A mathematician from the University of Wisconsin advises to turn the steak diligently during frying.
The mathematician found out with the help of calculations how much time it is possible to save when frying a steak. Pasi Liesimaa/IL
You can find relief for solving a sudden burger craving with the help of mathematics. University of Wisconsin Mathematician Jean-Luc Thiffeault wanted to find out the fastest way to make a hamburger patty, and his recipe can provide some time-saving cooking tips.
According to theoretical calculations, flipping a hamburger patty can reduce its cooking time by almost a third. However, according to Thiffeault, home cooks will not benefit much from more than 3-4 translations.
In his research, Thiffeault used mathematical modeling of how heat moves through an “infinite piece of meat” that cooks only on the bottom and cools on the top until it is flipped. Analysis showed that flipping heated the meat evenly, reducing cooking time.
For example, when a theoretical one-centimeter-thick steak was turned only once, its cooking time was 80 seconds. Instead, 10 turns every 6-11 seconds reduced the cooking time to 69 seconds. Constantly turning the steak reduced the cooking time by a maximum of 29 percent.
Thiffeault points out that the time-saving benefit decreased as the number of translations increased above a certain threshold. So, on a practical level, a few turns during frying is a completely sufficient amount.
– After three or four revolutions, the gain is negligible, Thiffeault reports.
Thiffeault’s observations are supported by a chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Altin lessons shared. In the one published in 2019 in the article Using different cooking methods, López-Alt compared how quickly the internal temperature of a hamburger patty rose to 52 degrees. According to him, turning the steak every 15 seconds reduced the cooking time by almost a third compared to only turning once.
So both Thiffeault and López-Alt agree that three to four turns while frying the steak is the most optimal way to cook it. However, López-Alt points out that there is not just one correct way of cooking.
– The idea of perfect is just nonsense, isn’t it? he reflects in the article.
– It’s only based on what you want.
Thiffeault states that his friends would hardly like his theoretical burger. According to the modeling, the infinite piece of meat is ready when its internal temperature reaches 70 degrees.
– They (my friends) wouldn’t want to eat that, because it’s quite overcooked for a steak, says Thiffeault.
Thiffeault’s research results are published in June In Physica D.