, it is a lot of money for a coffee maker, considering a simple drip machine can be had for less than $30. But if you are one of the many caffeinated members of premium coffee nation, it may be a worthwhile investment.

• The problem with supermarket olive oils:
  We tested 10 extra-virgin olive oils, selected from the top-selling supermarket brands in the United States to see if price, fancy labels, or olive originations make a difference in taste. The oils were tasted plain as well as heated and tossed with pasta. None of the brands could best our favorite olive oil, Columela Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which can be found in high-end grocery stores and gourmet shops. Taster comments for the rest ranged from “soapy and metallic” to “smells like kitty litter.” Of course the top-two finishers were the most expensive- so when it comes to buying this coveted oil, you do get what you pay for.
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