"A place that will teach me how to make foolproof recipes, what food products to buy at the supermarket, and which kitchen equipment is the best? This is the best day of my life!!"
Then I saw the price tag to access all of that golden information. And while I personally believe the price is 100% justified and fair (more about that in a bit), at the time of my discovery I didn't feel like our budget warranted a purchase. I mean, I already had (and still have) a massive laundry list of recipes to try that I will never get through in my lifetime. Paying for more recipes seemed silly at the time. Since that time I've wondered if other people have had similar discovery>excitement>realization>disappointment sequences that I had.
For those people, I have four ways to get these amazing recipes for free!
(To clarify: ATK is a cooking show, Cook's Illustrated (CI) is a magazine, and Cook's Country (CC) is a cooking show and a magazine. All three are run by the same organization, so when you visit any one of the three at their websites, you'll see the top navigation bar has portals to the other two.)
First, the obvious: get a free 14-day trial membership to the websites.
When you create a free account on americastestkitchen.com and sign up for the free trial, you'll get access to all of their recipes, equipment reviews, taste test reviews, and instructional videos. Almost immediately after you sign up for the trial on ATK's site, you'll be asked if you want to expand that two-week free access to the Cook's Illustrated (CI) and Cook's Country (CC) areas of the website, too. DO IT. There's no reason not to!
(I shamelessly grabbed a second free 14-day trial by using Jon's email and signing him up for an account. I personally would not advocate opening up dummy accounts with burner emails because that would make me feel icky, but by all means utilize the emails of every adult in your household!)
Second: check out the websites for content from current seasons and magazine issues.
You can still have a free account on the website without a paid membership, and you there are still parts of the websites you can access. Any online content from the current seasons of ATK and CC is unlocked, as well as from the current issues of CI and CC. If you visit the Recipes, Equipment Reviews, or Taste Tests pages for each of the three portals, towards the top of the page you'll find "From the Latest Season/Issue" which will take you to the content you can access. (screengrabs below, with the links to look for in purple!)
Third: Instagram.
ATK, CC, and CI all have Instagram accounts. Every day all three will post a picture of a dish whose recipe they are giving free access to for the day. (Sometimes there will even be more than one!). Because Instagram captions can't include links (whhhhhhyyyyy??), the way to find the free recipes is through the links in their profiles, which are always in the same place.
Although Instagram's content is typically consumed on a phone, I recommend viewing these accounts for the recipes on a computer. Here are the handles and the links where you can find their Instagram accounts:
America's Test Kitchen:
@testkitchen
instagram.com/testkitchen
Cook's Illustrated:
@cooksillustrated
instagram.com/cooksillustrated
Cook's Country:
@cookscountry
instagram.com/cookscountry
Fourth: go to your local library.
All of the recipes you can find on the website have been published at least once in one of their many books. These books may be The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook, which is updated with a new edition every year to include every recipe ever featured on their television show (currently in its 17th season, so... it's A TON of content!), or a collection that's concentrated by topic. Topical collections include everything from grilling to vegetarian, to bread, to preserving... there are a lot. I would recommend 100 Recipes: The Absolute Best Way to Make The True Essentials as a starting place for your foray into their cookbook collection.
If you live in an area with a good public library system and collection, do not forget about this incredible resource! The Phoenix Public Library (PPL) system is so insanely amazing with an amazing cookbook collection, and I have learned so much, saved so much money, and maxed out so many renewals by checking out dozens of cookbooks. (Sidenote: The largest branch of the PPL system, Burton Barr, suffered flood and water damage last month during a monsoon storm. I was devastated because of how important PPL has been to me since I've lived here. If you feel the same and would like to make a donation to the PPL Foundation, you can do so here.)
Okay those are my four tips, but before you go out and get your "free" on, a couple more things.
- As I mentioned before, I 100% believe the cost of the membership is worth it. $70 for the full three-site access for a year is a steal, and I constantly toy with renewing my membership. (The year I had access was the best!). You get an immense trove of information and the opportunity to learn so much about food and cooking. One of my favorite features of the sites are the equipment reviews, which solve the problem of my crippling inability to decide or determine which whisk, frying pan, or food processor is the best. Who doesn't love high confidence buys?
- You may have seen some news last year about Christopher Kimball, the founder of these three entities. He has since parted ways with the ATK organization and started a new publication, cooking school, and soon-to-be television show called Milk Street Kitchen. I know that there are CK loyalists who have and will follow him wherever he goes. I completely understand this instinct and have no issue with it. However, it's not like CK and everything he contributed has been wiped from the ATK/CI/CC websites. Everything from the last two decades is still there, and I would even say that the organization itself has remained true to what it always has been thus far.
- I personally have no experience with ATK's Online Cooking School (OCS), although I have been deeply intrigued by it. It promises step-by-step color photos, instructional videos, equipment reviews, and more. Courses are topical, with ones on eggs, fresh herbs, chicken soups, and more! You can get a free 14-day trial to the OCS, which is separate from the free trial membership to the websites. Though I have not used up my trial to the OCS yet, I would NOT recommend signing up for both free 14-day trials at the same time, it is just too much information to browse and consume all at once.
- Consider whether or not these recipes are actually for you. The thing about the majority of these recipes is that there is extra work or extra steps required. All of these extra requirements promise perfect results and the best taste, but if your schedule demands "30-minute meals," these recipes might not be for you. I'm not saying you should completely abandon any foray into "ATK Life," but definitely read through recipes in advance and write out your cooking plans before you start.
Those are my two cents, I hope they're helpful! Go forth and make delicious food!!
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