‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Almost no skill required to cook a steak

260 points · 301 comments · yusyd

  1. MostlyStable · · focus · HN ↗
    I take the point, but I think the author picked a poor analogy. Cooking even an excellent steak is actually not that hard. In fact, I'd argue that it's among the easiest things to master/make at a top level quality at home. Does it require some modicum of attention and understanding? Sure. But starting with a high quality cut, owning a meat-thermometer, and knowing about reverse searing is about all it takes to reliably and easily get a near perfect steak every time.

    There are far, far better cooking examples out there.

    1. froh42 · · focus · HN ↗
      I was just curious asked chatgpt:

      How can I make a really great steak myself? What to look out for, what to do. Give me detailed instructions.

      I got a really good answer (including - cut, temperature and reverse searing), so I probably won't even need understanding. (Oh - and yes, I can cook - the answer mirrors what I already know).

      Yes, it was a very, very poor analogy, because cooking a steak is a well known and well documented thing where LLMS produce good output. They fail when you get off the beaten path and try to do something that's not "mainstream".

      1. derriz · · focus · HN ↗
        Funny I tried the same and it advised a using searing/smoking hot pan. Which is poor advice unless you enjoy the bitter acrid taste of burnt meat. The Maillard reaction doesn’t require those sorts of temperatures (under 180C is hot enough) - especially as the surface of the steak will dry from the oven phase of the reverse sear. “You were right to pull me up on that…”
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.