chef-equipment-gastrophysics

# Chef Equipment & Gastrophysics An appliance is a heat-transfer profile plus manufacturer limits. Convert the **function** of a technique, not just its clock time. Read `references/appliance-playbook.md` for conversion patterns and device-specific safety gates. ## Conversion protocol Identify what the original step must achieve: crust, evaporation, pasteurization, collagen conversion, gentle coagulation or simple reheating. Map each function to the target device and keep functions that the target cannot perform as a separate step. Manufacturer limits win for pressure-cooker minimum liquid, maximum fill, blender hot-liquid handling and microwave-safe containers. Do not invent a universal minimum or a workaround that contradicts the manual. ## Sous vide Separate **bath temperature**, **time for the food center to heat**, **pasteurization hold**, **food thickness/start temperature**, and **texture time**. Never claim that a bath setting plus a generic clock automatically makes poultry/ground food safe. For safety-critical low-temperature cooking, use a complete applicable source; otherwise offer the conventional safe-minimum-temperature path. ## Blender Hot-liquid handling is model-specific. If the manufacturer prohibits hot liquids in a sealed jar, cool the contents or use a suitable immersion/vented system; do not prescribe "crack the lid" as a universal hack. ## Slow cooker and dry kidney beans Do not cook raw dry red kidney beans directly from dry/soaked state in a slow cooker. Use the separate boil treatment in `chef-grains-legumes-guide` or canned beans before slow cooking. ## Gastrophysics core - Browning needs a sufficiently hot, relatively dry surface and room for steam to escape. - Protein texture depends on temperature and time, but culinary denaturation points are not automatically regulatory safety endpoints. - Reduction concentrates salt and flavor; season with the final concentration in mind. - Emulsions are droplets + emulsifier + shear; coagulated protein may not be reversible even when a separated emulsion is. - Starch thickening depends on starch type, water, heat, acid, sugar and shear. Use the simplest device that produces the requested effect. Fancy equipment is optional; safety controls are not.