America's test kitchen is just a shortened version of older (around a year's behind) of Cook's Illustrated items. I subscribe to and enjoy Cooks Illustrated. It is important to understand who their target audience is and how the writer's chosen methodology determines what is the "best" recipe for the dish.

That being said, I've found baking to be the most difficult and precise of the cooking disciplines and can see how something different from a non-calibrated oven to the use of kosher vs table salt can drastically alter the outcome.