J. Kenji López-Alt
Author of The Food Lab. Known for testing every variable until the technique gives up its reasoning.
Speaks to 7 threads
Cited in 33 places
- Chocolate Chip Cookies/ Commentary
“Browning the butter gives the cookies a more intensely nutty, butterscotch flavor.”
The Food Lab's Chocolate Chip Cookies — Serious Eats (2013) - Chocolate Chip Cookies/ Commentary
“Allowing the dough to rest, often overnight, significantly enhances the cookies' aroma and flavor by pre-breaking starches and proteins, leading to a superior baking outcome.”
The Food Lab's Chocolate Chip Cookies — Why It Works — Serious Eats (2013) - Chocolate Chip Cookies/ Argument
“Hand-chopped bar chocolate gives you fault lines, dust, and full-melt pools that engineered chips, designed to hold their shape, cannot deliver (Kenji, Serious Eats, 2013).”
Chips vs. Chunks — argued for "Chopped Bar" - Chocolate Chip Cookies/ Argument
“Browning produces nutty, caramelised milk solids that change the whole flavour curve of the finished cookie — Kenji's Serious Eats testing is the most thorough published case for it.”
Brown the Butter? — argued for "Brown It" - Risotto/ Counterpoint
“Kenji's Serious Eats testing concluded the constant stir is unnecessary: rinsing rice in the cooking liquid retains the starch, all the stock can be added at once, and a single late stir delivers a comparably creamy result with a fraction of the labour.”
Perfect (Almost) No-Stir Risotto — Serious Eats - Risotto/ Argument
“Tested side by side at Serious Eats, an unstirred (or stirred-only-once) risotto is essentially indistinguishable in texture if the heat is correct (Kenji, 2010s).”
Stir Constantly? — argued for "Don't Bother" - Scrambled Eggs/ Counterpoint
“High-heat, fast-stir diner-style scrambled eggs — large curds, slightly browned in places, done in about a minute — are a complete and beloved style, not a failure of the soft-French method. The choice is aesthetic, not technical.”
The Food Lab — Scrambled Eggs — Serious Eats - Scrambled Eggs/ Argument
“Kenji's Serious Eats position: high-heat scrambled eggs cooked in about a minute are a complete dish in their own right and need no apology.”
High vs. Low Heat — argued for "Fast and Hot" - Pan-Seared Steak/ Commentary
“Flipping your steak often during grilling or pan-searing will result in the best, most evenly cooked meat.”
Flip Your Steaks Multiple Times for Better Results — The Food Lab — Serious Eats (2013) - Pan-Seared Steak/ Commentary
“Seasoning the steak with kosher salt well in advance of cooking results in better tenderness and allows the salt to penetrate and flavor the meat thoroughly.”
Pan-Seared, Butter-Basted Thick-Cut Steak — Serious Eats - Pan-Seared Steak/ Counterpoint
“Kenji's reverse-sear recipe argues the cleanest cook of a thick steak starts in a 95–135 °C oven and finishes with a 60–90 second hard sear — the opposite of the classical pan-only method, and the technique he originally developed for Cook's Illustrated in 2006.”
Reverse-Seared Steak — Serious Eats - Pan-Seared Steak/ Argument
“Kenji's Food Lab testing: frequent flipping cooks the interior 30% faster, gives a more even pink, and produces a crust indistinguishable from the single-flip version.”
Sear Method — argued for "Flip Every 30s" - Pan-Seared Steak/ Argument
“Low oven, then hard sear (Kenji's Serious Eats method, originally developed for Cook's Illustrated, 2006/2017). Edge-to-edge medium-rare with a crust no traditional sear can match.”
Reverse Sear — argued for "Reverse Sear" - Roast Chicken/ Counterpoint
“Butterflying the chicken evens out cooking, so you can skip brining and basting while still getting juicy meat and crisp skin.”
Spatchcocked (Butterflied) Roast Chicken — Serious Eats - Roast Chicken/ Counterpoint
“Kenji's Food Lab position on cavity aromatics: a sprig of thyme or half a lemon shoved into the bird's cavity contributes very little to the flavour of the cooked meat. The aromatics mostly steam in place. If you want their flavour, put them under the skin or directly in the pan.”
The Food Lab — Roast Chicken — Serious Eats - Roast Chicken/ Argument
“Kenji's Serious Eats spatchcock recipe: even cook, crisp skin everywhere, about 45 minutes from oven to board. The ritual is overrated.”
Whole vs Spatchcocked — argued for "Spatchcock" - Roast Chicken/ Argument
“Kenji's testing: cavity aromatics mostly steam in place. For flavour, push them under the skin or scatter them in the pan.”
Cavity Aromatics — argued for "No — Put Them Outside" - Pizza Dough/ Commentary
“Doughs that are shaped and proofed after a slow, cold fermentation demonstrate noticeably better flavor and better structure.”
How Long Should I Let My Pizza Dough Cold Ferment? — The Pizza Lab — Serious Eats (2010) - Pizza Dough/ Commentary
“Three to five days of cold fermentation is your best bet for dramatically improving your dough's flavor, texture, and workability.”
How Long Should I Let My Pizza Dough Cold Ferment? — The Pizza Lab — Serious Eats (2010) - Pizza Dough/ Argument
“Per Kenji's 10-day Pizza Lab test, the sweet spot is 3–5 days of cold fermentation. Under 24 hours tastes one-dimensional.”
Ferment Length — argued for "Cold Proof" - Pizza Dough/ Argument
“Higher-protein bread flour gives the structure needed for a 260°C / 500°F home oven; 00 needs much hotter than that to perform (Kenji, Serious Eats).”
Flour Type — argued for "Bread Flour" - Bolognese/ Counterpoint
“Kenji's Serious Eats bolognese leans on a multi-meat mix (beef, lamb, pork, pancetta, chicken livers) and finishes with a small amount of cream and Parmesan to emulsify the sauce — and argues most of the flavour development is done within the first couple of hours, not the fourth.”
The Best Slow-Cooked Bolognese Sauce — Serious Eats (2015) - Bolognese/ Argument
“Kenji's Serious Eats recipe runs slow-roasted in the oven for around three hours but argues the meaningful gains plateau early; pressure-cooker bolognese (Serious Eats, 2015) approximates it in a quarter the time.”
Long Simmer vs. Pressure — argued for "Diminishing Returns" - Hummus/ Commentary
“Blending the chickpeas while they're still hot allows you to use a blender instead of a food processor for an extra-smooth texture.”
The Food Lab's Science of Great Hummus — Serious Eats (2016) - Hummus/ Commentary
“Dried chickpeas deliver better flavor than canned.”
The Food Lab's Science of Great Hummus — Serious Eats (2016) - Hummus/ Counterpoint
“Kenji's Serious Eats fallback for canned chickpeas: rinse thoroughly, simmer for around an hour in fresh water with aromatics and baking soda. Not as good as cooked-from-dried, but close enough that the rule is closer to a preference than a prohibition.”
The Food Lab's Science of Great Hummus — Serious Eats (2016) - Hummus/ Argument
“Kenji's Serious Eats testing: canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and re-simmered with baking soda, are 90% of the way there. The dried-only rule is closer to dogma than science.”
Dried vs Canned — argued for "Canned Is Fine" - Hummus/ Argument
“Kenji's solution: overcook the chickpeas with baking soda until they're falling apart, then blend them hot. The skins disintegrate; the texture matches a peeled batch (Serious Eats, 2016).”
Skin On or Off — argued for "Blend Hot" - Fried Rice/ Commentary
“Drying rice adequately before stir-frying, whether it's freshly cooked or day-old, ensures each grain fries properly without clumping, enhancing both flavor and texture.”
Easy Fried Rice — Serious Eats - Fried Rice/ Counterpoint
“Kenji's published shortcut for the impatient: if you must use freshly cooked rice, spread it on a sheet tray and chill it uncovered in the fridge for 20–30 minutes. The grains lose enough surface moisture to fry rather than steam.”
Easy Fried Rice — Serious Eats - Fried Rice/ Counterpoint
“Serious Eats' Tim Chin documents a workable home substitute: pass a butane or propane torch over the food in the wok for the final 20–30 seconds. The flare-ups produce the smoky note real wok hei depends on — not identical, but a measurable step closer than burner-only.”
Torch Hei Is the Best Way to Get Wok Hei at Home — Serious Eats (2020) - Fried Rice/ Argument
“Fresh rice spread on a tray and chilled briefly gets you most of the way there with no planning (Kenji, Serious Eats).”
Rice Age — argued for "Fresh, Dried" - Fried Rice/ Argument
“A wide cast-iron or carbon-steel skillet on a home burner gives more surface contact than a wok the burner cannot heat (Kenji, Serious Eats).”
The Pan — argued for "Skillet"