Cooking for Founders • Hacker News Board

Re: Cooking for Founders

#11

Post by mattnewton » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:25 PM UTC

colorandcode wrote: post #3

seanalltogether wrote: post #2

> Home-cooked food is almost always healthier than restaurant food, so don’t try to learn to cook and cook the healthiest possible version of each dish. Most veggies taste better roasted in a generous amount of olive oil... It took me way to long to learn not to be afraid of oil when cooking and grilling food. I burned a lot of food for awhile under the assumption that I shouldn't be adding too much fat to homecooked…

Definitely - that and salt. Whenever you watch a professional chef cook you realize how much fat and salt going into making something taste "restaurant quality".

Watching old Julia Childs videos gave me the impression that all vegetables were primarily different substrates for butter :D

Re: Cooking for Founders

#12

Post by haskellandchill » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:30 PM UTC

I worked as a line cook for half a year, changed my life. I learned how to live on $10/hour and how to cook anything quickly and have it come out tasty. And I only cried in the walk in occasionally.

Cooking well is mostly attitude and confidence. Prep and cook everything at the same time, figuring out the order to do it all in parallel is a fun puzzle and executing it gives you a rush. I never measure any ingredients and improvise recipes constantly.

"Don't cook everything evenly" is very good advice. Let things sit at appropriate heat, amateur cooks are too touchy. But I disagree about recipes, they are just suggestions to me, good to know the outline and then leverage your general knowledge of cooking to get it done.

Re: Cooking for Founders

#13

Post by spockz » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:36 PM UTC

erex78 wrote: post #9

Love the sentiment behind the post - cooking is great life skill to get good at, but I think the "Essential Gear" is definitely far from "essential" (and maybe this will help the new cook from being too scared of the list). Here's my version of the "minimum viable set": 1. big, sharp knife 2. cutting board 3. wooden spoon 4. pan. IMO, the particularly dispensable: "instant read digital cooking thermometer", "micro-pl…

Actually, that honing rod is very useful to keep that nog big blade serviceable for longer in between sharpening. I do agree with the mvs though bear in mind that having a few of these will greatly speed up cooking times.

Re: Cooking for Founders

#14

Post by zabzonk » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:38 PM UTC

Why do Americans think that cooking is so difficult that they need all these very dubious instructions?

Re: Cooking for Founders

#15

Post by selflesssieve » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:39 PM UTC

zabzonk wrote: post #14

Why do Americans think that cooking is so difficult that they need all these very dubious instructions?

I don’t?

Re: Cooking for Founders

#16

Post by tylertringas » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:39 PM UTC

_Microft wrote: post #5

> [...] others, like searing in a pan, use convection where the heat is transferred directly surface to surface. Maybe cooks use these terms differently but in physics this is heat conduction not convection. Convection is when heat is moved by moving matter in gases or fluids.

Good catch! I just typo'd and used convection twice.

Re: Cooking for Founders

#17

Post by learnvella » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:39 PM UTC

this made me think of what my take on "Cooking for Engineers" would be- roughly based on what I do personally.

essential gear would be a chef's knife, a stainless or cast iron pan, a nonstick pan, a large dutch oven, a sous vide circulator w a large bucket, a 10qt instant pot, and a vacuum sealer.

learn braising, roasting, sauteeing, and baking (veggies and proteins)

whenever you cook something where you can make extra, make a LOT extra, keeps a couple portions and vacuum seal the rest off and freeze them flat (keep your freezer really well organized)

find your core recipes and keep those perpetually in the freezer in small portions

learn to improvise and make gold out of whatever's in the kitchen (if you need inspiration, watch chopped)

Re: Cooking for Founders

#18

Post by ironchef » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:39 PM UTC

_Microft wrote: post #5

> [...] others, like searing in a pan, use convection where the heat is transferred directly surface to surface. Maybe cooks use these terms differently but in physics this is heat conduction not convection. Convection is when heat is moved by moving matter in gases or fluids.

No. You’re spot on. When in doubt read Harold McGee. Conduction is “direct contact”. (Vs convection and radiation)

Re: Cooking for Founders

#19

Post by tylertringas » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:41 PM UTC

haskellandchill wrote: post #12

I worked as a line cook for half a year, changed my life. I learned how to live on $10/hour and how to cook anything quickly and have it come out tasty. And I only cried in the walk in occasionally. Cooking well is mostly attitude and confidence. Prep and cook everything at the same time, figuring out the order to do it all in parallel is a fun puzzle and executing it gives you a rush. I never measure any ingredients…

Agreed! But, I think very novice cooks should rigorously follow recipes, learn what a good result is across a wide variety of dishes, then learn how to substitute things or change up recipes. Or rather that's what worked for me.

Re: Cooking for Founders

#20

Post by zabzonk » Sun, Jan 10, 2021, 9:41 PM UTC

selflesssieve wrote: post #15

zabzonk wrote: post #14

Why do Americans think that cooking is so difficult that they need all these very dubious instructions?

I don’t?

Really? Most Americans I know require everything spelt out to the last cupful. And where else could things like https://soylent.com/ ever have gained a foothold?