When this notoriously tough cut finally turns tender, it's often dry as a bone. Could we have our brisket both ways? Extending the preparation of our braised beef brisket recipe over two days solved several problems. After braising the brisket in a foil-lined pan, we let the brisket stand overnight in the refrigerator in the braising liquid, allowing it to reabsorb liquid and flavor. Excess fat, which had congealed on top of the liquid, was easy to remove after refrigeration, and the cold brisket could now be sliced without shredding. And because most of the work was now done ahead of time, our brisket recipe had become perfect for a midweek supper or even for easy entertaining.

Gefrituurde verse kruiden zijn de perfecte garnering voor veel gerechten, maar het kost je én weer een extra pan én alles wordt vies. Maar niet met deze

Digital scales are key for accuracy in the kitchen. Read on for why you should weigh your ingredients plus tips for doing it right.

The holidays are no time to gamble on a bird that cooks up dry and bland—or, worse, exhibits off-flavors.

Serves 8 to 10 Serve plain, dusted with confectioners’ sugar, or with Orange Crème Fraîche (recipe follows). RECIPE DETAILS Timeline 10 minutes to heat oven and prepare cake pan (gather […]

The key to quicker caramelized onions is the ingredient we least expected: water. We started our caramelized onions in a covered nonstick skillet over high heat with ¾ of cup water. The water and steam helped the onions quickly soften. Then we removed the lid, lowered the heat to medium-high, and pressed the softened onions into the bottom and sides of the skillet to allow for maximum contact with the hot pan. Instead of finishing with sugar or honey as many recipes call for, we added baking soda, which speeds up the reaction that converts flavorless inulin (a polysaccharide present in onions) to fructose.

Making a vibrant fruit salad with peak summer produce is a cinch, but what are we supposed to do the rest of the year? For a fresh, vibrant fruit salad in the late winter, we started with a selection of tropical fruits, which boasted plenty of sweetness and nuanced flavor. To provide juiciness and acidity, we paired the tropical fruits with citrus and then used a lime syrup to tie all the flavors together. A final addition of a mildly flavored, crisp vegetable, which was softened slightly in the syrup, gave the salads just the right amount of texture without masking the bright fruit flavor.

Top chefs say 18 hours in a 120-degree oven is the route to prime rib perfection. What if we told you it was possible in almost one-third the time? The perfect prime rib should have a deep-colored, substantial crust encasing a tender, juicy rosy-pink center. To achieve this perfect roast, we started by salting the roast overnight. The salt enhanced the beefy flavor while dissolving some of the proteins, yielding a buttery-tender roast. To further enhance tenderness, we cooked the roast at a very low temperature, which allowed the meat's enzymes to act as natural tenderizers, breaking down its tough connective tissue. A brief stint under the broiler before serving ensured a crisp, flavorful crust.

From perfect pie crusts to poached salmon, Christopher Kimball and Bridget Lancaster share cooking tips and secret shortcuts from America's Test Kitchen. The biggest challenge is getting home chefs to faithfully follow recipes, Kimball says: "They will substitute ingredients with great abandon."

Microplanes are tricky to clean! Click through to learn some expert tips for cleaning your grater safely—without destroying your sponge or your fingertips.

Juicy, deeply seasoned thigh meat encased in a supercrispy crust makes Japanese karaage a fried chicken lover's dream. Minimal oil and fast frying make it a cinch to cook. Our version of this Japanese favorite started with boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which eliminated the need to debone the meat at home. Cutting the chicken into narrow strips instead of small chunks created fewer pieces to handle. Briefly marinating the meat in a mixture of soy sauce, sake, ginger, and garlic (seasoned with a little salt and sugar) imbued the chicken with deeply savory, aromatic flavor. Dredging the chicken in cornstarch—instead of traditional potato starch—made for a less sticky coating. Shaking off the excess starch and letting the dredged pieces rest while the oil heated gave the starch time to hydrate. Dabbing any dry patches with reserved marinade prevented dustiness.

Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, and we’re here to help every step of the way. Start with our recap of our first of four Thanksgiving Facebook Live segments.

Voor ons is de grillpan een echte must-have voor in de keuken, want niet alleen groenten, maar ook vlees en stevige vissoorten doen het er perfect op.

Leave it to America's Test Kitchen to come up with the best burger-making technique. It begins with freshly ground meat. I've never attempted to grind my own meat before, as I don't have a meat grinder, but this recipe doesn't require one! All you need is a food processor. Cubes of meat and butter are frozen before being pulsed in a processor until "rice-like." It amazed me how easy and mess-free this method really is. Since the meat is frozen, it doesn't turn gummy and stick to the sides of the processor. I hesitated seasoning the burgers with so much salt, but ATK's measurements are foolproof. My dad and I threw these burgers on the grill for five minutes and they cooked through. If you're more of a medium-rare kind of fan, I would even suggest cooking them three to four minutes. "You can always throw a burger back on the grill," my dad wisely advised. The flavor of this burger is unbeatable. The butter keeps the meat moist while charring the exterior, and salt and pepper is really all you need to draw out the flavor of the beef. We dressed ours up the classic way, with ketchup, pickles, tomato, and lettuce on a sesame bun, but the topping combos are unlimited. I definitely plan on making this my go-to burger recipe! Looking for more great America's Test Kitchen recipes? Sign up for a free trial of America's Test Kitchen's 2-week all-access membership. Membership includes recipes (tested by 60,000 at-home cooks!), unbiased equipment and ingredient ratings, innovative techniques, and how-to videos every month. — Additional reporting by Lauren Harano Tender, Juicy Grilled BurgersFrom Master of the Grill by America’s Test Kitchen Notes Why this recipe works: Patties made of preground chuck are easy, but we were after a charred crust, rich beefy taste, and juicy interior that are hard to get from supermarket ground beef. This is because the way ground beef is handled during processing draws out sticky proteins that create a dense texture in the burger. To avoid this, we ground our own meat and switched from chuck to sirloin steak tips, which contain less connective tissue and just the right amount of fat. We froze the meat to make grinding easier and added butter for flavor and richness. We also froze the patties after forming them to ensure that by the time they’d thawed at their centers, they had developed a perfect outer crust. We cooked the burgers over a superhot fire for great char and flavor. This recipe requires freezing the meat twice, for a total of 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, before grilling. When stirring the salt and pepper into the ground meat and shaping the patties, take care not to overwork the meat or the burgers will become dense. Sirloin steak tips are also sold as flap meat. Serve the burgers with your favorite toppings or one of our grilled-vegetable toppings. If making a grilled-vegetable topping, start preparing the topping while the patties are in the freezer and grill the vegetables before you grill the burgers. Finish the topping while the burgers rest. You can also toast the buns on the grill while the burgers rest. Ingredients1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak tips, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch chunks 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces Kosher salt and pepper 1 (13x9-inch) disposable aluminum pan (if using charcoal) 4 hamburger buns Directions Place beef chunks and butter on large plate in single layer. Freeze until meat is very firm and starting to harden around edges but still pliable, about 35 minutes. Place one-quarter of meat and one-quarter of butter cubes in food processor and pulse until finely ground into pieces size of rice grains (about 1/32 inch), 15 to 20 pulses, stopping and redistributing meat around bowl as necessary to ensure beef is evenly ground. Transfer meat to rimmed baking sheet. Repeat grinding in three batches with remaining meat and butter. Spread mixture over sheet and inspect carefully, discarding any long strands of gristle or large chunks of hard meat, fat, or butter. Sprinkle 3/4 teaspoon salt and one teaspoon pepper and over meat and gently toss with fork to combine. Divide meat into four portions. Working with one portion at a time, lightly toss from hand to hand to form ball, then gently flatten into 3/4-inch-thick patty. Press center of patties down with your fingertips to create 1/4-inch-deep depression. Transfer patties to platter and freeze for 30 to 45 minutes. For a charcoal grill: Using skewer, poke 12 holes in bottom of disposable pan. Open bottom vent completely and place disposable pan in center of grill. Light large chimney starter two-thirds filled with charcoal briquettes (four quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour into disposable pan. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about five minutes. For a gas grill: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high. Clean and oil cooking grate. Season one side of patties liberally with salt and pepper. Using spatula, flip patties and season other side. Place burgers on grill (directly over coals if using charcoal) and cook, without pressing on them, until browned and meat easily releases from grill, four to seven minutes. Flip burgers and continue to grill until browned on second side and meat registers 125 degrees (for medium-rare) or 130 degrees (for medium), four to seven minutes longer. Transfer burgers to plate and let rest for five minutes. Serve on buns. Information Category Main Dishes, Beef Cuisine North American Yield 4 burgers Why this recipe works: Patties made of preground chuck are easy, but we were after a charred crust, rich beefy taste, and juicy interior that are hard to get from supermarket ground beef. This is because the way ground beef is handled during processing draws out sticky proteins that create a dense texture in the burger. To avoid this, we ground our own meat and switched from chuck to sirloin steak tips, which contain less connective tissue and just the right amount of fat. We froze the meat to make grinding easier and added butter for flavor and richness. We also froze the patties after forming them to ensure that by the time they’d thawed at their centers, they had developed a perfect outer crust. We cooked the burgers over a superhot fire for great char and flavor. This recipe requires freezing the meat twice, for a total of 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, before grilling. When stirring the salt and pepper into the ground meat and shaping the patties, take care not to overwork the meat or the burgers will become dense. Sirloin steak tips are also sold as flap meat. Serve the burgers with your favorite toppings or one of our grilled-vegetable toppings. If making a grilled-vegetable topping, start preparing the topping while the patties are in the freezer and grill the vegetables before you grill the burgers. Finish the topping while the burgers rest. You can also toast the buns on the grill while the burgers rest.

In Italy, cooks like to braise pork roasts in milk because it creates an exceptionally rich, savory sauce. But there’s a trade-off: The result is not pretty. This Italian classic involves braising a pork loin in a large quantity of milk. As the roast cooks, the milk curdles and reduces into an intensely flavorful but unattractive sauce. We minimize curdling and amp up the flavor by adding a touch of fat from rendered salt pork. A small amount of baking soda raises the pH of the sauce to conditions more favorable for Maillard browning, a series of reactions that create flavorful aromatic compounds. Oven-braising at a low temperature yields a juicy and tender roast. Then, while the roast rests, we stir in wine, mustard, and herbs to finish the sauce.

Leftover pasta can get dry and unappetizing if it spends too long in the fridge. But we've got the solution. Read on for our tips to restore it to its former glory.

We set out to reproduce this classic sandwich without the pricey rib eye, a deli slicer, or a flattop griddle. Bringing cheesesteaks home required coming up with a simple and economical way to mimic the thinly shaved slivers of rib eye usually obtained with a meat slicer. We found that when partially frozen, skirt steak’s thin profile and open-grained texture made for easy slicing, and its flavor was nearest to rib eye but without the sticker shock. To best approximate the wide griddle typically used in Philadelphia, we cooked the meat in two batches, letting any excess moisture drain off before giving it a final sear. Finally, to bind it all together, we let slices of American cheese melt into the meat, along with a bit of grated Parmesan to boost its flavor.