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Comment by mgraczyk | Hacker News Reader

I appreciate the writing style, but this article is shockingly naive to me.

Convenient consumer products tend to sell better than less convenient ones, even if the product is worse. That's the entire story. People have finite time, so when they receive more income they will tend to spend it to reduce the time they spend doing things that they don't care about.

I for one hate spending time doing all the things that the products in the article make more convenient, and happily pay more so I can spend my time on other things.

  * I don't like shaving, so I optimize for razors that get the job done faster (more blades, easier to swap a new blade)
  * I don't like cleaning pans, so I buy pans I can clean faster and don't have to "season"
  * I don't like filling bags with tea, so I buy tea bags that are pre-filled
  * (nespresso) I actually enjoy the ritual of making espresso, so I use a real espresso machine
  * I bike every day to and from work, so I take it a step further and buy an E-bike with no shifter
  * I don't want to fiddle with chromecast or fire stick, so I just use my TV's built in smart features
  * (inner city shops don't sell individual pieces of fruit) I live in SF, it's very easy to find individual fruits here
  * I don't like going to grocery stores, so I pay to have groceries delivered to me

My time is precious to me, so instead of spending money on luxury items I spend money to save time. Evidently so do most other people.

View on HN

Modern trackball,flexing, etc. multi-blade razors are expensive, but idiot proof. You can copy one of the Gillette commercials and just mash the thing to your face and make one long stroke through the chemical foam. Bam. Done. If you're happy with this, be happy. Read no further.

What this article isn't telling you is that DE razors can be almost as fast, but there's a learning curve. They don't flex, bend, or rotate to the right angle, so you must hold them at the right angle, even when you're going around curves. There's just one blade, so it's easy to apply too much pressure and give yourself razor burn, so you must learn to use minimal pressure. It takes time to learn these skills.

Is learning how to shave with a DE correctly and quickly worth saving money? If money is no concern for you, then no. However, there are other benefits. One pass of a five bladed razor is, you guessed it, five blades being dragged across your face, and likely with more pressure than is necessary given how much pressure is required just to make the flexing, rotating razor engage with your face. If skin irritation, ingrown hairs, etc. are a problem for you, then learning how to properly shave with a DE razor can dramatically reduce those problems. However, things may be worse at first while you're learning technique. This is all even more true if you're the sort who suffers from irritation and reuses cartridges too long to save a little money. Dull blades make skin irritation worse.

Another thing this article isn't mentioning is shaving soap. Most of us are used to chemical gel's or foams. To be blunt, they all smell awful and feel gross. Again, it takes slightly more time and a little technique must be learned, but traditional shave soap with a badger hair brush, lathered on the face, is something everyone should at least try. There are some awesome smelling soaps out there, and lathering on your face with a good badger brush feels amazing. If you hate shaving, this is a switch that might change your mind.

If you hate something, you can spend less time on it, or you can look for ways to make it more enjoyable.

> Most of us are used to chemical gel's or foams.

Much better than these and shaving soap / brush, is Somerset's Shaving Oil[1]. King of Shaves do a shaving oil too, but it's nowhere near as good. Not affiliated, I just love the stuff.

You can use it with shaving soap too, but I just use it on its own.

At one point I was worried the company might go under so I bought a big box of it just in case. It's not a great business model as one little bottle lasts months. You only use 3 drops per shave.

[1] https://www.somersets.com/(X(1)S(hrhdq4w0o12w1qjoh0myxyml))/...

Ok, your comment just convinced me to give my DE another go. For the last few months I've been using cheap plastic 2-blade disposables because they're cheap enough, and easier to use than the nice razor I've been ignoring. Just ordered some oil and balm from that site.

ALSO: That order page is a breath of fresh air. As soon as I added one item to my "cart", I was presented with their full list of SKUs, enough info to know which is which, and a quantity box next to each. So simple. I wish more ecommerce sites did stuff like this.

I am on my second Panasonic (Matsushita) foil razor, and I will never use anything else.

The blades seem to be immortal, and they commonly last 5-10 years until the batteries fail. There are no regular consumables; the blades are never replaced.

I had used Norelco foil razors previous to this, and the foils would break after wear and slash my face, easily drawing blood. Neither of my Panasonic razors has ever done this.

I normally shave right after waking up, no shaving cream, lotion or sundry lubricant. If someone with extremely sensitive skin cannot do this, the shaver is waterproof.

This one looks close to my current model.

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Electric-ES8103S-Nanotech-F...

Agree on the soaps + badger hair brush (or even synthetic for those who care).

I shave thrice a week (head and face) and the Proraso brand has been a lifesaver.

Have never managed to learn to use the DE razors :/

another option is to avoid th problem all together, I plan on getting laser hair removal on my face because I just hate shaving that much

Alternately just keep a beard and trim it with a 20 dollar buzzer occasionally.

I thought this, grew one, and found it more of a pain to maintain than shaving was. Flaky skin, itchy, and a lot of work to stop those things. Plus I still had to shave/buzz around it to make it neat. Shaving is a lot less hassle. I use a DR razor, have for years.

I would pay good money for a way to rid my muzzle and neck of hair. Unfortunately, the results I've seen from laser removal just leave things lighter, not gone.

I don't understand how people end up like this. As if it's normal for your skin to just flake off if you let your hair grow naturally.

If your body is falling apart without constant cosmetics, you probably have an issue that needs addressing. Maybe something in your diet or something in your soap or I don't know what, but spontaneous skin issues are not normal at all.

I've just got dry skin mate, I'd hardly categorise it as my body falling apart. I also use zero cosmetics. No issues here.

Your skin naturally flakes as it replenishes itself (I think it's called the skin cycle), it was getting caught in my beard, I'm lazy I can't be bothered with that. Plus when it gets long you have to cut it straight, right pain in the arse. A lot less hassle shaving.

On soap/shaving foam -- absolutely. I asked an old-timey barber what his product of choice was and he answered "soap after a shower", in awe, as if what I was asking him some obvious question. Sure enough, it worked fantastically and I haven't stopped since. I use a DE and beyond that first month of slice and dice and coagulant markers, it's been smooth sailing since.

You don't even need soap. Your stubble will be saturated and easily shaveable immediately after the shower.

This. I shave with water and a mach-3. Have used this technique for over 25 years. Can't think of a time when I've had razor burn. I can't recall the last time I cut myself either. I even go against the grain at the end (people who witness this seems to cringe). I hate shaving and do it once every week or two though. I'm blessed to have very slow growing face hair. My blades last a really long time because they're almost never used.

Best time to shave!

I rarely use anything. And to be frank, when I do it is a small drop of hair conditioner.

Doesn't work at all with an electric razor. If I forget to shave and take a shower, I can forget to shave that morning.

My problem was with the fogged up mirror after a shower. I tried some 'solutions' (spraying mirror with a fog proofing liquid, separate showering room etc) but eventually went back to shaving before showering

Antifog coatings from any scuba supply shop help, but one really effective method is just to aim a hair dryer at the spot you need clear. Not only does it get rid of fogging there, it prevents new condensation from forming because of the residual heat.

This is just the audiophile’s “tube amplifiers have a warmer sound” of the shaving world.

I mean, no one is telling you to stop, but I wouldn’t chalk up your recommendations to anything more just preferences.

It’s just another hobby. Some people love scotch, others coffee and some people getting the best shave experience.

If I loved scotch and someone said “yuck, I don’t like it” I wouldn’t somehow assume they were living their life incorrectly or missing out, they just don’t like it.

There's a difference. Tube amplifiers are objectively less accurate at reproduction and can be hideously expensive. DE razors take more skill/effort, but produce indistinguishable results (i.e. a smooth face) for a fraction of the price. Cartridge razors are a convenience, but you pay for that convenience.

OneBlade type razors are kind of a nice compromise for me. They have a single replaceable blade but also a pivoting style head. The shave if pretty amazing compared to any cartridge razor I've tried and the blade just snaps in and out of place so isn't any more difficult to change out than a cartridge.

I get the convenience part but the waste reduction itself is already worth the switch. Yeah your shaving cartridge or flaking teflon pan might be a drop in the ocean (perhaps literally) but when there are billions of humans around we should think about what inconvenience does it worth to keep our environment lovable.

I throw my cartridges in the trash, and they end up in a landfill forever with no environmental harm. I haven't looked into Teflon but I've disposed of ~1 pan in my entire life and still have the rest, so my impact is probably negligible.

I choose to focus my time and energy minimizing environmental impact more effectively. For example, instead of using a DE razor, I use that time to commute by bike instead of car, This results in overall much less waste and a lifestyle that I prefer.

> they end up in a landfill forever with no environmental harm

Can you please explain to me how a landfill doesn't cause environmental harm?

Chemicals can leech out of landfills into water tables and waterways. Landfills can also emit greenhouse gasses. None of these happen as a result of burying shaving cartridges.

It's no different than the sand that's already below ground. It essentially just sits there.

The production and transportation of the cartridge could harm the environment though, but that's a more complicated story.

Any landfill made in the last 50yr has a sump and the liquid nastiness gets its own direct line to the local water treatment plant.

Likewise they capture or flare the methane.

Shaving cartridges are mostly plastic, which does leech chemicals, including hormone mimics, into groundwater.

Their production causes environmental harm. A small amount compared to other thing to be sure, but not "none".

Also, in what universe are those expensive multi-blade razors faster or more convenient than a safety razor with a Feather blade?

The world where I want my shaving to be brainless.

Having used both, one is no more "brainless" than the other. It's the same shaving process. The only difference is cost.

I couldn't tell you why, but I have almost never cut myself, and never get nicks, ingrowing hair, razor burn etc with a safety razor. I maybe over-used the other razors (only 15 shaves!?)... and maybe with an exposed blade Im more careful (I really dont think so)... but i never went back. Far more precision too! Definitely not the same thing for me

My hair is pretty coarse, so I needed to experiment around for a while before finding something that worked. The main issues that caused nicks and razor burn for me were as follows.

* Overly frequent shaving. If I shave every day, I will get nicks and ingrown hairs, regardless of technique. After I shave, the skin slightly closes up around the follicle. Not enough to be fully ingrown, but enough that there's a bump of skin from about 12 hours post-shave to 72 hours post-shave. If I shave again during that time period, the razor will catch on those bumps and cause nicks. If I wait 3-4 days, the hair pushes out, and can be cut cleanly.

* Clogged razors. This is partly due to the coarse hair, and partly needing to remove 3-4 days of growth at a time. The blades of a cartridge razor are placed far too close to each other, and need to be rinsed out several times over the course of a shave. Sometimes multiple times over a single stroke. If this isn't noticed, I need to go over the same area again, increasing razor burn. While safety razors clog as well, it takes longer for them to do so, and it is easier to rinse out the accumulated hair.

* Over-use of cartridge razors. An 8-pack of cartridge razors is $25, where a 100-pack of safety razor blades is $10. I get about 2-3 smooth shaves from each razor, and it's an easy habit to replace a ten-cent blade every week or so. Even if I accept that cartridge's last longer, I can't believe that they would last the 35 shaves estimated by the marketing's 5-week estimation. Between the higher cost and the claimed lifetime, I would use cartridge razors well past the point of being dull.

So at this point, I have a reasonable routine: Replacing the blade of a safety razor every 7-10 days, shave every 3-4 days. But figuring out that routine requires going against the advertising, choosing an older style of razor, and avoiding the cultural expectation of daily shaving.

The other piece of this is that there are a wide variety of safety razor blades. You should get a variety pack if you make the switch until you find what works best. Some are very sharp (which actually isn't always good), some less so. Some are more flexible than others. You need to find one that fits your skin and hair.

Good point, and I failed to mention that as part of the experimenting. After going through the variety pack, I ended up finding that Astra Stainless were the best for my skin/hair combination, and Astra Platinum was second.

Yep - I never really have an issue with a safety razor. At least, not on my face...the one time I tried to shave my head with it I looked like some shit out of Hellraiser until I showered haha

With a safety razor I get way more cuts, bumps, and the occasional slice of my thumb... and I'm still tossing the blade. With multi-blade cartidges, I shave faster and with less pain for only marginally more waste (and much greater cost, though trivial).

It’s not so much about tossing the blade, it’s about tossing a blade made mostly from plastic.

Then why not go electric? Something like a one blade or more proper electric razor reduces cutting hazards and still gets it pretty close.

I don’t enjoy a sense of self-imposed martyrdom, so the switch isn’t worth it to me.

Some people do, and they’re welcome to spend their own time, energy, and money pursuing that feeling.

People don't seem to be aware of this, but most of the dulling of disposable razors are due to it staying wet. If you dry your disposable razor after use, shaking out the water then drying it on a towel, it can last much much longer. Going down to shaving 2-3 times a week due to WFH, I think I made one disposable razor last about a year. If this pattern keeps up, this pack of razors I bought from Costco is going to last until I retire.

Leaving it wet is a big contributor to dullness for the reasons you gave here.

I would add accumulation of crap between the blades being the rest of the story.

A small blast of air gets that crap out and leaves the shavings path clear for next time.

or just store it in a glass of oil. you loose the libricating strip, but the oil more than makes up for that.

> I don't like filling bags with tea, so I buy tea bags that are pre-filled

Uh, that's not how loose leaf tea is used...

Usually one would use a strainer or a gaiwan. Your point still stands, tea bags are less hassle, you just won't get to drink fine oolong or puerh. I don't mind cleaning the gaiwan - taking out the leaves takes a couple seconds.

Right - putting my loose leaf into a strainer or a gaiwan, and then emptying either of them, takes nearly no longer than grabbing my tea bag, opening it and dropping it into a cup.

There are additional steps. You need to take a spoon (extra tool), scoop out the loose leaf tea from the container, make sure not to spill it, and then pour it into the strainer.

After steeping, you need to dump the used leaves (assuming you aren't planning to re-steep) with more potential for spillage than when disposing a tea bag, then take the strainer to the sink, add a tiny drop of dish soap, rinse the strainer, and find a place to dry it (e.g. over an empty jar).

It's not difficult, and the extra steps are personally worth it as loose leaf tea generally tastes better. However, for people who aren't concerned about the taste difference, it's nice to have one less task (where spillage is a concern) to pay attention to.

Oh since we're nitpicking... :)

> You need to take a spoon (extra tool), scoop out the loose leaf tea from the container

I tilt the container and use the Earth's gravity to get them leaves out. I'm not afraid to use my fingers when no one's watching! With puerh it's more of a fight, I'm not afraid to use whatever's at my disposal to pry the leaves out the cake.

> you need to dump the used leaves [...] with more potential for spillage than when disposing a tea bag

Yes but it's more ecological - the leaves can be composted while the tea bag can't.

> (assuming you aren't planning to re-steep)

I definitely am planning to re-steep. With puerh, I'm even going as far as disposing of the first two steeps. I'm too fancy to drink them!

> then take the strainer to the sink, add a tiny drop of dish soap, rinse the strainer, and find a place to dry it

The gaiwan goes inside the dishwasher like everything else.

> leaves can be composted while the tea bag can't

That depends on the tea bag. Some can't, some can:

https://teahow.com/can-tea-bags-be-composted/

The store-brand tea bags I buy for iced tea recently got redesigned to remove their staple. I assume that was to make them compostable, although I should double check.

I only use bags since strainers leave a bunch of leaves floating in my tea.

Filling a paper tea filter is pretty easy though, just grab one, and shovel in a bit of leaves with a spoon. It's faster to fill a tea bag than it is to boil water for a cup.

Loose leaf for real is just dumping tea in a cup and pouring water over. All but a few leaves will settle, signifying it's ready to drink. You develop skill to not let the few floaters get in the way of drinking it. Whack and rinse cup to get leaves out, don't let it sit long. Easily done on the trail when weight and trash are important to minimize.

I prefer tea bags because it's still easier to clean up, even though taking a dripping wet bag out of the cup is a messier process and is trash. A gaiwan or even teapot is rarely compatible with my normal in-the-moment tea drinking style. I aspire for it to be some day.

Thank you for pointing this out. I don't get why you'd do anything more than add a pinch to your cup and pour hot water on it. Not to mention then you can read your tea leaves and know if you're going to die or not.

Thursday, 3pm.

https://youtu.be/ON8cTi5NSMc?t=116

Depends on the tea. For most Chinese varieties, dumping tea in a cup and pouring water works great. Eg for sencha, esp fukamushi, this wouldn't be a great idea: the leaves are tiny and you need to control the brewing time precisely.

Using a gaiwan is just so joyful: stuff it with leaves, keep an eye on the temperature and steeping time, and you can resteep good leaves many times and get so much more out of them. Each of the steeps is different, you can see how the leaves open, how the taste develops. I have some Chinese greens that go on forever, start with around 75°C and 10 seconds, and gradually increase both over perhaps twenty steeps, ending with boiling water and brewing for however long I forget about it. Thinking about it, I'm off to make some tea :)

Also the taste of fresh loose leaf is hard to match with bagged teas that don’t cost an arm and leg

> That's the entire story.

That’s the obvious market story but not even the entire story in the post. The lack of available alternatives is a real thing.

Several of the examples in the article feel like real losses to me. Another example: last I looked, I can’t even buy a mouse with the form factor and features I want unless I give up and charge batteries. The thing I want to buy existed under many model names over the last 20 years, apparently now I need to start looking second hand. This is true for lots of wired devices, it’s almost impossible to find many of them or a spiritual successor now. I don’t want all of my secondary devices to be battery powered. I’m clearly a minority in the market, or at least untargeted as one.

I don’t begrudge anyone their preferences or conveniences, but I definitely miss some of the things I used to be able to find which are now just relics.

Same. I was pleased to find a simple wired mouse in my Raspi 400 kit. May buy a couple more of the mice by themselves.

I do not always like wires, but wireless is kind of a mess. Pairing, charging, quality of info transfer problems...

So, I bought a bunch of wired, high quality earbuds, am going to to get some mice too. Those things just work and the quality/consistency of input / output is something I value way more than not having a wire.

Cast iron becomes very low maintenance after the seasoning is started. I don't even usually wash mine. Everything slides right off at the end. Just let it heat up before using it, use a moderately high heat but not too high, and it's a nonstick pan without the carcinogens.

> Just let it heat up before using it

No lol that's the whole point

> without the carcinogens.

I'll take that trade, I'm not going to spend my 30s sitting around waiting for pans to heat up because there's some very small probability a pan will harm me.

For some reason I always thought that for most cooking you want the pan to be at the desired final temperature before throwing in the ingredients anyway to get the optimum taste and texture.

Thinner pans heat up faster

I'm definitely no pan expert, but I think there are now cast iron options that heat up very quickly, so maybe one doesn't have to compromise on that. I've had a Ronneby Bruk "ultra light" cast iron pan for years and it tends to heat up within a few minutes. At this point I don't remember what a regular pan's heat-up time is though, maybe I've just gotten used to the "pain".

Probably carbon steel made from thinner sheets, there is a limit to how thin you can practically make a cast iron pan due to the brittle nature of the material and the casting process. The resulting properties with respect to seasoning are basically the same if the surface finish is consistent.

No, I'm pretty sure this is cast iron:

"The raw material in Ultra Light Original is exactly the same as for our traditional cast iron. The difference is that with the new technique, the pans are less porous. This explains why the pans responds much quicker to changes in the stove’s power effect, and why they heat up and cool down faster than traditional cast iron cookware."

https://ronnebybruk.us/blogs/cookware/ultralight-original

It isn't near-feather-light like some pans I've picked up in the store for sure. It's just light enough to be a noticeable difference from other cast iron pans I've tried, like being much more comfortable to hold one-handed.

Interesting, I'm not sure why you would bother to do that vs. just stamping carbon steel sheet, the resulting product would seem, at least to my guess, be basically interchangeable. I wonder if there is some difference that matters here.

Carbon steel pans are my current favorite, after having used primarily cast iron for a long time. They are thin, so they heat up extremely fast. They season as good or better than cast iron. They weigh a lot less, so are easy to maneuver. And they clean up as easy as cast iron.

De Buyers are more expensive than your regular cast iron, but they’ll last a lifetime.

Been thinking about these for a good minute. Seem like the best of all worlds and no carcinogens (I think)

Carbon steel has similar properties to cast iron with regards to non-stick but at a lower weight.

They also cool faster and depending on material, don't transfer heat at the same rate.

Cast iron pans are actually not great at heat transfer, which is why you see pans like all clad where there's aluminum or copper clad in steel. They are really good at holding heat though, so when you put something cool into them they don't immediately get cold.

Most people really don't care about this though. If you're a foodie, you're probably not going to be satisfied with the $5 wal mart nonstick pan, because it's a thing you care about. For everyone else who doesn't care, they either have a completely different definition of what 'good performance' is (and buy accordingly) or they don't cook anyway.

I cook with cast iron constantly, and I don’t recall sitting around and waiting for the pan to heat. I do other related cooking tasks while the pans heat. There’s really never a point where I’m doing nothing waiting on the pan.

Mise en place helps immensely!

This is also exactly what I'm pointing out. You enjoy cooking, you have other "cooking related tasks", you gather your ingredients before cooking. You have skill and a plan.

I just want to eat and I want to get that out of the way as quickly as possible. For a nice meal, I'll go to a restaurant. I'm not interested in learning how to prepare my own food better, and all of these comments and the OP seems to forget that.

In any high-dimensional space, most samples are far from the median on at least one axis. You have cooking, I have coffee, programming, and looking at birds.

But what are you cooking where there’s no other related prep? If you’re using a pan and not a microwave surely there’s a minute or two of work to do.

Crack two eggs into a pan, sprinkle cheese on top, put a lid on top, wait 2 minutes. Serve with hot sauce. Cheap and delicious.

And not nutritionally complete. No fiber, processed cheese, and what kind of eggs?

> You enjoy cooking, you have other "cooking related tasks", you gather your ingredients before cooking.

My cast iron usage most days isn't anything fancy, it's just cooking breakfast for the family. The "other cooking related tasks" means:

* Crack the eggs into the bowl

* Season and beat them

* Start the oatmeal water boiling

* Set the table

By then the cast iron is ready for the eggs. You don't have to be making a fancy meal to have other things you can be doing while the pan heats up, and it doesn't take that long even on our slow glasstop stove.

Ah, ok I see your point. I think you’re missing out on one of life’s great joys not taking an interest in cooking! But, to each their own.

> I just want to eat and I want to get that out of the way as quickly as possible. For a nice meal, I'll go to a restaurant. I'm not interested in learning how to prepare my own food better, and all of these comments and the OP seems to forget that.

> You have cooking, I have coffee, programming, and looking at birds.

I used to be like this, eat as quickly as I could and whatever was quick enough that filled the hole in my stomach. You will likely pay for this later, and will have discussions with your dr about food freshness, processed foods and how horrible the food at even “heath food” restaurants is for you. Unless you want to live your life with gastrointestinal issues, change your attitude about cooking.

Nah, I'm extremely healthy. Very careful about what I eat and I exercise every day. It's super easy to eat both fast and healthy, it just costs more.

Sure just shrug it off. I wish I had someone telling me this stuff some 10 years ago. But you do you!

I don't know what you're talking about.

I use cast iron pan because everything I cook comes out 10 times better on a cast iron pan. You can properly sear meat on them. Things don't get cooked on the outside and stay raw on the inside.

I thought I was shit at cooking before getting a cast iron pan - I just had the wrong tools. I'm definitely not a chef and I don't cook for pleasure, I just throw chicken, steaks, eggs on the pan and eat when it's safe to do so.

Most chefs on youtube are using cast iron pans, you won't get the same results following instructions made for another pan.

In regards to heating up, I never noticed the pan taking too long to heat up.

Maintenance takes more time, but it's nothing more than rubbing oil on it and throwing it in the oven. You can also get away with not doing it for a long time (you can wait until food starts sticking to it)

Easy test. If I can't put the pan in the dishwasher, then it's not for me or people like me. You don't have to spend energy trying to convince us.

I've heard that you shouldn't put teflon pans in the dishwasher. I'm curious what pan is safe for the dishwasher?

Pots yes. Pans not so sure.

It probably degrades them, but I wash each pan maybe once a month so it seems fine.

You only clean your pans once a month? Won't you have rancid fat in all your meals?

I only cook a few times a month

If you really care about your time and have a lot of money, get an induction cooktop. It will heat your cast iron super quickly.

Yeah, surprisingly quickly. I guess partly because they’re super magnetic?

> I'm not going to spend my 30s sitting around waiting for pans to heat up because there's some very small probability a pan will harm me.

This strikes me as particularly ironic in the current context. How much time have you spent so far today arguing about pans on HN? How many times could you have heated up a cast iron skillet during that time?

Is the pan smoking at any point? Carcinogens. Are you using a gas cooker? They release harmful pollutants into the air. You don’t need to go over the top to convince people to like and do as you do when it comes to pans.

If 30 seconds is too much for you then I don't know what to say. Good luck in life; you're going to need it.

Cast iron is a poor cooking surface because iron (and steel, and stainless steel) has poor thermal conductivity. The consequence is uneven heating (especially on an electric cooktop) and hotspots. The edges are distinctly colder than the center of the pan, and you have to push your food around to ensure even cooking.

Aluminum has much better thermal conductivity, but is a terrible surface to cook on (soft, oxidizes, imparts flavors to acidic foods). The best compromise is a clad pan with aluminum sandwitched between layers of stainless. I switched from cooking on cast iron to cooking on clad and it makes a huge difference.

This guy took a bunch of IR camera shots demonstrating the effect: https://www.centurylife.org/is-all-clad-worth-it-is-it-still...

> it's a nonstick pan without the carcinogens.

Strictly speaking, this is false. The seasoning on a cast iron pan is burnt oil. It is without question mildly carcinogenic. Not so much that I've thrown away my cast iron - I still use it occasionally - but I wouldn't tout it as having health benefits (except maybe a tiny increase in iron consumption).

FWIW the newer ceramic nonstick pans are incredible and nearly indestructible. Clad is still my go-to, but I use the henckles granitium pans from costco for anything with egg in it. Two years later they still work like new.

I actually like uneven cooking surfaces and use this to create effects in my stovetop cooking. If I want evenness, it's easy just stir or swirl - but getting unevenness is more work. A wok is a perfect example of using unevenness and motion to control your cooking, and for frying I mostly use a cast iron pan and for serious heat, a wok with a ring adapter and high BTU stove.

Cooking technique on a wok is very, very different from cooking technique in a skillet. You're expected to move the food around! That's why they call it stir-fry. Nobody (at least, of normal human build) picks up a cast iron skillet and tumbles food.

Woks are great, but you wouldn't pan-fry a steak in a wok.

What about stainless steel on induction?

What do you mean by stainless steel? Stainless steel pans are usually clad (3 or more layers with aluminum in the middle for heat transfer), and IMO wonderful to cook on no matter what generates the heat.

If you're talking about pure stainless pans, I've never seen one. I've seen pure stainless steel stock pots (though even then, most have a clad base). The thing about stock pots is that they're full of liquid, which convects and makes thermal conductivity of the hardware pretty much irrelevant. Never buy expensive stock pots.

> without the carcinogens.

Isn’t it completely opposite? Teflon is incredibly inert and nobody knows what really happens in cast seasoning other than - it’s burned food!?

"My time is precious to me"

Not to be snarky, but considering you're leaving comments here then I doubt it

I think it’s the loneliness then. The other thread about why we waste our time on the Internet had that as the top comment.

So you see loneliness makes us waste this part of our time probably in an futile attempt to deal with loneliness, forge a connection, having some kind of reassurance that we have a voice and maybe we matter even though we so don’t.

So this comment isn’t waste of OP’s time if OP likes to do this or wants to do this and gets gratification from it (even if doesn’t last beyond hitting the submit button). OP even mentioned that coffee thing in the similar vein.

So I think you were being snarky. Maybe inadvertently? Or just another knee-jerk comment like most of HN? :)

All time is not equal. Willpower is finite.

People would look strange on me if i started shaving while commuting on the train. Here i have ample of time to read.

One could also simply prefer watch junk on the telly to wind down after a long day of work, rather than seasoning my pan again. (Personally, i do have a seasoned skillet, it's a amazing)

Take this thinking too far and one should even give up washing machines and go back to hand laundry?

How much of that have you actually benchmarked, time wise ? I think it’s the point of the article, most of our “benchmarking” is actually marketing. To take an example I’ve been using a cast iron pan for years after having used Teflon all my life, cast iron doesn’t take any more time to use (initial seasoning vs. timely replacement, you can even factor that out)

>so I optimize for razors that get the job done faster (more blades, easier to swap a new blade)

Razors like G. Mach3 or similar are neither really much faster nor better in any way (I compare them against my $25 "classical" metal razor "Timor Solingen 1322"). The fact that so many people think otherwise is a proof that marketing departments of G. or Edgewell (Wilkinson) did a very good job.

I couldn’t avoid cuts even with those gliding-smooth-precision-etc razors so I just use a Philips beard trimmer. As quick as it gets, doesn’t give that weirdly smooth look during the first day after the shave and facial hair remains mostly soft now; during shaving days they would grow to be very hard. No soap, no after whatever splash et al needed. One purchase runs for years literally. I have used them without a mirror. I shaved my head with it once and it was a perfect shave.

Totally agree with your points.

On the other extreme, (and due to my personal interest in practicing knife sharpening), I ended up using a pocket knife and a couple quality sharpening stones as my “razor”. Too lazy to calculate whether the long term cost is worth it, but the setup will probably last me a lifetime. If avoiding waste is really the highest priority (over convenience) then I would argue that sharpening your own razor blade is the only rational way to shave.

I wonder what you do with all the 20 minutes total you save a year. Still I don’t blame you but I’m a person who enjoys doing things the “hard” way, that lets you enjoy the results and contemplate things in a different way.

It's not about 20 minutes saved per year, it may be about 3 seconds of intense frustration not experienced every morning. Can be well worth it.

For me, it's about not being late or having to skip tasks (e.g. shaving). I used to also enjoy doing everything the "hard" way (e.g. pourover coffee instead of using a machine, and especially shaving with a double-edged safety razor instead of an electric razor).

However, there were times I had to skip coffee making to start a commute on time. The tipping point was when I was slightly late for a couple of low-stakes meetings because shaving with a safety razor took so long (lather, three passes, rinse), so I had to take an alternative commuting route after missing a train. There were other times when I chose to skip shaving and buy coffee outside to make a meeting on time (taking extra time to walk to the coffee shop, line up, and buy coffee).

I remembered never having these issues of having to skip shaving when using an electric razor. I've now returned to using one for most days, and also usually use a brew machine. It's nicer to have less stress in the morning.

You could say that I could manage my time better in the morning by waking up an extra half hour earlier, but I've found it very nice to make my life a bit easier while other parts of my days are more stressful.

No one ever does or can do “everything” the “hard” way. We all have our own opinionated and preferred lists of easy way and hard way things. e.g for me that’s fountain pens, train journeys instead of flights, paper journals, exclusively reading paper books etc.

Saving time from shaving doesn’t necessarily mean the saved time will be used in something like saving the world. It just means less time was spent on shaving than it would have taken if OP did shaving your so called “hard” way.

Also your 20m shaved annually seems very weird. There are approximately 365 days in a year and one “easy” way shave, imho, definitely saves more than approx 0.055m compared to a hard way shave if one shaves daily without a miss :-P

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