3 minute read

Why can no-one decide on the best way to cook a steak? Searching YouTube brings you hundreds of videos telling you this is definitely the “best” way to cook a steak - which of course leads to a very heated discussion in the comments.

The problem, as Adam Ragusea explains in this video, is that

“everything basically works, therefore, everyone is basically right”

If that is so, then who should I listen to? I believe that depends on your circumstances and how seriously you want to achieve the end goal. Lets say I am a Michelin star level chef who requires absolute perfection and consistency. In this case, I would use a water bath to hold half a cow’s worth of steak in suspension at an internal temperature of 55C. When the order comes in, I can take one of these perfectly uniform slabs of meat and sear it in a stupidly hot pan for the best flavour. But if I am making two steaks at home, no amount of water bath will make up for the fact I don’t have a relationship with a local farmer and have to buy my steaks at M&S - and that’s ok, we have different goals. As A.A. Gill said

“Cooks do it at home for love. Chefs do it in public for money.”

Just as there is a difference between amateur and professional goals, I think it’s also important to understand why someone is giving you a particular piece of advice. TV chefs are often wrong, but personally I will forgive this trait in people like Marco Pierre White while Jamie Oliver is not so fortunate. As Ragusea explains in another video, Marco will incorrectly tell you that he cooks onions “to remove the acidity” when he is actually breaking down the the pungent odour compounds. In this case, it doesn’t really matter, the man has spent thousands of hours in this profession, he knows the exact steps to execute a dish and has never had to explain the science to one of his staff. However, when Jamie Oliver tells me to use packet rice in this infamous egg fried rice recipe I know he is trying to translate a Chinese recipe to a western audience who want a quick meal and probably don’t own a proper wok or rice cooker. I do happen to have those things because its one of the rabbit holes I find fun. Therefore, I will seek my egg fried rice advice from creators living in China who understand both Chinese food and difference between a normal kitchen and the jet burners in a typical restaurant.

Many of the experts on the internet make a living by telling you how to do something, which is why we get hundreds of videos about steaks, photography, weight loss, finance. In each case there is only so much you can say about the advice most people need to hear, the 80% returns option. But a single video will not keep the gravy train moving, so creators are then forced to talk endlessly about the extra 20% you could obsess over to get maximum gains in their particular field (i.e. YouTube photographers actually make money when buying new cameras).

Here are a few examples I’ve experienced

  • Cooking
    • 80% returns: Fry dry rice in a wok then add salt, sugar and MSG to season
    • 100% returns: Invest in a jet burner that can get that restaurant level “wok hei”
  • Weightlifting
    • 80% returns: pick up heavy things consistently
    • 100% returns: create a detailed schedule and control all macro intake
  • Photography
    • 80% returns: Get a FujiFilm and get great (not perfect) JPEGs straight out of the camera
    • 100% returns: Get a Sony and shoot RAW then edit afterwards to retain the most detail
  • Finance
    • 80% returns: put money low cost index fun, leave it for a really long time
    • 100% returns: do analysis and create a portfolio to balance risk and returns
  • Eating healthy

So I guess the trick is to just think critically and ask yourself “what am I doing this for?”. Then you can decide when you want to go all in for the fun of it and when you only need to get 80% of the way.

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