[TarpitCarnivore]

> Thinking about it, would a "How To Cook For Hackers" video / ebook / webseries be of use or interest to HN? With the right instrumentation, absolutely anyone can learn to cook nutritious, tasty, cheap meals.

The need for cheap, healthy and delicious meals isn't mutually exclusive to "Hackers." In fact there are many sites out there that have this aim already. One such site is called Budget Bytes [1] which my wife and I use all the time.

1: http://www.budgetbytes.com/

[thenomad]

Very true - there are lots of excellent cooking resources out there already. I'm a fan of Delia Smith's stuff, personally.

"Hackers" / startup guys / whatever you want to call them tend to have similar patterns of thought, which can be applied to cooking to make it easier to learn. For example, we tend to get on well with science and chemistry, which means that it may be easier to teach high-quality meat cookery based on Mailliard reactions, denaturing of proteins, conversion of connective tissue, and so forth.

Hence the question of whether a specifically focused course might help or appeal to the HN crowd - despite the many cookery courses out there, I do see people (like the OP) mention that they haven't found cooking easy to learn.

[TarpitCarnivore]

> For example, we tend to get on well with science and chemistry, which means that it may be easier to teach high-quality meat cookery based on Mailliard reactions, denaturing of proteins, conversion of connective tissue, and so forth.

These things are fine to learn, but they're not essential to learning how to cook. Knowing about the connective tissues isn't going to suddenly make you better at cooking a steak or braising short ribs. Time, practice and patience is what's going to help.

Realistically the easiest and simplest way for anyone to cook is with a crock pot. There are a million recipes out there for basic crock pot cooking. And even better it lets you make large enough batches for multiple days.

[thenomad]

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, I think.

I know that I personally became a much better cook - and specifically, since you mention it, much better at cooking steak - after learning the science behind it.

I do agree that they're not essential to learning how to cook. Millions of people cook without knowing these things. But for people with a specific mindset, they are likely to be helpful if more "traditional" routes don't gel well for them.

[mindcrime]

Realistically the easiest and simplest way for anyone to cook is with a crock pot. There are a million recipes out there for basic crock pot cooking.

I largely agree with this. I love my crock pot. Very easy and simple to make very tasty delicious meals. And you can leverage the timing by doing things like turning it on before leaving for work in the morning, and then come home to a hot, tasty, home-cooked meal.

(This is assuming you're comfortable leaving a heat based appliance turned on. In the case of a crock pot, I am. YMMV)

And even better it lets you make large enough batches for multiple days.

Exactly, this is a great feature of slow cookers. I bought one of the larger ones for this exact reason.

[TarpitCarnivore]

I wish I could enjoy using a crock pot, but try as I might I just can't. Everything always tastes very steamed, or boiled, especially with meat. I would love to use one for than keeping stuff warm, because it's such dead simple cooking.

[mindcrime]

I guess it depends on what you're trying to cook. I tend to use mine for things like stews and soups, chili, etc. To be honest, I should probably attempt to broaden my repertoire of slow-cooker meals, but never seem to find time. Every time I go to Barnes & Noble I swear a see a new slow-cooker cookbook on the bargain rack, and I keep meaning to pick one up and try some of the recipes, but somehow doing that never quite makes it onto my agenda... sigh

[ericcumbee]

The best Hack I have found working out of my house is a crock pot. Especially during the winter months. put some combo of a meat, pasta, rice, vegetables, and maybe a little bit of cream or cheese on in the morning, make a point of stirring it a couple times during the day, and by supper time you have a warm, nutritionally balanced, filling meal, that you can eat off of for a couple days.