Show HN: I Derived a Steak
A developer created a grilling calculator that uses thermal models, Fick's law of diffusion, and protein structures to derive optimal meat cooking results. The tool calculates salt timing (even for frozen meat), dry brine methods, and charcoal quantities based on physics. It is built as a pure ESM library for heat and salt diffusion, enabling further recipe development.
Background
- The author previously made a viral "pancake calculator" (featured on Hacker News in 2024) that used physics and chemistry models to compute perfect pancake recipes — this "steak calculator" is a follow-up in the same hyper-engineered cooking style.
- Fick's law of diffusion is a physics equation describing how particles (here: salt) move through a medium (meat) over time; the author uses it to calculate optimal salting timing, even for frozen meat.
- A "dry brine" is coating meat with salt and letting it rest uncovered in the fridge to draw out and reabsorb moisture for better flavor and texture; "cling brine" refers to wrapping the salted meat in plastic wrap (rather than leaving it exposed) to control moisture loss.
- ESM (ECMAScript Module) is a modern JavaScript module format — the author has built the calculator as a reusable programming library, not just a one-off webpage, so others can build on the underlying heat and salt diffusion models.
- The site is presented as a "Show HN" — a tradition on Hacker News where makers share projects they built for feedback and discussion.