He is notable as one of the founders of America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country and as the creator of Christopher Kimball's Milk Street.

In 1980, after securing $100,000 in angel investments from friends and family, he started Cook’s Magazine out of an office in Weston, Connecticut.

On November 16, 2015, a news release from Boston Common Press, parent company of Cooks Country/Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen, announced Kimball's departure.

The 2016 TV programs had already been filmed and Kimball appeared as host, but his direct participation in the company ended immediately.

[9] In the lawsuit, Boston Common Press claims Kimball built his new venture while still on their payroll, using company resources in the form of recipes and databases to help shape Milk Street Kitchen into a direct competitor.

On January 8, 2011, Kimball began hosting WGBH-FM's America's Test Kitchen Radio distributed by PRX.

[3][4][5] On June 30, 2013, Kimball married Melissa Lee Baldino, executive producer of the America's Test Kitchen television show.