America's Test Kitchen

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen"... Keith makes Julia grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts, Jack challenges Bridget and Julia to a head to head tasting of whole dill pickles, Adam reviews flatware sets, and Elle makes Bridget berry granita.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

Plugrà European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers.

Slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugrà -- from professional kitchens to your home.

Sailing with American Queen Voyages brings you to mighty rivers and unique expeditions, where passionate explorers can discover the continent of North America.

You can learn more about our voyages at AQVoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.

Sur la Table, where you can discover an assortment of provisions for your next meal or gathering, from cookware and tools from a wide variety of kitchen brands to hands-on cooking classes.

Visit us at surlatable.com.

♪♪ -Boneless skinless chicken breasts are deceivingly hard to grill well.

And sure, there are no bones or skin to get in the way, but that also means that the delicate breast meat is left unprotected.

So it's easy to dry out, and it doesn't have a lot of flavor.

But not to fear, because Keith is here.

And you've got the answer.

-I do have some answers that are going to make the chicken breast moist, full of flavor, even coming from the grill.

-Alright.

-So we're going to start with four chicken breasts.

They are about 6 to 8 ounces each.

Now, the first thing that we want to do is we want to even these out a little bit.

You can see here there's a thick end and a thin end.

We just want to make it all one thickness.

So I'm just going to put some plastic wrap over these.

Now, I'm not looking to make cutlets here, right?

I don't really want something thin.

I just want to even out the thick part, this part, so it's more in line with the thin part.

-Okay.

-1/2 inch or so.

So that is our chicken.

Now let's look at how to add some flavor to this.

So what we're going to do is we're going to create a brinerade.

So the marinade's going to add flavor.

The brine is going to add seasoning.

I have 1/3 cup of water.

And to that, we're going to add 3 tablespoons of fish sauce.

The fish sauce is going to add salinity.

It's also going to give a lot of umami flavor, but it doesn't taste fishy, which is always a good thing if you have small kids at home eating chicken breasts.

I'm also going to add 2 tablespoons of honey.

-Honey.

-Yeah, it's going to allow the outside to brown really quickly before the inside over-cooks.

-Mm, clever.

-I have another teaspoon of table salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper to round this out.

Just going to whisk that to get that honey mixed in, get that salt dissolved.

So, typically when you're brining, you have quarts of water, right?

So, you only have about 1 cup of liquid here.

That's all it's going to take to kind of work into that chicken breast, season it, but also help brown on the outside.

-Yeah, because there's nothing in the way to prevent the brine from going into the meat.

-That's right.

So I'm going to put these in a bag.

Okay.

Hold that.

Thank you.

-Mm-hmm.

-So that's our chicken.

The bag is really good at making sure that the chicken is in that brinerade for the entire time.

So squeeze all the air out of it.

Seal it.

Just going to take 30 minutes in the refrigerator, and that brinerade will do its work.

So, the chicken has been in our brinerade for 30 minutes.

But before we go out to the grill, I'm going to make a romesco-like sauce, kind of Spanish sauce based on red peppers.

So it's going to start with 5 teaspoons of sherry vinegar.

I'm going to add one clove of minced garlic to that.

-Nice.

And when you add raw garlic to a vinegar, it really tempers that harsh flavor.

-I have 3/4 teaspoon of table salt, and I just want to stir this together really quickly to let that salt dissolve.

Okay, that's great.

So we'll just leave that.

-Okay.

-So now I have two red peppers here.

We're going to quarter these and toss them with some oil and then bring them up to the grill with our chicken.

-Mm!

-Nothing fancy.

We get the core and the seeds out.

-Mm-hmm.

-Okay, I'm going to add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

-Mm-hmm.

-So, I'm just going to give this a quick toss to make sure they're coated with that oil.

Okay, that's good.

And now for our chicken.

It's been in the brinerade.

That brinerade has done its job.

Now, typically if we're brining, I would pat this dry, make sure it had a nice, dry surface to help with browning.

-Right.

-But actually, we don't want to get rid of that outside coating.

Because of the honey in there and because of the fish sauce in there, that's going to help with our browning.

So we want to actually keep some of that on there.

Now, we don't want to have a lot of moisture on there.

If I just take the chicken and let it kind of drip in there, just a slick on the outside is what we need.

Okay.

So that's our chicken.

And I also have 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil that I'm going to put on the chicken.

We have our chicken.

We have our peppers.

Let's go out to the grill and cook.

-Okay.

-So I've preheated our gas grill for 15 minutes to make sure it's really hot.

-Mm.

-But before we cook, we want to clean.

So I'm just going to take a grill brush.

Get off any burnt bits here.

That looks pretty good.

One more thing.

I'm just going to take some oil and a paper towel.

-And a long set of tongs.

-And a long set of tongs.

That's right.

So I'm just going to wipe this down, and this is going to do a couple of things.

It's going to wipe off all the stuff that the grill brush didn't get off there.

It's also going to help lubricate the grill so the food doesn't stick to it.

That looks great.

Now, I'm going to start with our peppers first.

While the grill is really hot, we'll get a really nice char on these peppers.

So I'm just going to take these, put it skin side down.

-Now, you have this grill cranked all the way up.

-It's as hot as it can go right now, but that's a good thing, especially for the peppers.

-Mm-hmm.

Yep.

-That's our peppers.

So I'm going to close the lid.

We're going to let those go for about 5 to 7 minutes, and we're looking for the skin to get really well charred.

It's been 5 minutes, and we want to check on the char of our peppers.

Let's see what we've got.

Oh, that's great.

That's perfect.

Yeah.

-Perfect.

-And that's going to lend a lot of smokiness to those peppers.

So I just flip these over.

We're going to cook them for 2 minutes longer, and that gets the second side charred.

So I can smell pepper.

-Yeah.

-So that usually means that they're done, right?

-It smells good.

They have a very distinctive smell.

-So, I'm just looking for a little bit of char on that side, which is perfect.

So I'm just going to take these, and I'm going to put them into this bowl here.

-You can see how much softer they are, too, by how your tong really just digs into them.

-Just going to cover this with some foil.

Covering it will let them steam and soften a little bit more, and that will be perfect for our sauce.

Now we can focus on the chicken.

So we've oiled our chicken, and I'm just going to place this right in the middle of the grill with the smooth side down first.

Now, with that fish sauce and honey, that's going to brown really quickly.

So 3 to 5 minutes, and we'll get some nice marks on that, and then we'll flip it over.

-Alright.

-It's been three minutes.

We want to check on the progress of our chicken.

-Ooh.

-So I'm going to go really gentle here, make sure it doesn't stick.

-Look at those grill marks.

-You can see this nice color.

That fish sauce and honey have really done its job.

In just 3 minutes, we've had this beautiful browning.

-That's incredible.

-So we're going to close that.

We're going to go another 3 to 5 minutes until it's browned on the second side and registers 160 degrees.

It's been another 3 minutes on that second side, and we just want to check our temperature here.

So we'll take our instant read.

161.

-Nicely done.

-I like that.

Let's take a plate.

Get these off.

-Those look picture-perfect, Keith.

That's incredible.

-Okay, that is our chicken.

So I'm going to take the chicken in.

If you grab those peppers, we can go in and finish this up.

-Alright.

-While the chicken's resting, we're going to finish our romesco-like sauce, and that's going to start with 1/4 cup of almonds that have been toasted.

-Mm-hmm.

-I'm just going to pulse these down until they're finely chopped, about 12 pulses.

-This is one of my all-time favorite smells, toasted almonds.

-Almonds.

Fantastic.

-Freshly toasted, freshly ground.

-Fantastic.

-Ooh.

-So, I'm going to add 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil.

-I was wondering why you were calling it romesco-like sauce.

Now I know why.

Sesame oil is not traditional in romesco.

-No.

-But what a clever addition.

-Yeah, and it really brings out the nuttiness of the almonds.

So, I also have 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, a little pinch of cayenne.

And then remember our vinegar and garlic mixture from earlier?

That's going to go in.

Now our peppers.

Nice color on these.

-And I don't see anything here for peeling, which I'm relieved.

I hate peeling peppers.

-No, we're not gonna peel them.

We're going to process this fairly smoothly, so you're not going to taste the skins.

And, you know, you don't want to lose all that flavor that's on the skin, either.

So I'm just going to process this until it's nice and smooth.

Take about 45 seconds.

Okay, let's check the progress.

-Ooh, it's pretty.

-That's great.

-Mm-hmm.

-Yeah.

Now, if this is too thick, you can add a little bit of water to this to thin it out.

But this looks perfect, so I think I'm going to call it good.

-Alright.

-Just going to transfer this over to a nice serving bowl.

This sauce is also really good on fish, too.

-Oh, yeah, I imagine.

-Okay.

-I mean, it is picture-perfect chicken.

-I know.

Look at those beautiful grill marks.

-Insane.

Oh.

I'm excited to taste this chicken.

-I think you'll be happy with it.

-It actually has flavor.

I mean, you could just throw this on a green salad, add it to a quinoa salad, make a quick dinner out of it.

It just tastes like perfectly cooked grilled chicken.

-Yeah.

And you don't taste the honey.

You don't taste the fish sauce.

All you taste is browned chicken.

-Mm-hmm.

And this sauce.

[ Chuckles ] I mean, it's so easy.

I love that little bit of sesame seed oil in there.

Just as you said, it brings out the almonds.

Keith, this is terrific.

Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-So there you have it.

If you want to make the ultimate grilled boneless skinless chicken, start by pounding the breasts to an even thickness.

Soak the chicken in a brinerade spiked with fish sauce and honey, and grill the chicken over a hot fire until they register 160.

From "America's Test Kitchen," the final word on grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts with a red pepper almond sauce.

Sauce is a keeper.

-Sauce is a keeper.

No more cardboard chicken, either.

♪♪ -What do fried chicken, a deli sandwich, and barbecue have in common?

I won't eat them unless there's a pickle involved.

[ Laughter ] And it should be a whole pickle, 'cause I like them crunchy.

-Yes.

-And it should be a dill pickle.

So that's what I brought here.

Traditionally, vinegar pickles are made, as you might imagine, vinegar and salt and cucumbers.

And they can either be pasteurized to be shelf-stable or refrigerated.

I will tell you that when we did a tasting of pickle spears, we found a huge difference between the refrigerated and the shelf-stable.

Not so much here with the whole pickles, and I think our theory is a whole pickle can withstand the higher temperatures of pasteurization... -Right.

-...better for the shelf-stable.

And so that wasn't the defining factor.

-Mm-hmm.

-So in addition to shelf-stable and refrigerated, you have lacto-fermented.

So there's no vinegar here.

They're put in a salt brine.

The bacteria that's naturally occurring in the cucumbers begins to convert the natural sugars into lactic acid.

-Mm-hmm.

-So that preserves them, and that gives them the tartness that you don't need the vinegar from.

That will also make the pickling liquid cloudy or milky.

And so the one here that looks a little cloudy is lacto-fermented.

-Jack, my hands grew.

[ Laughter ] -So, garlic and dill are the most important flavors here.

And we found that if there were competing spices, they kind of drowned out the garlic and dill.

-Sure.

-Anything that you're noticing?

Anything that you're liking?

Julia, why don't you go first?

-Yeah, this one, C, not such a fan.

It's a little on the watery side, not a ton of flavor.

The little ones, the cornichons as I call them, they have a sharp, little flavor that I wasn't expecting, which I kind of like.

-Okay.

-I'd put these on a cheese board.

And so with a cheese board, I think that would be lovely.

A and B are my favorite.

B is a pronounced garlic flavor that I love.

It has a lot going on in the flavor, and I dig that.

This is like your average, American, barbecue-style pickle, and I love everything about it.

I love the color.

It's a little fluorescent.

I love the crunch.

It tastes like a pickle.

-Alright.

And if you're going to pick a favorite?

-Mmm.

-Right.

You're going to go with B.

-Mm-hmm.

-First of all, I would eat all of these very happily.

And I'm going to.

This one just tastes a little less lively than the other ones.

-Okay.

-I think it's because the exterior, it's not that it's squeaky, but it just feels a little softer.

-Okay.

-But I'd still eat it.

This one is brash and bright, effervescent, almost too powerful, almost too puckery.

-Okay.

-I'm going to disagree with you.

This is, I think, my favorite one.

-Really?

-Because it's just really fresh.

So, I'm not getting a whole bunch of spices, but I'm getting just, like, fresh pickle.

-There's a flavor in there I can't identify.

Wine is what comes -- -Mm-hmm.

-Vermouth, maybe, that I don't like in a pickle.

-And these?

Boy, they are sour.

[ Both laugh ] They're good.

The best part of these is they hit you twice going down the throat.

[ Both laugh ] -Oh.

-Maybe it's a good thing they're so small.

-Oh!

I'd say there's more flavor in that than the three of these combined.

-Yeah, true.

True.

-But I don't think I could eat too many of them.

-Alright.

So, C for you.

-I think so.

-B for you.

So, let's start with A, which is the Mt.

Olive.

This was our runner-up.

-Mm.

-This is a little teeny bit softer.

This is a shelf-stable one.

-Okay.

-But we thought it was delicious and our favorite of the shelf stable.

If you want to not crowd your refrigerator with a pickle jar, go ahead and keep that in the pantry.

-Why not?

-B is the lacto-fermented.

-Ah.

-And it's a lot of pickle.

-It's a lot of pickle.

-It has a lot of spices, which I think you were picking up on, that there's more than just garlic and dill.

Our tasters really wanted garlic and dill and felt like there were too many other flavors.

But you loved the fact that it was more complicated.

-Yeah.

-You're just a complicated person.

You chose the winner from Boar's Head.

-Hey!

-So this is a refrigerated pickle.

It's just basically cucumber, garlic, and dill.

It's crisp.

It's fresh.

And then D is from McClure's.

Now, we all thought these are really sour.

There's a lot of vinegar in those pickles.

Even though they're little, they pack a punch.

I mean, you -- -[ Hoarsely ] Yes.

They were.

-And they just were too tart, too sour.

I mean, I like a sour pickle, but that's a sour pickle.

Bridget did pick the winner... -There you go.

-which comes from Boar's Head.

Nicely done.

♪♪ -Today we're talking flatware, and I'm excited to see what Adam has to say, because it's not just about style.

-Oh, it's about so much more than style.

I was shocked, the kind of strong opinions that people have about flatware.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's too bulky.

It's too dainty.

It's too long.

It's too short.

It's too heavy.

It's too light.

We wanted to get to the bottom of it, so we tested nine different sets here.

-Okay.

-A set comprises place settings usually of five pieces.

There can be anywhere between 4 to 12 place settings.

There can be serving pieces or not.

So to try and even the playing field in terms of price, we figured it per utensil, and that range was $9 at a high to 95 cents at a low.

-Ooh, I like the low.

-You know, we had a whole squad of testers use these in real-world conditions both here and in their home kitchens.

Our squad included a couple of lefties, and they tried food with a variety of textures.

With the spoons, that meant ice cream that was frozen pretty hard... -Ooh.

-...and lentil soup.

-Good tests.

-We also, of course, cleaned them up.

Then we did some abuse testing, and testers made some judgments about the aesthetic quality of them.

You know, aesthetics is always open for debate.

-Right.

-But comfort is not open for debate.

Pick up that spoon and see what you think.

-Okay.

Ooh, that's lovely.

I mean, it really does just balance in your hand without much effort at all.

-It sort of falls naturally where it should.

-Yeah.

-And now why don't you try one that's not as well balanced around down at the end.

-[ Laughs ] I couldn't even lift it off the table evenly.

I'd spill soup on myself with this.

-So, a nice, gentle curvature to the handle made a difference.

Why don't you pick up that fork and -- -Ooh.

That's nice.

-Yeah.

-It just naturally fits in my hand.

It feels like an extension of my -- of my fingers.

-And it's a lot more comfortable than something that's just long and straight.

-Yeah.

-Another issue was whether the edges were rounded or smooth.

Like if you're really digging into some hard ice cream or something... -Mm-hmm.

-...if you have a nice, smooth, rounded edge, that's comfy, right?

-Yep.

-Why don't you pick up that spoon?

-Ooh.

-And imagine really gripping that and digging into some hard ice cream or something.

-Yeah.

It's really digging into my skin.

-Yeah, that's a sharp edge, and it's a little less comfortable.

Why not go for a more comfortable, rounded edge?

-It's a lot less comfortable.

-Yeah.

There were not huge differences among the forks, but the knives did present some differences.

Why don't you cut a piece of steak with that one at the very end and see what you think.

-Okay.

-You know, if you eat a lot of red meat at your house, it's worth having a set of good steak knives.

-Just rubbing it back and forth is not doing anything.

I have to put a little bit of muscle into it.

And it's really ragged.

Like, that's not -- -Yeah, you can get through it.

-Yeah.

-But why don't you try the other knife?

-Alright.

Fresh piece of meat here.

Oh, hello.

-Way easier, right?

-Yes!

-And the difference is micro-serrations.

The better knife has little, tiny serrations towards the tip.

The other one is just smooth.

Testers definitely preferred the serrated ones.

There are two sets of winners.

This is the Our Table Cecil Satin 45-Piece Flatware Set.

This is the overall winner.

Testers loved this.

It's 45 pieces, so it was eight place settings of five pieces each... -Mm-hmm.

-...plus five serving pieces.

So, it was an average of $4.44 per utensil and 200 bucks for the whole set.

-Mm.

-Really well proportioned, really handsome, really comfortable.

-Yeah.

-Terrific flatware.

-It feels like an extension of your hand, like a good piece of silverware should.

-Right.

There was also a runner-up for a little bit less money.

This is the best buy.

This is the Oneida Voss 45-Piece Set.

Same deal -- eight place settings of five pieces each with five serving pieces.

The whole set was $125, and the per-utensil cost was $2.78 for that.

-This also feels pretty good.

-Yeah!

-Very interesting.

Thanks, Adam.

-Not just style, right?

-So there you have it.

If you're in the market for some new flatware, check out our winner, the Our Table Cecil Satin 45-Piece Flatware Set at $200 or for the best buy, the Oneida Voss 45-Piece Flatware Set at $125.

♪♪ -I have serious breakfast envy.

Now, while I'm standing over a bowl of cold corn flakes, the Sicilians have it all figured out.

There in the morning, they're having a sweet little bun alongside a ball of freshly made granita.

Now, sometimes it's coffee flavored or nut flavored or fruit flavored, and it all gets washed down with a hot espresso, perfect for a summer day and perfect for me.

Elle is here, and she's going to show us how to make this great dessert.

-That's right.

We're going to make berry granita.

It takes very little effort, not many ingredients, and no special equipment.

-We're the special equipment.

-We brought our special equipment.

Alright, so we're going to start with 1 pound of raspberries and blackberries here... -Okay.

-...in the blender.

And the thing that sets granita apart from its cute cousin, sorbet, is the sugar content.

-Right.

-We found that 1/2 cup of sugar is actually the sweet spot.

Too much sugar would not allow it to freeze.

I have a little pinch of salt here and 3/4 cup of water and finally, 1/4 cup of lemon juice to really make these berries pop.

-Mmm, bright and sassy?

-That's how I like my berries.

-[ Chuckles ] -Everything's in there.

So we're just going to blend this on high for 1 to 2 minutes.

-Okay.

-Alright.

That's been about 2 minutes.

It's looking pretty pureed there.

-It's looking gorgeous.

-Okay, so I'm going to strain this into our 13x9 glass dish.

And this is just to get out any seeds and skins.

-Yes.

-Right?

We want smooth.

Alright.

So, we're using glass because we're going to do a lot of scraping of this granita as it's freezing, and we don't want to scrape the aluminum, right?

-Right.

-The other reason is that the glass creates an insulation between itself and the counter so the granita does not melt quickly while we're trying to serve it.

-Very smart.

-Yeah.

We're all set here.

We're going to put this granita in the freezer for an hour.

-Okay.

-Okay, Bridget, this is what our granita looks like after one hour in the freezer.

You'll notice that the edges are frozen, but the middle is a little slushy.

-A little slushy.

-Yes.

It's going to require a bit of stirring, and we're going to just bring these frozen edges to the center.

I like to break all the edges up first.

-This is super important for granita to get that right texture.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

You want to catch it before it solidifies into a giant block?

-Yes.

I like how that's looking so far.

Alright, so I'm going to do this same process every 30 minutes to an hour for 2 to 3 hours.

-Okay.

-Okay?

Back in the freezer.

So, Bridget, it's been 3 hours, and look at our granita.

-It's a big difference.

-It is a big difference.

The color is beautiful.

We still have to scrape it with the fork to loosen it up a little bit.

But it's so tender and soft.

I can't believe this is how people are eating breakfast around the world.

-What a great way.

-I know.

What a way.

-I mean, we've got Tang, and that's what they're doing?

-Just as a reminder, you can make granitas with any berries that you want.

It's customizable.

You can also add, like, lemon or ginger or prosecco.

-Yes.

-So, this is all scraped.

I'm going to serve us up some granite.

-That is beautiful.

-It's so light and fluffy.

Great texture.

Ready to celebrate?

-Yes.

[ Cork pops ] -Ah, there we go.

A little splash for you and a splash for me.

Cheers.

-What an elegant dessert.

Absolutely, cheers.

-Yeah.

-Those ice crystals, a little bit crunchy.

-Yes.

-A little bit chewy.

-Yeah.

-Very slushy.

-Yeah, very slushy.

And that lemon juice really did make these berries pop.

It's amazing.

-This is gorgeous.

-Well, thank you.

-I'm reconsidering my corn flakes big time right now.

So, if you want to make this absolutely beautiful berry granita, process 1 pound of berries with just 1/2 cup of sugar, use a glass pan to freeze the mixture, and use a fork to stir ice crystals right back into the center.

So, from "America's Test Kitchen," the effervescent, the bracing, the super fresh berry granita.

You can get this great recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with select episodes and product reviews.

Those are all on our website.

That's americastestkitchen.com/tv.

-Okay.

-I shall slash another scoopful.

Visit our website, where you can sign up for our free e-mail newsletter for even more of the recipes and stories you love from all of our cast and cooks.

AmericasTestKitchen.com/TV.

From the cooks and editors of "America's Test Kitchen," Cook's Illustrated Magazine has been all about the why and how of cooking for over 30 years.

Get a year of award-winning reporting, science-based discoveries, trusted reviews, and more.

The cost is $19.95.

That's 63% less than the cover price.

To subscribe, scan the QR code on your screen, or visit CooksIllustrated.com/ TVsubscribe.

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

Plugrà European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers.

Slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugrà -- from professional kitchens to your home.

Sailing with American Queen Voyages brings you to mighty rivers and unique expeditions, where passionate explorers can discover the continent of North America.

You can learn more about our voyages at AQVoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.

Sur la Table, where you can discover an assortment of provisions for your next meal or gathering, from cookware and tools from a wide variety of kitchen brands to hands-on cooking classes.

Visit us at surlatable.com.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪