Skip to main content

Cook's Science Recipes

Main Featured Item

Conventional wisdom says to make sure your cream is cold before whipping it, we wondered exactly how much temperature matters?

Get access to every foolproof recipe and rating from the Magazine.

Content Type: Article Why Dilution Is Key to Chilling Drinks

Melted ice in your cocktail sounds like a bad thing, but dilution is actually critical to the chilling process.
Content Type: Article How to Cook with Plant-Based Meat

Follow our guidelines—not the manufacturer’s—when you’re subbing the Impossible Burger for real meat in recipes for burgers, chili, and meatloaf.
Content Type: Experiment: Does Fattier Meat Need More Salt?

We’ve noticed that we tend to season fatty meat more generously than lean meat. Why?
Content Type: In the Field: Ángel León, Chef-Owner of Aponiente Restaurant

Q + A: Opening diners’ minds to unusual (and sustainable) ingredients from the sea

Content Type: Article Word of the Week: Volatile

What’s really going on when your kitchen smells delicious.
Content Type: Article Cook’s Illustrated Explains: Xanthan Gum

The most useful hydrocolloid ever invented.
Content Type: Article Hurts So Good

Spicy foods and the compelling chemistry of chemesthesis.
Content Type: Article Word of the Week: Viscosity

Liquids don’t always go with the flow.
Content Type: Article In the Field: Dr. Mark Post, Professor, Maastricht University

Q + A: In the future, will our burgers come from labs instead of farms?
Content Type: Article Word of the Week: Browning

Why do foods turn brown? There are several reasons.