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Cooks Illustrated Magazine

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bettysnephew
bettysnephew Posts: 1,189
edited May 2013 in EggHead Forum
I recently subscribed to this magazine as it appeared to have a common sense approach to a lot of recipes and equipment.  Is it worth its' price or not?  Kind of skeptical after seeing the Smoky Joe is a better cooking machine than the LBGE.
A poor widows son.
See der Rabbits, Iowa
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  • sumoconnell
    sumoconnell Posts: 1,932
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    I'd just be weary of brand reviews. They will protect their revenue stream.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Austin, Texas.  I'm the guy holding a beer.
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  • egger ave
    egger ave Posts: 721
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    I have tried and like their recipes. Skeptical of some of their reviews.
    1 Large BGE, 1 Mini BGE, 1 Minimax BGE, Original wife and 3 dogs living in the heart of BBQ country in Round Rock Texas. 

    "The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."

    Albert Einstein
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  • Springram
    Springram Posts: 430
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    I loved Cook's Illustrated for years but got tired of them always looking to get more $$ out of me. For example, you get recipes with a regular subscription BUT if you want to get the rest of their recipe bank, you have to keep upgrading from one level to the next. One thing you do not want to do is to start buying cookbooks from them .....you will be on the cookbook of the month routine.

    Great information but I found their marketing practices too pushy.

    Springram
    Spring, Texas
    LBGE and Mini
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,491
    edited May 2013
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    I've been a subscriber for years, and have never been able to improve on any of their recipes (something I like trying to do).  
    I don't understand the comment about "protecting their revenue stream"; the magazine itself has no ads in it (other than the pull-out mail-in cards for their own books, etc) and their TV shows have commercials by Fischer & Paykel (sp?) (which don't get good reviews in Consumer Reports) and I can't remember who else advertises with them.  
    The only thing I'm not happy about is most of their magazine articles end with something like:
    "We also developed two variations, Smoked Chicken with Eye of Newt and Smoked Chicken with Chocolate/Sauerkraut Chutney, which are available on our website".  Well, they charge more for access to their website, which I think is kind've tacky and I won't subscribe.  

    Can anyone tell me in which issue they rated the LBGE?  I don't remember seeing that... 
     
    EDIT:  Never mind, just saw the other post... 
    :\">
    _____________

    Tin soldiers and Johnson's coming...


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  • BigGreenBamaGriller
    BigGreenBamaGriller Posts: 629
    edited May 2013
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    bettysnephew said:
    I recently subscribed to this magazine as it appeared to have a common sense approach to a lot of recipes and equipment.  Is it worth its' price or not?  Kind of skeptical after seeing the Smoky Joe is a better cooking machine than the LBGE.
    Oh yeah, and a Huffy is better than a Harley...
    Killen, AL (The Shoals)
    XL, Small, Minimax, and Mini BGEs
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    I have a subscription, and find the mag. generally useful.  When I first "got serious" about cooking, I found CI to be the best mag. Learned a lot. The way they break down recipes, and re-build them to get more specific results is very helpful.

    The product reviews are from a generalists point of view. They review items that are common in the market, that day to day cooks will often use. Let me think of an analogy...

    Assuming I had the money, I'd love to go to a Mechellin 3 star restaurant, although I doubt I would fully appreciate the quality. I have visited 1 stars, and been most impressed. But the portion of their reviews I really pay attention to are called the "Bib  gourmand." Surprisingly good food, but perhaps there is no wine available, or no desert. And a lot easier to get a seat, and a relatively affordable price.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,970
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    its an awesome magazine. we learn something new every month. by far our #1 resource when trying something new (outside the forum, of course)
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • Austin Egghead
    Austin Egghead Posts: 3,966
    edited May 2013
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    Good tasty recipes easy to adapt to the egg and my spices loving taste buds. Wealth of scientific cooking info and why certain foods play well together and other not.
    They just showed their BGE cooking ignorance/bias. I am sure their are many of us on both forums that would be more than happy to teach them about the versatility of the BGE.
    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
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