Take a Tour of the Food Network Kitchen

If you want to see this magazine in the making, you can do it right from the sidewalk on East 19th Street in New York City: Food Network's test kitchen, on the ground floor, has floor-to-ceiling windows, so anyone passing by can see our recipes in the works. On any given day it's a flurry of activity, with food processors whirring, sauces simmering and teams of recipe developers creating and testing their latest dishes. The magazine's culinary team, led by test kitchen director Steve Jackson, produces more than 50 recipes for every issue, while other chefs crank out content for foodnetwork.com, shows and social media. The space is also home to several studios, so star chefs drop by on the regular. Take a look around...

Every recipe for the magazine is tested multiple times, by multiple people. One chef creates the dish and another will "cross-test" it, meaning they prepare the recipe as it's written to see if there are any issues. Do the instructions make sense? Is the seasoning OK? Does the recipe require too many pans? Will it photograph well? The answers help inform the next round of testing.

Test kitchen chefs plate their dishes like a home cook would, with simple bowls and garnishes. Then they gather around for a tasting. This can mean eating pasta at 10 a.m. or having Thanksgiving turkey in August!

Chefs find inspiration at the on-site library, home to thousands of cookbooks. The collection includes books on global cuisines, a vintage section, books by Food Network stars and shelves devoted to specific sweets, like doughnuts and ice cream.

Recipe developers need to grill year-round, rain or shine (or snow!), but doing that outside would be impossible in downtown Manhattan. Here, Young Sun Huh cooks veggies on a special indoor grill. All the grilled recipes in the August/September 2024 issue were tested here!

The kitchen can accommodate more than a dozen chefs at one time. Every station is equipped with a double oven, sink, speed rack (rolling carts that hold sheet trays), compost bin and other essentials. Above, executive chef Ginevra Iverson (left) and recipe developer Martha Tinkler prep for an event.

This walk-in fridge (affectionately known as Christopher Walk-In) is stocked with all the ingredients for upcoming recipes, plus at least 10 dozen eggs. Here, Steve grabs lemons for his next test.

When developing a dish, chefs generally type up a recipe before they start cooking, then take notes as they cook. You can find this curried chicken-chickpea dinner in the October/November 2024 issue!

One floor above the main test kitchen is an expansive prop room where you could get lost in a labyrinth of pots and plates. The shelves are packed with everything chefs and producers could ever need, including a holiday corner with faux Christmas trees.

It's a cook's dream here: There's an entire wall devoted to stainless cookware in every shape and size, plus a massive cast-iron collection, a shelf of copper pots and an unparalleled collection of Pyrex.

The prop room has a section of stand mixers in fun colors, plus all the attachments: pasta maker, sausage stuffer, even an ice shaver.

When prop stylists are looking for something specific, like a lavender Dutch oven or a mint green cake stand, they can find it easily. The shelves are organized by color on one side; white props live on the other side. We need white props more than anything else. They're best for showing off the food!

The test kitchen doubles as a studio, with an intricate system of lights hanging overhead. Food Network stars often share the space with the magazine team, shooting footage for digital series and social media, or performing demos for a live audience.

Chef Esther Choi, cohost of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing, makes her grandmother's recipe for mandu (Korean dumplings), while Food Network's social media team captrues video for Facebook and TikTok. The dough for the wrappers has to rest for about two hours, so the culinary crew prepared a batch ahead of time that Esther can swap in.