Recipes for broiled pork tenderloin promise roasts with well-browned exteriors and rosy-pink, juicy centers, but the results are more likely pallid, overcooked meat or spottily browned roasts with undercooked interiors. Using a disposable aluminum pan to cook the pork reflected the radiant heat of the broiler toward the pork, enhancing browning and ensuring that the interior didn’t overcook by the time deep browning had been achieved. Since some ovens preheat faster than others and are likely to cycle off if preheated at such an intense heat for too long, we evened the playing field by preheating the oven to 325 degrees before putting in the roasts and turning on the broiler. And finally, because of the broiler’s intense heat, we found that there was a much bigger carryover cooking effect, so we pulled the roasts from the oven when they hit 125 to 130 degrees instead of our usual 140 degrees to ensure that they were a perfect medium-rare after their 10-minute rest.

Unpack a knife from the factory and the edge should be razor sharp. However, with use the edge will dull. The force of repeated cutting bends microscopic pieces of the blade to either side, making it harder to push the blade through the food, which in turn makes it feel dull to the user. A so-called sharpening steel—also called a honing steel—which is the metal rod sold with most knife sets, doesn’t really sharpen a knife, but rather hones the edge of a slightly dulled blade. Sweeping the blade along the steel realigns the edge so you don't have to sharpen as frequently.

Tired of tomato tarts with soggy crusts and long preparation time, we developed a tomato tart recipe that would have a solid bottom crust and great vine-ripened flavor. Our secrets for a great tomato tart recipe? We used a two-step baking method for a flaky yet rigid crust, then "waterproofed" it with egg wash and layers of two kinds of cheese. We salted sliced tomatoes for 30 minutes to remove excess juice, then gently pressed them with paper towels. Baking the tart at 425 degrees quickly melted the cheese and preserved the tomatoes' meaty texture.

Any good gathering requires at least a few fun snacks. And whether it’s a cocktail party or a sit-down dinner, you can’t go wrong with an elegant, thoughtfully prepared cheese platter. With these six tips from the test kitchen—covering everything from the best cheese serving temperature to cracking the cracker code—plus a list of all our favorite cheeses below, your board will be sure to impress.