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Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

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Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#351

Post by lkjdsklf »

kasey_junk wrote: post #287
lkjdsklf wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny part is steak is one of the easiest foods to cook without a thermometer You don’t have to worry about undercooking like you do with most other meats and most steak cuts will be delicious anywhere from 11-130 (if you cook a filet to 130, it won’t be the best but it’ll still be good) and some can go even higher It’s not like poultry where the range where it’s “good” is very small. A 170 chicken breast is almo…

I agree with your broader point but the chicken food safety thing is missing a ton of important nuance. The safety comes from how long you hold the meat at the temp. 165 is the safe point if you are only holding for 10s. 145 is safe if you hold it for 10 minutes. This is why sous vide is such a popular way to cook chicken. You can hold a breast at 145 for hours trivially.

Sure. But then you need a thermometer.

Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#352

Post by chongli »

sethammons wrote: post #303
konart wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No offence, but for some reason some people just can't accept a simple fact: for some people this difference is still not a difference. I've tried good coffee. At least that's what people told ne on multiple accasions where I was taken to "the right places" in multiple countries. On two sides of the globe (Brazil and Vietnam if we are talking about producers, not to mention countries that import the beans). Thing is:…

All coffee tastes like cigarette ash to me. Similarly, I have been to places that people rave about. My buddy used to run a coffee shop. "Your beans were overcooked"; no, not it. There is something innate to espresso or something. Smells amazing. Tastes like ash.

Good espresso is really difficult to make, with the lighter the roast, the harder it is to get right. Most coffee shops can get good quality beans that smell amazing but without a well-practiced barista the shots will be excessively sour or bitter.

Dialling in espresso isn’t simply a matter of finding the right grind setting on the grinder and locking it in. One coffee may pour a perfect 9 bar espresso and then a different coffee might gush like a shower head and spray sour, weak coffee all over the place, while a third coffee could jam up like squeezing water out of a stone, with barely a drop of extremely bitter liquid falling in the cup, all on the same grind setting!

In other words, every batch of coffee beans needs to be dialled in separately, and there can also be a lot more adjustments needed than simply the grind (water temperature and brew ratio are big factors as well). An expert will know how to adjust at least those 3 variables (grind, temperature, ratio) all in concert to get the most out of a particular coffee. On top of all that, the true master can make use of grinder type (burr design) pressure, flow, and even temperature profiling to fully customize a shot, but that’s going far into the weeds.

Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#353

Post by reenorap »

mulanroo wrote: post #344

I've never cooked a steak. Not once. It feels like one of those foods where getting it wrong means you've just ruined an expensive piece of meat, so I've always let a restaurant take the risk. This post makes me think I've probably been overthinking it.

Watch Alton Brown’s Good Eats on cooking steak. It takes less that 10 mins cooking time and it’s easy. That gets you 80% of the way there and then the rest is fiddling around for personal taste.

Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#354

Post by StilesCrisis »

user43928 wrote: post #230
hombre_fatal wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Long ago I added an instruction to my global AGENTS.md that every time the agent asks me something, make it multiple choice that ranks the top options, give a quick trade-off summary of each one, recommend one, and justify it. Over the last year, I've noticed that the recommended option for technical questions has become one that is always sufficient to the point that I'm once again in a tastemaker position, not in t…

The Claude Code App automatically does this by default. The Codex app only does it in Plan mode, I believe. I did not touch the Plan mode for a while.

Claude does, but I've also seen it give a list and then afterwards, it changes its mind and recommends option B or C instead. Really drives home how LLMs don't actually know what they're going to say until they say it.

Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#355

Post by lmm »

Xirdus wrote: post #191
lmm wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that is exactly GP's complaint. Their whole point is that OP has written things like "we throw everything at a model and hope it gives us what we imagined, without ever having to understand how any of it actually works" when the honest statement would be "I throw everything at a model and hope it gives me what I imagined, without ever having to understand how any of it actually works".

Yes I understand the complaint. It's just that "royal we" means something else.

Talking about the "royal we" is a correct, established (if somewhat sarcastic) way to complain about this kind of usage. It highlights the presumptiveness of the author in their use of "we".

Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#356

Post by StilesCrisis »

danielmarkbruce wrote: post #71
PaulRobinson wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All metaphors break at some point. However, your example actually proves the point. How many people who want a good steak know how to identify a high quality cut? Do they even know where to buy a high quality cut? What the different cuts are and whether they want rump, sirloin or fillet? How many kitchens have a meat thermometer? How many home cooks know how to use it and what the right temperature should be? How man…

Go to costco, buy prime filet. Put it in a ziplock in a sous vide at 130 for an hour. Drop it in corn oil at 425 for 30 seconds. Add some butter and salt. That simple process, suggested by Nathan Myhrvold (former MSFT cto) in the modernist cuisine, produces a filet better than most restaurants.

Today I learned that lots of people think they know how to make a great steak, but give terrible steak-cooking advice.

Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#357

Post by StilesCrisis »

gamblor956 wrote: post #339
danielmarkbruce wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many do. They don't start when you order....

Yes I'm aware that Outback and Chilis use sous vide. I mean a real steakhouse, not a family restaurant masquerading as a steakhouse.

Chili's uses a microwave :)

Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#358

Post by throwaway2037 »

jaggederest wrote: post #161
ddoolin wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I've really gotten out of this is that I'd like to learn how to use a (proper) meat thermometer when I make steaks.

Since this is HN, here's the maximum technology option: https://combustion.inc/ They have a thermometer with multiple sensors in it that finds the core temperature of the food you're cooking automatically, and predicts the rise in temperature over time. So the alarm goes off when it's time to pull and rest, which is absolutely amazing.

Is this company owned by either Chris Young or Kenji Lopez-Alt? A few times I have seen them using this product and promoting it. I am curious if a bunch of influencer chefs decided to create a company to create this product.

Re: Software development with AI is starting to feel like cooking steak

#359

Post by klausa »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #358
jaggederest wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since this is HN, here's the maximum technology option: https://combustion.inc/ They have a thermometer with multiple sensors in it that finds the core temperature of the food you're cooking automatically, and predicts the rise in temperature over time. So the alarm goes off when it's time to pull and rest, which is absolutely amazing.

Is this company owned by either Chris Young or Kenji Lopez-Alt? A few times I have seen them using this product and promoting it. I am curious if a bunch of influencer chefs decided to create a company to create this product.

AIUI it's owned by Chris, and Kenji is a fan, but doesn't have any ties other than that.
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