You might be preparing to watch the newest season of “The Crown” on Netflix or catching up on one of your favorite shows on Hulu, but we’re going to let you in on a little secret, dear reader.
The best thing to stream next time you need something to watch is actually on YouTube, and we’re talking about videos on Bon Appetit magazine’s YouTube channel.
Recommended Videos
It may sound strange at first, but once you dive into the wonderful world of the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen and all of the chefs who work there, you will be hitting refresh on the page, waiting for a new video to pop up.
Bon Appetit has a lot of videos, so it may be a little overwhelming when you first take a glance at the channel.
Of course there are recipe demonstration videos, but the true magic of Bon Appetit’s videos happen when the chefs in the Test Kitchen host their own series, like Claire Saffitz’s wildly popular series, “Gourmet Makes.”
Saffitz is a chef in the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen and has been doing her show for more than two years now, and she has become one of the most beloved figures on the internet.
Each episode, Saffitz is challenged to make a gourmet version of a popular snack food through trial and error.
She’s tackled Doritos, Snickers, Hot Pockets and everything in between. The premise of the show is very simple, but Saffitz doesn’t have much guidance when she starts a new challenge.
But she does have some tips from the internet and the support from her coworkers, which truly makes “Gourmet Makes” so special and entertaining.
Since the Test Kitchen is a communal space, Saffitz’s coworkers are constantly popping in and out during episodes of “Gourmet Makes,” always willing to try and sample Saffitz’s latest batch of homemade Twinkies or Pop Tarts.
Some, like Chris Morocco, give Saffitz exactly the advice she needs, while others, like Test Kitchen prankster Brad Leone, are mostly there to give Saffitz a hard time while also trying to offer some constructive criticism.
The early episodes of “Gourmet Makes” were about 15 minutes long, but as the internet has become more invested in Saffitz and her quirky coworkers, episodes are now 40 minutes -- and have evolved into a non-scripted workplace comedy TV show, with videos raking up millions of views.
People in the comments often compare the show to watching a real-life version of “The Office,” since the chefs often break the fourth wall and talk to the camera.
It’s not just “Gourmet Makes” that leads to the YouTube channel’s wild success.
Other chefs at Bon Appetit -- Morocco, Molly Baz, Brad Leone and Carla Lalli Music -- have series, as well. These truly fit their unique personalities. Morocco blind taste-tests classic dishes and then recreates the dish only going off taste, and Music does back-to-back cooking with random celebrities. Natalie Portman even did an episode.
And of course, there are tons of recipe videos that are beyond helpful.
Want to learn how to cook? The Bon Appetit chefs take you through a recipe and give super helpful tips that you never could get just by reading the recipe from a book or online.
Learn how to make a show-stopping cheesecake or a crowd-pleasing shrimp scampi. They make it easy.
There are so many videos, but watch an episode of “Gourmet Makes” and we think you’ll get why the chefs at Bon Appetit have become this year’s biggest internet stars.