PySteak: Solving a High-Steaks Culinary Problem

Title: PySteak: Simulation, Calibration, and Optimization for a High-Steaks Culinary Problem

Details: Cooking an expensive cut of steak can be a daunting, high-stakes task for a home cook. From traditional pan-searing to reverse searing, cold searing, sous vide, cryofrying, and grill sous vide, many steak-cooking methods can be viewed as attempts to manage the same fundamental tradeoff:

• Exterior flavor and texture: The surface typically needs to reach roughly 300–330°F to promote rapid Maillard reaction, producing a crisp texture and complex, aromatic flavors. It is often pushed beyond 350°F to induce pyrolysis and develop deeper browning, smoky notes, and char.
• Interior juiciness and texture: To retain moisture and maintain a tender texture, the internal temperature should stay near the target temperature for the desired doneness, often around 129–135°F for medium-rare.

The laws of physics are unforgiving. The heat equation tells us how the high surface temperatures needed to develop the exterior crust create steep temperature gradients that drive heat inward, often resulting in the dreaded gray band of overcooked meat beneath the surface.

In this talk, I will share my journey toward engineering a steak recipe designed to develop a deeply browned crust while minimizing the gray band and preserving as much of the juicy, tender interior as possible. No advanced background in mathematics, physics, or programming is required. I’ll start with a brief and accessible introduction to the principles of heat diffusion and how to simulate it on a computer. Then, I’ll explore the role of data (i.e., measurement) in calibrating the simulation model and optimizing the recipe.

Audience Takeaway: After this talk, the audience will have a basic understanding of how thermodynamics shapes the tradeoff between crust development and an evenly cooked interior, and how heat transfer can be simulated on a computer. They will leave with computational tools they can use to experiment with measurements, calibration, and optimization, giving them a practical starting point for engineering steak-cooking protocols tailored to their own preferences and equipment.

Zoom: This is a hybrid event. To attend online, join us on Zoom here at 6pm:
https://iit-edu.zoom.us/j/89379230295?pwd=NdETyE5sdYuSrvsrBZXSBFkUESBVkg.1

Meeting ID: 893 7923 0295
Passcode: 5t5WYn

Sponsor: AlphaSense will provide the meeting site, as well as pizza and soft drinks for the onsite participants.

• Address: 200 N. LaSalle Street. Suite 1100. Chicago, IL 60601
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• Logistics: To access the Tegus by AlphaSense building, we require first and last names of those who RSVP'd by July 15. Attendees will then present their IDs when they arrive at the front desk (right when they enter the building). They will be sent up in the elevator to the 11th floor where we will be.