Hi! My name is Chris Young. I mostly make videos to do with cooking, very often about science of cooking and sometimes about how cooking tools are really made.
I do videos covering cooking product reviews, how-tos (cooking techniques), how-comes (food science), videos of occasional culinary exploits. I've started companies like Combustion Inc. and ChefSteps, created complex products like the Combustion Predictive Thermometer and the Joule sous vide circulator, and I coauthored Modernist Cuisine with Nathan Myhrvold. Before all of that I worked with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck for five years between 2003 and 2008 where I founded the Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen. And before that I studied mathematics and biochemistry, which has proven incredibly useful as a lifelong curious cook.
I used a set at a house when housesitting. I surprisingly burned my salmon and could not clean the pan no matter what I tried. I ended up buying them a new pan to say I was sorry. I would never buy these pans for me.
Excellent review! Perhaps you could also comment about the need for Teflon on the bottom? I felt the hexagonal pattern Teflon pan design is worthy of the investment but went with similar pans made by BlackCube. At 60% of the price of HexClad, I got nearly the same product quality and performance at a reduced price. However, much like you, I found that these pans are also not as "Quick Release" as their marketing suggests.
Pretty interesting video! Not that I disagree with the outcome or the experiment, I wonder if the special induction burner played a part in the frequently flipping (FF) winning. As outlined at the end there is more energy flowing in the the steak with FF, that energy is coming from the pan/stove. A normal burner will be outputting the same amount of energy into the pan regardless of what's in it or how much energy is used up. But it sounds like the smart burner will increase the amount of energy being put into the pan to compensate for the drop in temp of the pan/burner. It seems possible that the that this increase in energy output helped contribute to FF winning.
Are you able to explain the difference between convection bake and air frying? I'm just curious because the Breville Smart Ovens boast both these functions but I'm having trouble understanding how the airfryer function is any different from convection baking.
I don't rest to retain juices. I rest to allow an even color. It allows the hot outside and the cool inside to equalize and create an even color all the way through
You seem to focus on the non stick aspect of this type of pans, however, what I find more appealing is how well it cooks food compared to regular Teflon non stick pans, cooking a steak or fish in this type of pans can give you the crispiness that an classic teflon pan cannot (generally). performance is similar to my stainless steel plan and does fine compare to my iron cast one, I would still prefer them both to hex but overall it is fine, better than classic teflon IMO. This is, what makes this pan much better than the classic teflon pans, how good food taste after cooking it, now if all you do is cook and egg or omelet thats fine but for anything that requires some sort of reaction (like maillard) there is really no comparison. I still use iron case or stainless steel often but this pan has its uses, and can perform similarly
This would be great if those predictive thermometers actually worked. I can't get more that 15ft of range out of mine and that's with the bundle that comes with two thermometers, the range extender charging clips and the fancy pants yellow display. The irony is that if it could have fudged 22ft through one outside wall, which is the distance from my smoker to my computer desk, which is the longest range needed when I'm at home cooking then I would have thought this was the best thing since sliced bread. When you keep everything close it's all good. Instead the kids got together and bought me this and now see me reverting back to my old Weber temp probes but I work so many hours I basically don't give a crap and will probably chuck this in the garbage. I just building industrial control system networks for a living. Apparently my networks can control almost 11 million gallons of crude oil a day but I can't figure out how to get my fancy pants bluetooth probe to make it through the window.
Sous-vide does also have another advantage. Since collagen breakdown is a function of temperature AND time you can get a more tender steak with sous-vide. You can test this by doing one steak sous-vide for 1hr and another for 4hrs. Even though the internal temp doesn't change, there's a noticeable difference in how tender they are. Personally I like doing my ribeyes or sirloins at 52C for 2.5hrs, any more can make it kinda 'mushy'. I suppose in theory you could do this with a very long reverse sear, but most residential ovens aren't accurate enough or can't go low enough for it, and I'd be worried about drying the steak out too much.
Gonna be honest...I usually just drop a stick of butter in a pan on medium heat, coat my steak in seasoning and drop it in for a few minutes on each side. Everything else is just too much work. ...But I also usually don't have a cut more than 1/4in thick, so that probably changes how effective this is.
0:40 I guess I'm a fuckin troglydite because that steak looks perfect to me. But then I prefer medium well. Anyway the point is pretty obvious: if the thermometer reads the temp you want your steak done, don't rest it. If you wanna rest it, take it off the heat 5-10 degrees lower than your preferred doneness.
first of all congratulations for the video: very rarely is the approach so well described, technical and prospective; as far as my experience is concerned, certainly influenced by my Italian culture, the objective is practically to replicate the effect of the Florentine in the fireplace on the embers; wood makes a difference and we love finding a gradation that goes from the purple of the heart to the brown of the external part; we learned reverse searing because it is more convenient in the case of many guests at home but, when used, they accuse us of becoming old and lazy ;). after having tried all the systems you analyzed, I still prefer wood embers or quality charcoal; Have you tried infrared straighteners? a well-known Australian brand uses them XR... and I would be curious to try them too. Thanks for your work
What if you combine tempering and reverse-sear by putting your steak from your fridge directly into a cold oven, then starting the oven and letting it slowly rise to temperature?
Since this was posted, June was acquired by Weber - which promptly killed it... because they don't produce indoor ovens. Guess we can't have real innovation.
Look, they're just not worth the money. I go to a local restaurant store. And I purchase a professional nonstick Pan for between $25 to $45 depending on the size I want. It's american made And last 15 to 20 years. Maybe the longer if you try to use wooden tools on it and clean it appropriately. I have 8" 10" and 14" Teflon pan, and a 12 cast iron pan. I do a lot of cooking and they seem to stand the test of time
Just learn how to properly use a cast iron or aluminum skillet, people. If I can pull off a sunny side up egg, anybody can. The only thing that remains is pancakes....
-Hey Golden what cookware you recommend -HexClad, It has the performance of stainless stell, dualibilty of cast iron and convinence of... -OK, OK, So what cookware you actually use -Zwilling lmao, dont listen what they say, watch what they do
Since I already have a meater thermometer I won't be buying the one mentioned in the video, but at 200$ it's a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. Still a lot of money though...
I don't know anything about video editing but this boggles my mind. It must have taken hours upon hours to get this 30 second clip done. And the information that goes with it- beautiful.
So you season your steaks AFTER cooking? I usually do it before (kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, and garlic powder. Is there a specific reason why you do it afterwards?
I just got a grill with an infrared side-burner. It seared the steak so fast that I had no choice but to finish the steak inside the main grilling area at a lower temperature. It was the best steak I have ever cooked and I was amazed at how little over cooking there was around the edges.
Very interesting study, hopefully I haven't missed critical info. I think a good test on the theory of percentage lost during cutting would be to test the before and after weight of ascending AND descending temperature scenarios. Would you lose the same amount at 125F on a steak that's taken off right at 125F and immediately cut, versus one thats taken off at 135F and rested down to the same temp?
My absolute favorite: I baste my family's steaks in a large cast iron pan, but my initial searing was with a dollop of beef tallow at higher heat, then heat down to medium, in with some butter, whole garlic cloves, and a tied sprig of thyme. Baste for about a minute, take the steaks out to rest on the cutting board, then into the hot skillet I'll throw a bunch of sliced mushrooms to saute them in the browned butter. Once they're done then I'll take them out, turn the heat up and deglaze the pan with some port wine, scrape and let that reduce a little, then I'll throw in a couple cubes of demiglace that I always keep a supply of in my freezer. After that's nicely stirred in and the pan sauce is thickening to my liking, take it off the heat, take the thyme sprig out, and stir in a couple more pats of butter. One of best pan sauces I've ever made. Sometimes I might go to the trouble of cooking some shallot in with it, but not usually. The steak, mushrooms, and sauce are absolutely fantastic. The whole garlic cloves that were cooked in the baste, mushrooms, and pan sauce I keep for my plate. Am I just playing with my food? Maybe, but I don't care. It takes me ten to twelve minutes to saute the mushrooms and make the pan sauce, which is the perfect resting time for the steaks.
I've tried sous vide to torch sear several times. It left what I call "torch taste" several times, and I kept the flame moving. Not my favorite. I prefer searing in a hot cast iron pan with some beef tallow for about 30 seconds a side, then turn the heat down, add pats of butter, whole garlic, and sprigs of thyme to brown the butter and baste the steaks with a long spoon for about a minute a side. While the steaks rest from that I immediately throw mushrooms in the pan and saute them, when the water comes out of the mushrooms I'll fish out the thyme sprigs, then deglaze the pan with some port wine, then throw in a couple cubes of demiglace I always have on hand, take off the heat and throw in a couple more pats of butter and stir for an amazing pan sauce with sauteed mushrooms.
Interesting. So I do mine on a propane grill and I've got one of the Webers with the Sizzle Zone or whatever they call it on one half of the grill. I get that side ripping hot but I still only do about 90-120 seconds on each side of the steak. Then I move the steaks over to the left side where I have the heat much lower to finish out the cook and get to 135. They turn out pretty great and don't get dried out or burned.
To achieve the throughput, you can still have 4 Ninjas in parallel for still a much more affordable price - and you can still have a ton of spare canisters ;)
I find a very quick sear, put steak on an oven proof dish, and put in a 350 degree oven. Pull 10 degrees below your target temp. By the time you get it to the table and thank God for your family and food that's enough rest
