As promised, I finally brought my camera into work with me, just in time to capture the filming of America’s Test Kitchen’s 11th season, which began this week. My regularly scheduled work as an intern continued this week with grocery and mise en place duties still being my primary responsibilities. On top of that, myself and the other interns, along with just about everyone else on hand, helped to prepare the test kitchen for TV, a task that entailed a near complete makeover of the entire facility.

Perhaps the most exciting thing that happened this week is that I had many chances to work as an on-air extra. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, I strongly suggest that you mosey on over to the this newly launched site which houses all episodes for prior seasons. In previous episodes, you will notice that there are a number of chef’s coat wearing folks in the background. These people are either test cooks or interns and they are all helping in some way to keep the ATK machine running smoothly during filming. Once this season’s episodes are filmed and all of the editing and post-production activities have been completed, they will be aired in January (I believe) and then you just may be able to make out my handsome mug in the background. Until then, on to the pictures.

Here’s a small sampling of the army of TV cameras and lights that have invaded the test kitchen. During filming, the show’s hosts will take their positions behind the wooden cutting board:

This is Julia, an editor for the books division of ATK and one of the on-air test cooks that share the hosting duties with ATK founder Chris Kimball, being filmed while tasting a dish:

Kevin, one of my fellow interns, mugs for my camera while the ATK staff photographer documents some of the day’s cooking:

Theary and Dan, two more of my intern brethren, enjoy some lighthearted banter (no doubt one of them said something totally inappropriate for repeating here) between takes:

All of the filming for America’s Test Kitchen takes place in the main test kitchen. What viewers don’t see is all of the cooking that goes on behind the scenes in the smaller satellite kitchen:

For any given recipe that airs during an ATK segment, there is much work that goes on behind the scenes. Test cooks and interns will work together to prepare a few iterations of the recipe with some being cooked to various stages of doneness in order to accommodate the phenomenon known as ‘TV time’. Let’s use rice pilaf as an example – rather than beginning the cooking process and filming a segment for that, then waiting another hour until the rice is cooked before filming the next segment, the recipe’s segments are generally filmed continuously, meaning that approximately one hour or so before filming, a recipe for rice pilaf must be started so that when it is time to film, there is a fully cooked pilaf ready to go. Additionally, other versions of the pilaf may be prepared, including a few ‘lessor’ versions of the dish as well as a few cooked to the point where intermediate stages of recipe preparation can be illustrated. It all requires careful coordination between the folks running the show and the test cooks and it’s been really interesting to watch this all unfold over the last few days. Stay tuned for more updates.

TV filming begins next week and you can cut the tension in the test kitchen with an 8″ chef’s knife as people (including all of us interns) spent a good part of the week cleaning, organizing and getting ready for the ensuing madness. For the 11th season of the America’s Test Kitchen TV show, the plan is to film 26 episodes during the next three weeks, with each episode highlighting one or two recipes. My responsibility during TV filming will be pretty similar to what I’ve been doing so far at ATK, that is, preparing the mise en place for these recipes. Additionally, I will probably be asked to ‘run’ various items to and from the TV set, restock various grocery items, and potentially appear in the background of one (or a handful) of the episodes. I promise to bring my camera to work next week in order to document some of filming fun.

In a departure from my experience over the last few weeks, on top of my regularly scheduled potato peeling and chocolate chopping duties, I got a few chances to do some cooking this week. I was asked to perform a ‘timing’ test for a certain beef recipe. This recipe was nearly complete in that the test cooks were happy with the flavor of the final dish; what they were interested in testing (or actually, confirming) is that the times listed to complete each of the recipe’s steps were accurate. For example, when the recipe said ‘cook vegetables for 3 minutes until they are barely tender’, I would cook the vegetables and time how long it took for them to reach the desired state of tenderness, then note that time and report back to the test cook. In the end, I found that all of the times listed in the recipe were accurate.

Not only did I get to cook this week, I got to participate in some grill testing too. What I learned this week is that ATK’s approach to grilling is similar to the post office’s approach to mail delivery; neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will stand in the way of getting the job done. Wednesday’s blustery winds, steady rain and temperatures in the mid 40s made for a minor inconvenience rather than an obstacle to grilling. For this project, a number of recipes that had been written out for use on charcoal grills were being tested for alternate preparation using a propane grill. More specifically, these were also timing tests. Using a few different proteins, we recorded the amount of cooking time was needed, over varying grill settings, in order to determine what settings yielded the best combination of seared exterior and rosy pink interior. Incidentally, on our monster DCS brand grill capable of generating 900 degrees of bone incinerating heat, it was determined that one minute per side, on high heat, with the grill lid closed yielded the best results, however, as with any grill, your results at home may vary.

Finally, I also used some time this week to meet with all four members of the executive editor team. They were all incredibly gracious to take some time out of their busy schedules to talk with me about their own career paths and offer their advice to a budding food media enthusiast.

Unfortunately, this week, I don’t have too much that’s terribly exciting to report. The chocolate testing from the previous week continued this week with me preparing another six batches of tasty chocolate brownies. I also prepared the next round of chocolate testing, which will involve 12 different preparations and tastings of ganache, a mixture of heavy cream and chocolate that is used as a basis for a number of different products like truffles and cupcake icing.

I also spent the better part of the week testing out a particularly bothersome recipe for a blackberry jam cake, an exercise which allowed me to continue getting in touch with my inner baker. There are actually two problems with this recipe – first, the recipe is designed with a specific brand’s jam in mind, however, that jam reacts in strange ways with the baking powder contained in the recipe, causing the finished cake to appear to be covered with small specks of mold. Though this is nothing more than a cosmetic problem, it makes for a very disturbing looking cake. When different jams were substituted, this ‘mold’ disappeared, which wasn’t entirely encouraging to see because that meant that the brand called for in the recipe was causing the problem. Reducing the amount of baking powder in the recipe seemed to solve the ‘mold’ issue, but it also yielded a much squatter cake. The second problem is that when cut into, the cake’s structure is always riddled with holes. I tried many different variations of cake-making techniques (using a food processor to mix the wet ingredients before whisking in the dry ingredients, using a whisk to combine the wet ingredients before gently folding in the dry ingredients) all to no avail. The powers that be were just not pleased with the final results of this cake and at this point, I’m not quite sure what its fate will be.

My other major assignment this week was to assist the Cook’s Country team on a number of photo shoots. This activity was very similar to what I do when I document my home cooking adventures from start to finish, only on much bigger and more intense scale. One of the shoots was for a ‘Wild Rice Dressing’ recipe and in order to pull this off, I fist had to assemble the mise en place, which includes all of the ingredients for the recipe, pre-measured and pre-cut, along with whatever else is needed in order to actually cook the dish. Next, I had to cook the dish up until specified stages; for example, I had to cook and assemble everything in the dish up until the point where toasted bread crumbs and melted butter are added to a mixture of rice, aromatics and cream. From there, the actual shot would be an action shot of the test cook adding the bread crumbs and butter to the rest of the ingredients. Running the show is the art director, who is also coordinating camera angles with the photographer and the test cook. It’s a rather painstaking process, especially on a day when 20 such shots need to be completed with each shot requiring its own unique setup, but it was still quite interesting to see it all unfold.

Things should continue to be busy for me over the next few weeks as filming begins for the America’s Test Kitchen program during the first week of May. I believe the plan is to shoot 26 episodes in a 3 week span. That week I will also assume Lead Intern duties for two weeks. All interns rotate through this position, which includes additional responsibilities such as performing inventory on a daily basis, among other things.

The internship program at America’s Test Kitchen is rotational, meaning that over the course of my 12 week internship, I will work with two different teams for a period of six weeks each. Last week, I was assigned to the Cook’s Country team and things were just a bit slow in the test kitchen because my team was in full-on writing and editing mode. The beginning of this week ended that lull in the action as my team has once again begun the recipe testing cycle and when that happens, the services of a capable (and handsome) intern such as myself will always be in demand. As opposed to my first week where I definitely had some downtime, this week was non-stop busy from the minute I entered the test kitchen on Monday morning. I’m actually amazed at how quickly the week flew by, a marked contrast to my days in the Financial Services sector when my days would drag on and on while I futilely tried to stave-off a debilitating case of cubicle madness.

The name of the game this week has been baking; for starters, this week I made seven apple pies. This was actually a continuation of the experiment that I was asked to assist with last week. The goal of this modified experiment was to confirm the best time for cutting into an apple pie after baking. The first pie was left whole and its temperature was taken in 30 minute increments beginning from the moment it was pulled from the oven up until the 3 1/2 hour mark (to record the rate of cooling for an entire pie). Each of the other six pies were cut into after 30 minute intervals. For example, pie number 2 was cut into 30 minutes after removing from the oven; pie number 3 was cut into after an hour, and so on. Each pie was photographed right after cutting to have picture evidence showing the amount of ‘looseness’ in the pie’s filling. Through this testing, it was confirmed that it is a good idea to let a pie cool for 60 – 90 minutes before slicing; not only will it be easier to slice, the slices when hold up better and the filling will ooze less when compared to a pie that is breached immediately after baking.

In another test, I prepared six nearly identical batches of chocolate brownies, with the one variable being the brand of bittersweet chocolate used for each recipe. The finished brownies will be portioned out, then taste-tested to see which brand of chocolate yields the best tasting chewy brownie. I was also asked to test a recipe for a ‘blackberry jam’ cake. It seems as though this pesky little cake has been the thorn in side of the recipe developer. In my test, I found that one of the ingredients reacted unfavorably with the baking powder, causing the cake to emerge from the oven covered in tiny green spots that resembled mold. The cake tasted fine, but no one in their right mind would eat anything looking like a science experiment gone awry. In addition to all of this baking madness, there were a number of ‘five-recipe’ tests this week for savory dishes; I performed a lot of the prep-work that made the Beef Stroganoff and Pozole tests possible.

I expect that this increase in the amount of recipe testing for my team is the beginning of a trend that will continue for the next few weeks until the America’s Test Kitchen show begins filming in May. So far, so good after my first two weeks on the job, though one close look at my burned, cut and scraped hands may reveal a different story. I can’t even place most of these wounds, they just seem to appear at random moments throughout the day. I am however very pleased to report that I managed to use an extremely sharp mandolin to plow through 40 apples without disassembling any of my digits.

Last week was the first full week of my 12 week internship at America’s Test Kitchen. As a kitchen intern, my primary responsibility is to assist the test cooks and editors as they go about their daily business of researching and testing recipes. That encompasses many different tasks so rather than bore you to tears with additional descriptions of my job, what follows is a sampling of what I worked on during the week, all of which is pretty typical of the type of work I’ll be doing over the next few months.

My first major assignment was to help prepare a five-recipe test of Chateau Potatoes, an old-school, classic French dish prepared with oval-shaped potatoes cooked in a generous amount of butter, seasoned with freshly chopped parsley, salt and pepper. The first step in this process was also the most laborious; tourneing the potatoes into little seven sided ovals. After spending a few hours assisting the test cook with this task (and cursing my chef instructors who promised I wouldn’t have to do this outside of culinary school), I then helped to assemble the rest of the necessary ingredients, including chopping a whole lot of parsley, before being asked to cook a few batches of our (semi) perfect mini-footballs. What I found most interesting was that the five recipes all called for different cooking techniques; for example, one recipe called for parboiling the potatoes first, then cooking them in a non-stick skillet in clarified butter until they became golden brown. Another recipe called for the potatoes to be cooked in a stainless steel skillet with no prior parboiling. In addition to the differing cooking techniques, different types of potatoes were used across the recipes. Once all of the recipes were finished, the team of taste-testers (myself included) sampled each of the five different preparations, writing down what they did and didn’t like about each recipe. The lead test cook assigned to this recipe will eventually compile the results from the tasters and based on their feedback will either have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t for each recipe or will have to go back to the drawing board and start all over again with a new set of recipes.

For the test cook, the recipe testing process begins with research. To facilitate this, ATK’s on-site library is bursting at the seams with hundreds upon hundreds of cooking books, as well as a full archive containing every issue of Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazine ever produced. I was asked by one of the test cooks to begin the research process for what will, over the course of the next few months, turn into a recipe for the ‘ultimate’ version of a Texas-style red chili, that will feature cubed, as opposed to ground, meat and omits beans. I spent a few hours combing through library’s resources until I had complied about 25 different recipes that I found to be a mix of both ‘prototypical’ chili recipes and some other recipes that had unique flavorings or used different types of meat, like venison and sausage.

In addition to the work initiated by the test cooks and editors, readers continually submit their own questions via the ATK website and by writing to the magazines. One reader was to curious to know why ATK test cooks suggested letting an apple pie cool for an hour after baking prior to cutting into it. In order to best illustrate this, one of the test cooks devised a plan where two identical apple pies would be baked, with one being cut into right after removal from the oven, while the second pie would be allowed to rest for the recommended hour, then sliced. Accompanying the written response would be a photo of the two slices placed side-by-side, confirming that the pie that rested held its shape better than the one that didn’t rest. My contribution to this assignment was to help prepare the two apple pies.

Food and equipment reviews are also featured heavily in ATK productions. Who better to source for product reviews than the ATK staff themselves? This week we had a feta cheese taste test featuring seven different feta cheeses that were combined with a mixture of shrimp and tomatoes. The samples were placed into seven individual cups and passed out to ATKers, along with an evaluation form asking us to score the different cheeses on aroma, texture and flavor and whether or not we would recommend the cheese to someone else. All results will be tabulated and the results will appear in a forthcoming issue.

Along with these specific projects, I, along with the rest of the interns, have other recurring duties, such as putting away the daily grocery deliveries and ensuring the test kitchen is kept relatively clean. As time permits, we also help to organize the walk-in cooler and dry storage area and have opportunities to work on other projects. For the next five weeks, I will be working with the team that produces the Cook’s Country magazine, then at the beginning of my seventh week, I will rotate to a different team and report to either the Cook’s Illustrated team, the Book team, or be assigned to the ‘Special Projects’ crew. I am also fortunate enough to be overlapping with the production of the America’s Test Kitchen TV show, which will begin shooting in May. I’m not totally sure what that will entail, but it promises to be a very busy and exciting few months in the test kitchen for me.