testing recipes for America's Test Kitchen: it's over

I love to cook, and I also enjoy testing recipes and giving feedback and helping improve the ultimate product so others can create a fantastic dish (see my post on helping create the Good Home Cookbook). Volunteer recipe testing is a fun way I can collaborate with cooks across the country/world without actually sharing the same kitchen.


Along those same lines, for the last year or so I've been participating as a volunteer recipe tester for America's Test Kitchen (ATK). I'm a huge fan of the ATK shows, and I've got copies of their last five annual recipe books. I'm also a subscriber to Cook's Illustrated, the magazine produced every other month by the same staff. I find the ATK/Cook's Illustrated approach to teaching about food and cooking is a great combination of science, technique and, ultimately, delicious food.

Through the program, I've had the opportunity to test 23 different recipes
over the course of fifteen months, ranging from pear crisp to thin and crispy oatmeal cookies to rack of lamb. Along the way I discovered a fabulous scone recipe,
one for chilaquiles (tortilla casserole) and another simple yet
delicious one for sautéed spinach with lemon and garlic.

As an ATK recipe tester, I'd get a recipe in my email every few weeks or so asking me to test it and submit feedback on both the instructions and the results. There was never any pressure to submit results, but there was
always a time window in which they needed to hear back (typically: ten
days from receipt). Of the twenty-three recipes offered, I think I gave feedback on eight of them, and 0.347 is a good batting average in baseball, right?

In the last couple months, the recipes they've sent for testing were decidedly not in keeping with my weight-loss-and-exercise program getting ready for my first triathlon in April. So I haven't submitted feedback on recipes since, gulp, September.

So, I was a little wary this morning when I found an email from ATK titled "Friends of Cook's Program" instead of the usual "New Cooks Illustrated Recipe to Test." When I opened the email, my fears were confirmed, as this is what they had to say:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for the contributions you have made as a recipe tester for America’s Test Kitchen. The information we receive through the recipe testing surveys is an invaluable asset in the development of recipes and the improvement of our publications. In an effort to continue to expand our understanding of the landscape our readers face while preparing recipes, we will be refreshing our list of testers and looking for input from new cooks.

As we update our lists, our veteran recipe testers will no longer receive new requests, as a way to allow newer members a chance to participate.

We appreciate your ongoing dedication to helping our publication's continued success.

Happy Cooking!

The Editors of Cook’s Illustrated

Perfectly in line with all the other experiences I've had with the folks at ATK/Cook's Illustrated, even this Dear John letter was classy. And I can now call myself a "veteran recipe tester."

If you're interested in becoming a recipe tester yourself, follow the link at the bottom of the ATK home page and sign up. If you've got even the slightest joy in cooking, it's a great experience (heck, I may just sign up again under a nom de cuisine).