Which is better, Gourmet magazine or Bon Appetit magazine?

I’m gonna have to go with either Cook’s Country or Cook’s Illustrated instead of any of those.

But I really like that they explain how they went about perfecting a recipe, and try to not have difficult recipes, as opposed to fancy-schmancy stuff. Also, a recipe tried from either of those is pretty much guaranteed to turn out, if you follow the directions and don’t change ingredients/steps. (They also review kitchen gadgets and packaged food, which is really helpful.)

I’ve looked through both Gourmet and Bon Appetit, and don’t remember a significant difference between the two. (You could try looking at their websites to see if one or the other has features you like/don’t like.)

Anther cooking magazine to consider: Cooking Light, which has lots of delicious recipes that are lower in fat/calories higher in fiber/whole grains than traditional magazines.

Sunset and Real Simple also have great recipes, but neither is a ‘cooking’ magazine.

Taste of Home is highly recommended if you don’t mind lots of butter/margarine/shortening/oil.

So I guess…it depends on what you’re looking for from your food magazine.

Gourmet would be last on my list. It has changed so much since Ruth Reichel took the helm. It used to be all about the food.

Now it’s basically more of a travel magazine which talks about food.

If you are looking for a travel magazine and have the bucks to go to the restaurants they feature in far flung countries, then this is the magazine for you. If not, I would be looking elsewhere. It’s not that I don’t like travel. I just don’t have the money for very much of it so a lot of what appears in the mag. is of little practical value for me.

About a year ago I really lucked out on craigslis. Someone was moving and wanting to give away a collection of about 15 years or so of Gourmet mag from the early years. What a difference between then and now.

If I were going to subscribe to anything it would be Cooks Illustrated. If you catch them on PBS many times they are doing a combo offer of a year subscription with the DVD of that years tv progs. Thrown in as a bonus.

Unless you are regularly traveling the world, you will get much more info you can actually use from the latter than the former.

Reichl is a neighbor of mine, and she is generally a pill.

I third Cooks Illustrated.

Cooks Illustrated unless you subscribe to them online. I find their online subscription more useful for cooking purposes. Also, I wouldn’t go the CI route if you’ve ever gone it before—they are doing so many repeats these days.

Bon Appetit is a great mix between stories about food, places to eat, and recipes. I find it to be a very enjoyable magazine. Far superior to Gourmet and Saveur.

Cook’s Illustrated brings a very scientific approach to food. BA brings a very romantic approach. Ultimately, I find the recipes from both to be fantastic. CI recipes can often be long and involved (in pursuit of the best) whereas BA always has at least one good, fast recipe.

Shocked at being moderated for something that was on point!

@Gail

I’ve never met her but have seen her occasional brief appearances on various shows and she does give off that “princess” type of vibe.

Not someone I would ever picture myself hanging out with. I’ll bet that most restaurant owners heaved a huge sigh of relief when she left her position as a food critic and moved on.

I prefer Food and Wine.

@Buttonstc: Unfortunately she moved here (her second home, of course).

I’d concur that Bon Appetit and Gourmet are nearly identical magazines, (we’ve gotten both since the eighties… they didn’t used to be so similar) however I do love cooking magazines so I continue to get both. If I’d have to choose between the two, I’d get Bon Appetite.

I don’t know if you still care, but I found this offer and thought you might be interested.

https://magazine.gourmet.com/ecom/subscribe.jsp?oppId=1600098&tgt=/atg/registry/RepositoryTargeters/GMT/GMT_popUp_exit&placementId=1600194&logOppId=true

You can get both Gourmet and Bon Appetit together in the same subscription. (1 year is $24—12 issues of each.)