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Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

up.csail.mit.edu

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Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#41

Post by Jorge1o1 »

hammock wrote: post #13

I'm looking for a recipe that maximizes the term Net Meat Score = [(browning+med rare) - (medium+well)] while also enforcing steak=3cm, Rare=0%, Raw=0, Char=0, and steak starting at either 0C or 23C. Note that you have to let the meat rest for 10+ minutes to really let it finish (the default settings cut it off to early). The best I have gotten under normal conditions is: Net Meat Score of 40, by doing: Steak starts…

This is a good recipe. I tried for an hour to beat it but I couldn't. I tried an oven at 100 and then some searing at 175, but I ended up getting too much well-done.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#42

Post by Skunkleton »

yunzo wrote: post #9

If you put a thick steak (like 50 cm) it freezes Firefox for like 4 seconds, while Chrome freezes for 1 second. Real world benchmarks :D

Bill: check out the new optimizations I added to our JS engine!

Sally: Yeah, but did you check for regressions in the thick steak benchmark?

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#43

Post by Zigurd »

khuey wrote: post #16
dekhn wrote: post #14

Once, Nathan Myhrvold spoke at Google about Modernist Cuisine and I asked him how to make the ultimate BBQ ribs (he won some competition). He said "sous vide, liquid nitrogen, then deep fry". Glad to see this site includes sous vide + liquid nitrogen.

This technique is sometimes called "cryo frying".

Once upon a time I ordered a pizza at a pub in Glasgow. The barman plucked s pizza out of the freezer with tongs and dropped in in the Fryalator. It was less horrifying than it appeared to be.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#44

Post by steve19 »

halbritt wrote: post #40
rootusrootus wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing to note is that reverse sear was his answer to sous vide being too expensive. He does note that there are upsides and downsides to both, but the world has changed and these days precision sous vide circulators are dirt cheap.

I've tried both and much prefer the reverse sear to a sous vide steak. Getting a good sear on a wet steak is pretty difficult. I will say that sous vide steaks make good camping food. I get vacuum sealed ones, cook 'em in the bag, toss 'em in my cooler and when it comes time, they can be dried with a few paper towels that then get tossed in the fire, some salt and pepper, and put a steak on a spit like a marshmallow.

That's a great idea!

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#45

Post by paulie_a »

dekhn wrote: post #14

Once, Nathan Myhrvold spoke at Google about Modernist Cuisine and I asked him how to make the ultimate BBQ ribs (he won some competition). He said "sous vide, liquid nitrogen, then deep fry". Glad to see this site includes sous vide + liquid nitrogen.

For ribs I follow a modified 321 method, 3:30 on, 1:30 in tinfoil on, 1 unwrapped. Sauce them 10-20 minutes before they are done just to carmelize it a bit.

They are still tender but with A bit of toothiness left.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#46

Post by cityiguana »

I'm one of the 3 MIT students (now MIT alumnae) who coded this over 5 years ago now. It's popped up around the Internet again in the past year or so, which is neat but also a little cringey, because it forces me to look at code I wrote when I was a lot newer to programming than I am now.

One person commented about a better simulator that they'd developed, which I am certain exists. This simulator was developed for an EdX class called the Science of Cooking. Although we tested it and found it to be largely accurate (in one of the more delicious code testing sessions I've ever attended), it was designed primarily to illustrate the various reactions that occur at the molecular level, rather than to provide actual cooking guidance.

Also, it seems that some of you are having problems where the program crashes your browser. Unfortunately, that's not entirely avoidable as the whole application is client-side javascript, and does some moderately complex calculations for heat diffusion. Obviously this would not be the approach I would take if I were to rewrite the program today...

If anyone wants to take a look at the source code, here is the original git repo: https://github.com/laurabreiman/science-of-cooking. Cheers everyone!

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#47

Post by Matticus_Rex »

hirundo wrote: post #20
jakobegger wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need the site? I played around with the site, and it doesn't look like it makes a difference if you cook it sous-vide for 20 minutes or 2 hours? (I've never cooked anything sous-vide)

In a series of highly (un)scientific experiments the 'Sous Vide Everything' youtube channel concluded that you arguably improve the texture by cooking meat longer by sous-vide, but the flavor deteriorates. I reproduced this result at home. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpFuaxD-0PKLolFR3gWhrMw

There's definitely a point when the texture starts to get worse, too. IMO it starts before the flavor degrades significantly, though the timing totally depends on the cut of meat and connective tissue.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#48

Post by dekhn »

paulie_a wrote: post #45
dekhn wrote: post #14

Once, Nathan Myhrvold spoke at Google about Modernist Cuisine and I asked him how to make the ultimate BBQ ribs (he won some competition). He said "sous vide, liquid nitrogen, then deep fry". Glad to see this site includes sous vide + liquid nitrogen.

For ribs I follow a modified 321 method, 3:30 on, 1:30 in tinfoil on, 1 unwrapped. Sauce them 10-20 minutes before they are done just to carmelize it a bit. They are still tender but with A bit of toothiness left.

you're describing classic ribs (not sous vide, liquid N, or deep frying), right?

It's funny you mentioned that because the other point Mhyrvold and I discussed was using aluminum foil to tightly wrap the ribs during cooking- eliminating the water vapor that forms around the meat, which contributed to barbeque stall. Should speed up cooking without negatively affecting the results by 2-3 hours.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#49

Post by compumike »

compumike wrote: post #3

We built a somewhat better thermodynamic model into the Pantelligent iOS and Android apps -- i.e. user would select 1" thick steak, medium, and then we'd use the real temperature signal to adjust the cooking time. The key fact this simulation is missing is that the outermost layer of the food quickly becomes dehydrated, at which point its thermal conductivity drops dramatically. This is good! It allows for much more…

Just found an old GIF animation from a finite element simulation of cooking: https://imgur.com/a/ZX1n5Wx

(The "meat" flips in the middle when it disappears for a frame)

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#50

Post by bcheung »

Would be interesting to see sous vide and torches incorporated into this.

I usually "sous vide" at a lower temp and then finish with a weed burning torch (aka flame thrower). I find using a large and very hot flame is necessary to get that crisp outside without overcooking it. The handheld chef torches don't get enough searing to cooking ratio.

Fat and connective tissue is another factor that makes things interesting. What's the best technique to soften up the fat and connective tissue without denaturing the protein?

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