Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio

This week, we take a look at the hazards lurking in our kitchens. Food safety experts Ben Chapman and Don Schaffner give their best tips for avoiding foodborne illnesses, including their protocol for cooking raw meat, the diseases hiding in your salt, how to actually clean a sponge, and the foods they refuse to order from restaurants. Plus, we take a burger road trip with George Motz; Genevieve Taylor returns to the phone lines to take your grilling calls; and Kim Severson reflects on 250 years of American cooking.

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For this week's bonus, we have an all-calls special! We look back on the ingredients that have stumped you most—rooster, alligator, squid ink, even sparrows.

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Adam Gopnik takes us on a tour of great food writing from the New Yorker in celebration of the magazine's centennial. We hear A.J. Liebling’s tip for finding a good restaurant in Paris, M.F.K. Fisher’s fantasy about potato chips and Calvin Trillin’s obsession over constructing the perfect bagel. Plus, Matt Goulding shares why paella is a hotbed of controversy; we explain why a cold oven is the secret to the best creme brûlée; and Christopher Kimball and Sara Moulton answer your questions and share their favorite things to do with tomatoes.

Get this week’s recipe for Cold-Oven Crème Brûlee here.

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In this special episode, we’re sharing an extended cut of our interview with Kerry Howley about the surprising history of L.A.’s favorite food store, Erewhon.

Andrea Hernández, founder of Snaxshot, is back to share her 2026 grocery store predictions—complete with holy water and sour pineapple sperm worms. Plus, reporter Kerry Howley reveals the surprising history of Erewhon, L.A.’s favorite food store; A Way With Words gets metaphorical about food and our bodies; and Stella Parks returns to answer your baking questions.

Listen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify