In test kitchen, Jack Bishop keeps home cooks uppermost in mind

Jack Bishop is a curious and detailed cook, but he’ll be the first to admit he’s not a professional chef. In fact, he uses that to his advantage in his role at America’s Test Kitchen, where he regularly asks, “But would a home cook be able to do that?”

Bishop, the chief creative officer at America’s Test Kitchen, has been with the company since 1992.

Along with the magazines, television programming and online content, the company has published nearly 100 cookbooks over the past decade. This year alone, they’ll be releasing 13 new titles.

The latest, “Cook’s Science: How to Unlock Flavor in 50 of Your Favorite Ingredients” (Cook’s Illustrated, $40) is the first in a new series from America’s Test Kitchen (cooksscience.com). It features more than 300 recipes aimed at curious cooks who want to know the whys and hows of cooking, with detailed explanations that go straight to the science behind kitchen success.

Bishop and his wife, author Lauren Chattman, have two children. Bishop will be at Boswell Book Co., 2559 N. Downer Ave., at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20 for a free event. He will be joined by America’s Test Kitchen team members Bridget Lancaster and Julia Davison for cooking demonstrations at Kohler Food & Wine Experience on Oct. 21 and 22; those events are sold out.

Q. How did you get started in the culinary field?

A. Most of the people I work with at America’s Test Kitchen have culinary training at the well-known cooking schools as well as at restaurants. I have neither. I have a degree in English and came to this from the publishing angle, writing and editing. It is cliche, but it is true: it is much easier to write about what you love.

I got a job at the original Cook’s magazine, the earlier iteration of Cook’s Illustrated. I’d been a passionate cook back when my mother went back to work and I made dinner every night. I just loved it, and never thought about a career in food until working at the magazine…

Everything I have learned about cooking I have learned from my grandmother, my mother or cooking someone else’s recipe. I am self-taught. I view that as an advantage at the magazine, because I’m the one who pipes up and asks is this realistic? Can people really do this at home? My knife skills are decent, but nothing like a professional’s.

A lot of people see me on television and think oh, he did all that. No. We now have more than 50 people in the test kitchen, and I’ve learned from all of those people. They make me look smart.

Q. You’ve written a few of your own cookbooks, with some focus on vegetarian cooking. Are you vegetarian?

A. I’ve gone back and forth. At the moment we’re pretty much vegetarian because my youngest, who is 17, has been pretty much vegetarian for the past two years, and our carnivore is at college. I’m mostly vegetarian at this point. I eat everything, I just happen to like vegetables the best.

Q. How many cookbooks have you written on your own, and how many with America’s Test Kitchen?

A. I did five books on my own in the ’90s, and then when we started doing a book division at America’s Test Kitchen, the job got so demanding I didn’t have time. My wife is still very sad about this, as I did all the cooking in the ’90s. She’s done most of the cooking since and she believes it is my turn.

Q. Tell us about this new book, “Cook’s Science.” Is this for the home cook or the professional?

A. Everything we always do is for the home cook. I think this is for a particular type of home cook who really wants to understand the why before they do anything in the kitchen.

Q. What’s a good starter recipe?

A. A favorite recipe, one I actually think is a good place to begin, is the perfect poached chicken breast. Most people cook an awful lot of chicken. I love this recipe because it teaches you about temperature, moist heat vs. dry heat. Most of the ways we cook chicken are dry heat, and they’re not very forgiving or flavor-building.

Q. How have you approached the transition after founder Christopher Kimball’s departure?

A. You’re going to see Bridget and Julia take over the reins on air. They’ve already filmed those episodes for January and the television show. It’s change, but on the other hand, they’ve both been on the show since 2001.

Everyone is staying true to our mission, which is to create content our fans will find useful. On a personal level, I’ve known Chris for nearly 30 years. I wish him well, as does everyone at America’s Test Kitchen.

Q. What’s the most important thing to remember when making a new recipe?

A. People always ask me why are the recipes so long? Ultimately, we put a lot of details in. You need to follow the directions, but they are interactive. A lot of people who are learning to cook forget that. This is not a self-driving car.

Q. What’s your favorite tip learned over the years?

A. Own your success and learn from your failures, but be proud of your cooking. Nothing  makes me cringe more than when I go to somebody’s house and they’re criticizing their own cooking.

Q. You’re known for taste tests and testing products; how did that come about?

A. The goal of the company is to make the best recipe. We realized you can write a recipe very well, but if you’re using canned tomatoes in juice vs. canned tomatoes in puree, they behave very differently. We needed to address this. We talk to a lot of food scientists, people on the academic side, statisticians, to understand the results. I wanted to come up with a way to objectify something that is subjective.

Q. What’s the one thing you can’t live without in your kitchen?

A. I love my tongs. Please, please don’t take away my tongs.

If I can only take one pan to that desert island, I bring the Dutch oven. I can make a stew, a braise, a pot of soup, bake bread. I love them.

Q. What’s on the agenda for your visit to Milwaukee and Kohler?

A. I love, love, love coming to Wisconsin. I’ve got an event at Boswell Books for “Cook’s Science,” then we’re going up to Kohler and we’ve got classes. I love Kohler: the people, the town. I even have a place I love to run when I’m there. I’ve been there at least six times. Kohler in October, that’s about perfect.

Recipe: Perfect Poached Chicken