[HN Gopher] Barilla passive cooker
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Barilla passive cooker
        
       Author : cunidev
       Score  : 111 points
       Date   : 2022-11-06 20:55 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.barilla.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.barilla.com)
        
       | unpythonic wrote:
       | The claim: reduces CO2e emissions by up to 80%*
       | 
       | The asterisk: water boiling phase excluded
       | 
       | When I boil pasta, I use full heat to get the water boiling, drop
       | in the pasta, then let it come back up to a boil, then drop the
       | temperature as low as possible to keep a slow boil going--about
       | medium-low.
       | 
       | Guesstimating that the boil takes about as long as the time to
       | cook the pasta, I'd say that the pasta cooking portion only takes
       | up about 1/3 of the energy of the total (cold pot to cooked
       | pasta).
       | 
       | The 80% savings only covers the pasta cooking phase, so overall,
       | it's only saving 4/15 or 27% (roughly). If you use a lot more
       | water, then that initial boil time further reduces your savings.
        
         | ghayes wrote:
         | The claim is weird, though. If they said "just add to boiling
         | water and turn off immediately" then they would claim it's
         | infinitely more efficient*.
         | 
         | If you turn off your water right before it's boiling and cook
         | your pasta, then Barilla is an energy generator :askterisk:
        
         | jansan wrote:
         | _Guesstimating that the boil takes about as long as the time to
         | cook the pasta,_
         | 
         | You need an new stove. _Edit: or a new pot_
        
           | seized wrote:
           | Or he is stuck with an electric coil stove that he can't
           | replace. Those suck.
        
           | wcarron wrote:
           | Bringing 5+ quarts of water to a boil takes a lot of energy.
           | Hell, it takes my jetboil 90s-120s to boil low-temp water in
           | like...1 quart quantities. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me
           | that a large pot of water takes 8-10 minutes to bring to a
           | rolling boil.
        
             | CrazyStat wrote:
             | You don't need to cook pasta in a lot of water. Just enough
             | to cover the pasta is fine.
        
         | jiggawatts wrote:
         | A better way to save energy is to use an electric kettle to get
         | the water up to boiling.
         | 
         | This is about three times as energy-efficient as a gas hob.
         | Combined with passive cooking it could save real money...
         | 
         | Technology Connections on YouTube has a good video about how
         | electric kettles are the superior way to boil water:
         | https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c
        
           | jp0d wrote:
           | This is not just efficient but also saves a lot of time. I do
           | this with rice/pasta or anything that requires boiling. Also,
           | using a pressure cooker can save a lot of time/energy with
           | foods like legumes/meats etc.
        
           | AaronFriel wrote:
           | Alec, of the Technology Connections YouTube channel, shows
           | it's not just energy saving, but faster and cleaner. Even
           | with US outlet power limits a kettle will boil a volume of
           | water much more quickly than a gas stovetop, and my indoor
           | CO2 sensor won't spike by hundreds to a thousand PPM of CO2.
           | 
           | While the time savings is modest, if you have an electric
           | kettle it's a no brainer to prefer that over gas.
           | 
           | Though induction stovetops can be faster yet, and just as
           | clean.
        
           | thefounder wrote:
           | For some reasons I thought most of the people switched to
           | electric induction cooktops.
        
             | Mikeb85 wrote:
        
           | askvictor wrote:
           | Americans don't really do electric kettles, largely on
           | account of using 110V mains, which limits power to around
           | 1100W, making it a lot slower than ~2000W electric kettles in
           | the 200+V world.
        
       | oliwary wrote:
       | I do something similar to boil eggs:
       | 
       | 1) Put eggs in pot, cover with water.
       | 
       | 2) Put pot with lid on stove on full heat.
       | 
       | 3) Wait for the water to boil, then turn off the heat.
       | 
       | 4) Wait 6 minutes (for eggs with slightly soft interior)
       | 
       | 5) Cover eggs with cold water, wait one minute, peel.
       | 
       | Perfect eggs every time, and I am sure this saves a bunch of
       | energy. They peel really well too.
        
       | _whiteCaps_ wrote:
       | Backpackers have been using this technique to save fuel - I've
       | got a cozy for my cookpot.
       | 
       | I also remember seeing this on one of the Victorian Farm shows -
       | it was something like a pot roast brought to a boil in the
       | morning, then put in a well insulated container to sit for the
       | day.
       | 
       | Edit: Whoa, I just clicked through to "The Product" section, and
       | it's an open source design using an Arduino. Super cool!
        
         | dluan wrote:
         | I have a thermos vacuum pot, and do stews and soups with it
         | once a week where I just bring things to a boil and leave it in
         | the insulated thing overnight.
         | 
         | Oxtail soup, pork spareribs, chili, biryani, hunter's stew,
         | etc. Helps it with getting everything really nice and tender,
         | and easier than a slowcooker.
        
         | jimmySixDOF wrote:
         | Also yoghurts have been made using a jar in some insulated slow
         | cool down method for centuries
        
         | hammock wrote:
         | It's how pit barbecues work as well. You heat rocks on a fire
         | and then bury the food (like a lamb) with the rocks under the
         | ground, using the dirt as an insulator.
         | 
         | Or, cover the rocks and food (like lobster or oysters) with wet
         | seaweed to steam the food.
        
       | mrighele wrote:
       | The most reduction in CO2 could be achieved if all the people
       | that regularly overcook the pasta would just take it out after
       | the amount of time written on the package. (only partially /s :-)
       | )
        
         | mattmaroon wrote:
         | You can tell from the comments in here that most people are
         | overcooking their pasta and don't know it, and in the general
         | public I'm sure it is even worse.
        
       | jontro wrote:
       | Not sure everyone agrees this is a good method
       | 
       | Quoting from https://www.finedininglovers.com/article/can-
       | passive-pasta-r...
       | 
       | "The response was swift, and it came from starred chef Antonello
       | Colonna. The Roman cook rejected Parisi's solution, claiming that
       | with this procedure the pasta becomes "rubbery", and impossible
       | to serve in a high-level restaurant. Colonna considers the method
       | a failure and proposes cooking on an open-fire grill, with pots
       | that have fed entire generations like a cauldron. The chef claims
       | this traditional low-temperature technique lowers electricity
       | costs in his restaurant."
        
         | ricardobeat wrote:
         | Burning wood or charcoal lowers the electricity bill? Who would
         | have thought!
         | 
         | Also, what is "low-temperature technique" supposed to mean? The
         | open fire needs to maintain the water at 100C regardless. If
         | low-temperature means lower water temp, then its the same as
         | the passive method..
        
         | hombre_fatal wrote:
         | Not worthy of a high end restaurant seems like pretty faint
         | condemnation.
        
         | epolanski wrote:
         | I mean you can try and decide for yourself how much you like
         | it.
         | 
         | Boiling water can't get hotter than 100C anyway, and water
         | needs lots of energy to both heat and cool. If you cover it and
         | turn off the heat the water inside realistically won't get much
         | colder in ten minutes.
         | 
         | I always used the half technique: if it says 12 minutes I boil
         | it for 6 and then turn off the stove. Never ever got it wrong.
         | 
         | Anyway I highly doubt the biggest pasta brand in the world
         | would ever publicize a method that makes their product any less
         | good.
        
       | zagrebian wrote:
       | That web page doesn't render without JavaScript.
        
       | nemo1618 wrote:
       | > When the water boils, pour in your pasta.
       | 
       | Why even wait for the water to boil? I always pour my pasta into
       | the cold water right from the start, and it doesn't seem to make
       | any difference.
        
         | andoli wrote:
         | this might work for you barbarians, but for us italians this a
         | big no-no ;)
        
           | kevin_thibedeau wrote:
           | Did you confirm with the Chinese?
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | thewebcount wrote:
         | Wouldn't that increase the time it takes to get a boil going?
         | Doesn't that increase the thermal load (or whatever the
         | appropriate term is)?
        
           | nielsbot wrote:
           | maybe not? if the water and pasta are at the same temp to
           | start with. I'm assuming heating pasta also takes less energy
           | that heating water.
        
           | wtallis wrote:
           | The term you're looking for is heat capacity. Water has a
           | much higher _specific heat capacity_ (on a per unit of mass
           | basis) than most other everyday materials, and it comprises
           | most of the mass of a pot+water [+pasta] system being heated,
           | so the time and energy required to boil won 't be changed
           | significantly by the presence or absence of the pasta.
        
         | depingus wrote:
         | Different stoves take different amount of time to boil water.
         | Kinda hard to follow the timing directions on the box if you
         | start with cold water.
        
           | mertd wrote:
           | Hint: There is a direct way to tell if pasta is almost done.
        
             | chihuahua wrote:
             | Oooh, maybe we can build a $400 IoT device that requires a
             | $60/month subscription around this idea?
             | 
             | Oh... just tasting a piece of pasta? Never mind.
        
               | antisthenes wrote:
               | You could maybe call the device Pastero.
               | 
               | It would need to have several precisely calibrated
               | pressure sensors to test the done-ness of pasta. With
               | machine learning of course.
        
         | wtallis wrote:
         | I suspect that makes it harder to get the timing right, because
         | how long the water takes to heat up varies a lot more than how
         | much it cools down in the first ~10 minutes after turning off
         | the burner.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | Exmoor wrote:
       | Not really "passive" cooking as you're just not actively pumping
       | heat into already boiling water and just cooking pasta in
       | steadily cooling water.
       | 
       | You can actually soften pasta and many other similar foods by
       | just leaving them in room temperature water for a much longer
       | period. Some backpackers do this to reduce weight and it's been
       | the only way I've ever prepared food while backpacking.
       | Admittedly, cold noodles, oatmeal, rice, etc. is a lot more
       | appetizing if you're many miles from the nearest civilization and
       | have worked up a huge hunger from hiking.
        
         | qroolen wrote:
         | i did once, with lentils; but nothing beats cooked food, no
         | matter if it is pre-soaked or not...
        
         | riffraff wrote:
         | Pasta needs to reach something like 80 degrees to "cook", if
         | you just soak it at 35 it will not be the same result.
         | 
         | The method described here (which has been around for centuries)
         | instead gets you the same result as cooking in constantly
         | boiling water, saving a lot of gas/electricity.
        
           | mattmaroon wrote:
           | I really doubt it's a lot. I really don't think it's much at
           | all, and that's why they've got the asterisk on the number.
           | 
           | Water has really high specific heat capacity, and there's a
           | lot more water than noodles (by mass). You're using a lot
           | more energy to heat the water than the noodles. Most people
           | switch to low heat (the water just has to stay boiling, how
           | fast doesn't much matter) at about the same time this would
           | have you switch it off. So you're saving a little bit of
           | energy for the last maybe 25% of the process.
        
           | sulam wrote:
           | Couscous is pasta and "cooks" just fine for in a cold soak.
           | Doesn't even take that long.
        
             | almog wrote:
             | True but unlike most pasta, store bought couscous is
             | usually pre-steamed/cooked. That plus its small size (large
             | surface area) makes it perfect for cold soak.
        
           | almog wrote:
           | A cold-soaking only approach works well with instant noodles,
           | dehydrated pasta and freeze dried pasta (all of which are
           | pre-cooked).
           | 
           | However, a hybrid approach, meaning cold-soaking your meal an
           | hour or so before dinner then heating, can help speed up the
           | cooking process and thus save fuel (weight).
           | 
           | Having tried all of the above I can say that for me at least,
           | many Korean ramens + peanut butter are a godsend that lend
           | themselves really well to cold-soaking not just in ease of
           | use but in taste too.
        
         | ricardobeat wrote:
         | Wait, how long would you soak rice to make it edible? I'd
         | imagine it's longer than 24 hours.
        
           | Exmoor wrote:
           | I've never done it by timer, but a quick search indicates
           | about 90 minutes should be good. I'm always pressed for time
           | and just let it soak while I set up camp, so its usually a
           | little crunchy still when I'm done.
        
           | s0rce wrote:
           | I don't think you'll ever get the same texture without heat
           | due to lack of starch gelatinization.
        
           | WastingMyTime89 wrote:
           | It doesn't work very well with rice. It's one of the worst
           | thing to take while backpacking. It doesn't soak well. It
           | takes a long time to soften while cooking and it's not very
           | good when it's slightly undercooked.
        
           | hidelooktropic wrote:
           | It will get moldy before it ever gets cooked. Learn from my
           | fail.
        
             | OJFord wrote:
             | No mould will grow on soaking (i.e. submersed) rice.
        
               | ghostly_s wrote:
               | Confidently dismissing someone else's firsthand
               | experience, exactly the level of intelligent conversation
               | this site is renown for.
        
           | _whiteCaps_ wrote:
           | Typically you'd use instant / minute rice when backpacking.
        
             | Scoundreller wrote:
             | I'd imagine the pressure-cooked (ie: autoclaved) ready-to-
             | eat products like Uncle Ben's Express (or whatever they
             | renamed it) will take over a lot of this, at least for
             | those not on a serious budget.
        
           | qbasic_forever wrote:
           | Backpackers typically use parcooked instant rice. Anywhere
           | from like 30 minutes to all day will make it soft. A lot of
           | folks put their cold soaking food in water at the start of
           | the day so it gets jostled around and softened all day as
           | they hike.
        
             | [deleted]
        
       | yafbum wrote:
       | Here's another simple way to reduce your pasta cooking CO2
       | emissions: cook with nuclear electricity
        
       | twawaaay wrote:
       | Not sure what's so special. I would assume everybody knows that
       | most of the energy during cooking is wasted:
       | 
       | 1. By the water evaporating
       | 
       | 2. By the hot gasses escaping without actually heating up
       | anything
       | 
       | 3. With the water poured away after cooking
       | 
       | Which is why I:
       | 
       | 1. Put a lid on the pot whenever I can. Once it boils it usually
       | is enough to reduce the burner to absolute minimum to keep the
       | simmer unless I am adding large amounts of ingredients.
       | 
       | 2. I use induction whenever I can.
       | 
       | 3. I try to avoid wasting water. I use minimum amount of water
       | necessary to boil pasta (you really don't need as much as you
       | think you do). I also steam rather than boil vegetables like
       | potatoes or carrots -- you get away with half of a cup to a cup
       | of water at the bottom. Steaming does take a bit more time but I
       | think it is still more efficient than poring huge amount of water
       | into the pot.
       | 
       | I am still waiting for a real Dewar pot that would have double
       | sided sides and also double sided lid. Probably would require
       | precision heating (possibly with integrated heating element in
       | the base as well as integrated temperature sensor).
        
         | djur wrote:
         | In the US, when it comes to Italian food, there's a lot of "you
         | must prepare it this particular way or else Nonna will burst
         | out of her grave and flog you with a pappardelle whip"
         | discourse.
         | 
         | With that in mind, it's kind of fascinating comparing the en-US
         | and en-GB Barilla websites. The GB site emphasizes
         | sustainability ("100% Plastic Free", a page on sustainable
         | basil farming, this Passive Cooking thing), while the US site
         | emphasizes the quality and authenticity of the product
         | ("Barilla al Bronzo", "Vero Gusto", "Chef's Corner"). No
         | corporate responsibility promotions at all.
        
           | readthenotes1 wrote:
           | I hope the pasta in the US is plastic free too!
        
         | Scoundreller wrote:
         | > I also steam rather than boil vegetables like potatoes or
         | carrots -- you get away with half of a cup to a cup of water at
         | the bottom. Steaming does take a bit more time but I think it
         | is still more efficient than poring huge amount of water into
         | the pot.
         | 
         | Pressure cooker my friend! Chemical reactions at 115C will by
         | ~3-4 faster than at 100C.
         | 
         | In my opinion, electric grids should give away free instant
         | pots as a part of their energy conservation strategies.
        
       | keepquestioning wrote:
       | Any benefits of passive cooking must be offset by encouraging
       | folks to 3d print some (non) biodegradable junk piece of plastic.
        
         | epolanski wrote:
         | You can do it without that bs gadget.
        
         | mattmaroon wrote:
         | Hey, it specifically says it prints it with biodegradable junk
         | plastic! Though I think the landfill at the end is the least
         | problematic environmental issue here
        
         | OJFord wrote:
         | That's a bizarre objection to 3D printing in the home. I don't
         | do it for such reasons, but I assure you everything I've ever
         | printed would have had a far worse environmental impact if I'd
         | bought/had it made elsewhere. If I'd even been able to.
        
           | keepquestioning wrote:
           | How? For all intents and purposes PLA is not biodegradable
        
       | dnissley wrote:
       | Interesting there are so many different names for these types of
       | cookers. I've always heard this referred to as a haybox:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haybox
        
         | yegle wrote:
         | Huh I have a thermal cooker at home that we frequently use:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_cooking
         | 
         | Seems like they are using the same concept.
        
         | _whiteCaps_ wrote:
         | Oh, thank you - that led me to episode 2 of Wartime Farm on the
         | BBC that I was thinking of.
        
       | bravura wrote:
       | According to Kenji, you don't even need boiling water to cook
       | pasta:
       | 
       | https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-cook-pasta-salt-water-boi...
       | 
       | https://www.seriouseats.com/tips-for-better-easier-pasta
       | 
       | "Want to get even more crazy efficient? Try soaking pasta in
       | water as your prep your other ingredients. By the time your sauce
       | is ready, you can just add the pasta (along with some of its
       | soaking liquid) to the pan and, with a minute or so of cooking,
       | your meal will be ready to go. One less pot to clean and a pretty
       | satisfying magic trick to boot. Still skeptical? Here's the
       | science to back it all up. The one exception here is fresh pasta
       | --because it contains eggs, it needs to cook in boiling water to
       | set properly."
        
         | b3morales wrote:
         | Harold McGee himself (author of the food geek bible On Food and
         | Cooking) also presented this idea back in 2011:
         | https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2011/01/15/you-can-cook-...
         | 
         | > I just did the experiment of cooking a pound of pasta in just
         | enough water for it to absorb. I thought, "While I'm at it, why
         | don't I play with the heating as well? I'll start them in cold
         | water and see what happens."
         | 
         | > I found that starting in cold water means that the pasta
         | doesn't stick to itself, which is great. Then it turns out that
         | it heats up, it cooks just fine and you end up with pasta that
         | is not at all sticky. The liquid is a little thick, but that's
         | wonderful because you can make a sauce out of it.
        
         | ericmcer wrote:
         | I always wondered if you could just put spaghetti in your
         | Nalgene while backpacking and it would be ready by the end of
         | your hike. People always look at me weird when I suggest it but
         | I am down to drink starchy water all day and then eat spaghetti
         | when I get there haha.
        
           | WastingMyTime89 wrote:
           | Having had to rehydrate pasta while hiking to save on fuel as
           | a beginner backpacker, I can confirm it does work.
           | 
           | Still, I now only bring semolina and polenta on multiple days
           | hike. Both can be eaten fine after an hour of soaking in cold
           | water.
        
           | jamincan wrote:
           | I once had a pasta salad backpacker meal (forget which brand)
           | that was pretty much this method exactly (except we
           | rehydrated it in its original bag). Some of the freeze-dried
           | veggies still had a little bit of crunch, but the pasta was
           | good and it was quite enjoyable for camping food. I haven't
           | seen it available since, though.
        
           | sulam wrote:
           | Should work fine. I only cold soak these days. Saves a lot of
           | weight and is actually faster (my food is "cooking" while I
           | hike, so it's ready immediately after I stop for the day.
        
             | ghostly_s wrote:
             | Other things you can use this on than pasta? Are there
             | recipes for this kind of low-effort camping meals somewhere
             | online?
        
         | WastingMyTime89 wrote:
         | Yes, a significant part of the time needed to cook dry pasta is
         | for rehydrating them. Fresh pasta only needs two minutes. So if
         | you soak them long enough you can cook them quite fast.
        
         | kibibyte wrote:
         | I was gonna say, Serious Eats talked about this method
         | (starting with a boil and then cutting the heat, mentioned in
         | the article but not in the comment) so many years ago; only
         | that they didn't call it "passive cooking". It comes with the
         | nice benefit that you'll never have to worry about the pot
         | boiling over except during the first minute, and, from what
         | I've noticed, it seems to better align with the suggested
         | cooking times on retail packaging.
         | 
         | I've argued with people about this and could never convince
         | them to try it, mostly because of the "grandma did it this way"
         | reason.
        
         | peppertree wrote:
         | It's a pretty common technique for cooking rice noodles but it
         | never occurred to me to try it with pasta. Thanks for posting
         | this!
        
       | xaduha wrote:
       | Don't cook on gas if you really care about that kind of stuff.
        
         | Gigachad wrote:
         | I have a gas stove because it just came with my apartment, but
         | I went and got a $70AUD ikea portable induction stove and I'm
         | very surprised, it's significantly nicer to cook with, the
         | heating range is both lower and higher than what my gas stove
         | can achieve. Boiling a pot of water on the induction is so much
         | faster than on gas. For pasta its a no brainer.
         | 
         | Eventually I want to replace my gas stove with a full induction
         | one but unfortunately it's quite expensive.
        
       | femto113 wrote:
       | The 80% less CO2 number is BS, since the claimed savings are only
       | after "water boiling phase excluded". Guessing this is more like
       | 10% overall, assuming you turn your stove down to a low boil
       | after the pasta is in.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | mertd wrote:
       | You can reduce the energy consumption drastically by boiling way
       | less water than "a large pot" as every packet recommends. Just
       | enough to cover the pasta + some evaporation margin is good
       | enough.
        
         | jay_kyburz wrote:
         | That's why I tend to avoid spaghetti these days. A smaller
         | pasta fits in the small pot better.
        
           | Scoundreller wrote:
           | just rip it in half
           | 
           | (runs!)
        
           | kevin_thibedeau wrote:
           | Angel hair will soften pretty quickly. You can fold it in
           | half once its steeped a short while from one end.
        
           | OJFord wrote:
           | Just stick one end in, wait a few seconds, push, flip it
           | over, repeat.
           | 
           | That said, since I discovered bucatini I don't think I have
           | any desire ever to eat spaghetti again. (And also much more
           | desire to eat 'long thin tubular pasta'.)
        
         | antisthenes wrote:
         | Is that something that even needs to be said?
         | 
         | Does any functioning adult actually cook pasta in such a way as
         | to use _way more_ water than necessary?
        
           | kibibyte wrote:
           | It's pretty common. Most pasta cooking directions say to use
           | 4-6 quarts of water for a standard 1-lb pack of dry pasta.
           | Many Italian grandmas (I'm making a guess off n=1 person with
           | Italian heritage who learned it this way) do it like this.
           | Because this technique is so ingrained, it's less obvious to
           | reduce the amount of water.
        
         | mattmaroon wrote:
         | This is a mistake though from a cooking perspective. You use a
         | lot of water because you want to have a very high ratio of
         | thermal mass of water to thermal mass of noodles. You want the
         | noodles to heat up as fast as possible so that the outside gets
         | soft while the inside stays a little firm (al dente) and if you
         | use less water, you'll take longer to cook the noodles,
         | allowing more even heat transfer because it's a diffusion
         | process. Basically what you're going for is the opposite of
         | sous vide/low temp cooking.
         | 
         | And with with more water, you'll remove more of the starch from
         | the pasta, making it less gummy.
         | 
         | A big pot is, of course, less energy efficient but the results
         | are noticeable if you care about noodle quality.
        
           | ch4s3 wrote:
           | I've tested this a bunch and you can reliably get nice al
           | dente pasta using a low volume of water. If you boil a small
           | amount and add the pasta, then bring it back to a boil the
           | whole process is faster. Kenji has a good article about it,
           | and I assure you that it always works for me.
        
       | pohl wrote:
       | Better still, put it in while the water is cold. Start you timer
       | when the water reaches 180degF/80degC or so, and -- when it
       | reaches the boiling point -- turn it off & cover.
        
       | alatkins wrote:
       | I feel like we perhaps still have some bigger levers we can pull
       | to reduce emissions before we meddle with our linguine.
        
       | privacythrow23 wrote:
       | Water is really a great thermal mass. I'm surprised it makes that
       | much of a difference. 80% is significant.
       | 
       | Now the important question: Can China Coal and Saudi Aramco cook
       | their pasta like this too?
       | 
       | https://www.activesustainability.com/climate-change/100-comp...
        
       | filleokus wrote:
       | My dirty little secret I've only dared to shared with my closest
       | friends (fearing social ostracism) is that I cook by pasta by
       | putting it in cold water and then turn the heat on.
       | 
       | Roughly when the water starts to boil I start periodically
       | checking the doneness of the pasta.
       | 
       | Works just fine for me. Would never dare to it when cooking with
       | friends however (only slightly /s).
       | 
       | However, it would be neat with a device similar to the one in
       | TFA, but more sophisticated. Having some internal model of pasta
       | doneness as a function of the time in the water, and the water
       | temperature over time.
        
         | Scoundreller wrote:
         | I see this in lots of 'how to boil an egg' guides, where
         | cooking time matters.
         | 
         | When explaining it on the internet, the best way is to dump the
         | egg into boiling water, and drain and cool with cold tap water
         | after X minutes, because it removes other variables.
         | 
         | Buuuuut, if you learn your pot and water volumes and starting
         | water temperatures and heating rate, you can cook your egg
         | faster by starting with cold water, and maybe even knowing when
         | to turn off the heat once the water is hot.
        
           | filleokus wrote:
           | For eggs I've seen people use something like this [0], which
           | I guess can be helpful if you switch pots a lot. Also
           | trickier to test if a (boiled) egg really is boiled then with
           | pasta.
           | 
           | [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Egg-Perfect-
           | Timer/dp/B00004UE7...
        
           | mattmaroon wrote:
           | This assumes you're trying to cook to an even heat internally
           | (like a boiled egg) rather than an intentional gradient (like
           | pasta noodles, a steak, etc.)
        
       | jansan wrote:
       | How about not pouring the hot water down the drain immediately,
       | but leaving it in a pot with a lit on until it is cooled down?
       | This way the erergy that you used to heat the water can
       | contribute to heating your kitchen.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | dctoedt wrote:
       | Steel-cut oats:
       | 
       | 1. Boil water in an electric kettle (because we buy wind power,
       | it's a Texas thing).
       | 
       | 2. Pour the boiling water into a pot, add the oats, bring back to
       | a boil on the gas range (briefly).
       | 
       | 3. Turn off the gas, put the lid on the pot, put the pot on a
       | trivet, cover with a dish towel.
       | 
       | 4. Come back in an hour or two -- the oats are cooked and still
       | hot.
        
       | pynchia wrote:
       | Hey, c'mon, this is advertising and must be removed
        
         | chadlavi wrote:
         | I got bad news for you about 95% of the content that gets
         | shared on HN
        
       | paxys wrote:
       | A 145 year old pasta company just published open-source 3D
       | printing models, Arduino circuit layouts & code and a bluetooth-
       | enabled smartphone app on its website, that too with a decent
       | sized marketing push. All so that you can build an overengineered
       | kitchen timer from scratch in your bedroom. This is exactly the
       | wild future I imagined as a tech enthusiast building cheap PCs
       | two decades ago.
        
         | hakanensari wrote:
         | That part is tongue in cheek. They're just being funny.
        
         | theCrowing wrote:
         | It wasn't Barillas idea. Looking at the quality and stuff used
         | it was most likely thought up by a "Creative Technologist" in
         | an ad agency with the sole purpose to win awards.(...and some
         | PR but trust me it was done for the awards.)
        
         | Mo3 wrote:
         | Yup. What a time to be alive.
        
       | fatuna wrote:
       | Passive cooking; great idea Building electronics + app to help
       | people measure some time? terrible solution
        
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       (page generated 2022-11-06 23:00 UTC)