The Best Recipe

Cook's Illustrated

Cook's Illustrated, January/February 2007
Categories	Cooking
Frequency	Bimonthly
Circulation	1,000,000 (2007)
Year founded	1993 (1993)
Company	America's Test Kitchen
Country	United States
Based in	Brookline, Massachusetts
Language	English
Website	www.cooksillustrated.com
ISSN	1068-2821

Cook's Illustrated is an American cooking magazine published by America's Test Kitchen in Brookline, Massachusetts, every two months. It accepts no advertising and is characterized by extensive recipe testing and detailed instructions. The magazine also conducts thorough evaluations of kitchen equipment and branded foods and ingredients.

Founder and former editor Christopher Kimball launched Cook's magazine in 1980 with money raised from investors. Kimball eventually sold Cook's to Condé Nast Publications, which discontinued the magazine in 1989. Kimball later reacquired rights to the name, hired several former Cook's staff members, and launched a rebranded Cook's Illustrated in 1993.

Circulation grew from an initial 25,000 to 600,000 in 2004 and one million subscribers in 2007, maintaining a growth rate substantially higher than the general category of cooking magazines. In 2009, Cook's Illustrated magazine had 1.2 million subscribers, a figure that grew by 11% on average over the previous nine years. The 78% renewal rate is twice the 35-40% rate for all consumer magazines. The web site enjoys 300,000 paid subscribers, about half of whom also subscribe to one of the magazines.

The magazine's staff also produces the PBS cooking shows America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country, and publishes cookbooks including The Best Recipe and America's Test Kitchen series. A sister magazine, Cook's Country, which emphasizes home-style cooking and reader submissions, launched in October 2004; the two magazines come out in alternate months. Though the company is still officially known as Boston Common Press, most of its publishing activity is done under the America's Test Kitchen brand.

On November 16, 2015, a news release from Boston Commons Press, parent company of Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen, announced the departure of Christopher Kimball over a contract dispute. The 2016 TV programs had already been filmed and Kimball will appear as host, but his direct participation in the company was ending immediately. He remains a minority stockholder in the closely held company. There had been signs of a dispute between the corporate leadership and Kimball ever since September 2015 when David Nussbaum was appointed from outside the company as CEO, above Kimball.