YouTube Cooking Channels: Joshua Weissman, Binging with Babish, and More!–YouTube Channel Review
by Georgia I. Salvaryn
I have enjoyed watching cooking videos for a while now — from Buzzfeed Tasty to clips of Gordon Ramsay’s fun tutorials. Finding new recipes to try and inspiration to push myself to be a better baker and cook, I have always found YouTube cooking channels helpful in achieving my goals.
During the pandemic, my family and I tried cooking new meals to mix things up for dinner. From Hawaiian style slow-cooked ribs to chicken enchiladas, we found so many amazing and delicious recipes.
In the midst of researching new dishes, I came across a few cooking channels on YouTube that inspired me to experiment. And although I didn’t use recipes from these channels (yet), I do enjoy watching every second of these videos.
“Give It Some Whisk-y Business”: Joshua Weissman
One of the most entertaining cooking channels I’ve come across is Joshua Weissman. His content, commentary, and recipes make his channel inspiring and satisfying to watch.
His YouTube playlists display his cooking range and recipes that are easy to follow. From desserts to international dishes, Weissman takes his weekly videos to new heights.
Since joining YouTube in February 2014, Weissman has churned out over 300 videos, creating engaging content for all cooks alike. His channel is user-friendly, and his quirky commentary always makes me chuckle.
My favorite playlist on his channel is the “But Better” playlist where he takes dishes from fast food restaurants and makes them from scratch. A perfect example is from his very recent video Making IKEA Swedish Meatballs at Home where he makes IKEA’s Swedish meatballs . . . but better. I always find these videos mouth-watering, and the result is impressive.
Weissman’s soon-to-be-published cookbook, Joshua Weissman: An Unapologetic Cookbook, is available for pre-orders on Amazon. If you like his channel, I’m sure his book is just as inspirational and motivational.
“Welcome Back to Binging with Babish”
Another one of my favorite cooking channels is — you guessed it — Binging with Babish. Similar to Joshua Weissman’s channel, Babish produces mouth-watering content with entertaining commentary and recipes that will inspire you.
Babish (aka Andrew Rea) is one of the most talented and classy YouTubers I’ve ever experienced. His voice is soothing, and his kitchen’s aesthetic is stylish.
Binging with Babish has over 420 videos and over nine million subscribers since the start of his channel in August 2006. Babish has a plethora of playlists, demonstrating his wide cooking range and providing his viewers with amazing recipes for all to enjoy.
My favorite playlist is the “TV” playlist where he takes recipes from television shows and recreates them from scratch. A great example is from one of his more recent videos Pork Picnic from Regular Show where he recreates the pork picnic sandwich — baked beans, cole slaw, and three types of barbecue pulled pork. I am always impressed by how these dishes look in real life.
Babish also has a cookbook, Binging with Babish: 100 Recipes Recreated from Your Favorite Movies and TV Shows, and has a website, bingingwithbabish.com, where you can find links to his more recent videos, his recipes, and more!
ASMR in the Kitchen
Alvin Zhou is a BuzzFeed Tasty YouTuber who recently created his own channel. His YouTube channel is a bit newer than the other ones I’ve mentioned but deserves to be included.
Zhou’s channel only has nine videos and just over one million subscribers. I find his content to be soothing and his recipes pleasantly sweet.
His videos have no audio commentary but have written commentary on screen, music in the background, and the sounds made by the ingredients and instruments in his kitchen.
I find the natural sounds a delightful form of autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). And because there is no commentary in his videos, Zhou provides viewers with the recipe and measurements in the description box.
My favorite recipe — which I am dying to try — is his 100-hour fudgy brownies. One cannot expect to be in the kitchen baking for 100 hours but can look forward to extremely gooey, chocolatey brownies made from scratch.
Cooking Tree is another YouTube channel that uses ASMR. This Korean baking channel provides viewers with recipes written in Korean and English and uses on-screen instructions throughout their videos.
A recipe I would like to try is the no-bake & no-gelatin chocolate mousse cake. The sounds in the video are pleasing, as well as the recipe itself.
I recommend watching these channels and their videos with headphones. The ASMR effect works better.
