As We May Toast | Hacker News Reader

As We May Toast

kevinlynagh.com

11 pointsbilliob12 comments

I'm surprised that this is just some half-baked ideas with no execution. This read as if there were going to be results, then it just stops and turns into an ad for a holiday house swap.

Also, the real optimal answer won't be found in their proposed setup to find the ideal temp+time to turn a frozen pastry into a cooked one. What you do is store a few of those thawed in the refrigerator and pop them in the air fryer for a few minutes. Then replace with the freezer so the next morning they'll be thawed.

> (The same principle can be used to entice people to leave a crowded sauna — just pour water on the hot rocks to generate loyle.)

I have never come across the word "loyle" before, and googling suggests it does not exist. Does anyone know what the reference here is? Or what this is a typo for?

löyly

which is a term for steam of off sauna rocks or stove

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/l%C3%B6yly

Apparently it's a typo for löyly a finnish word which apparently means steam [0]. The author probably only heard the word pronounced. Anyways, to find this out I merely looked up "pouring water on sauna rocks" instead of trying to look up loyle.

> The primary function of sauna rocks is to generate steam when water is poured onto them. This process, known as löyly in Finnish culture, releases the heat from the rocks in the form of steam, adding humidity to the sauna environment. This humidity helps to open the pores and create a more comfortable and relaxing experience. [1]

[0]: https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=en&text=l%C3%B6yly&... [1]: https://eligoria.com/blogs/saunas/are-you-supposed-to-put-wa...

Similar story with frozen pizza. Ignore the instructions on the box. Instead, defreeze it first (leaving on the counter for a while, or microwaving at low power) and then bake for 5 minutes in an oven preheated to its max temperature (275C in mine).

Or what I do is store 1-2 in the refrigerator thawed and pop those into an air fryer.

The Neapolitan pizza standard is 60–90 seconds at 485 °C (905 °F)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neapolitan_pizza

I usually go long on that, mostly due to having more toppings than that spec, but still in the 90-120 seconds range.

* but it does take around 30 minutes to get the oven up to that temperature. It's not just an air temperature or radiant heat, the thermal mass of the stone has be filled.

This really doesn't vibe with me. A croissant is not something I eat regularly. If I do eat a croissant I want it to be an experience, not something I ram down my throat as quickly as possible. Anticipation is part of the experience. To each their own, I guess.

This article is about wanting to cook a croissant quickly. How you eat that croissant once it is cooked is a different topic. I'm struggling to understand how cooking at 200 for 20 mins vs 225 for 15 minutes impacts the "anticipation experience". If the taste, texture, etc. was identical, are you arguing it'd be better to bake at 180 for 25 minutes solely because that extra 5 minutes adds to the anticipation experience? Because I sincerely can't comprehend it.

I think my attitude is similar to the "slow food" movement, though I don't go as far as they do. Once I start thinking about how quickly it cooks, it becomes something to optimize, to rush, to worry about. I don't want that.

Put your frozen croissant into a cold oven, make coffee, get washed, listen to audio book. Maybe it took 30mins, but it is a daily ritual I enjoyed

There is no reason you could not stab the croissant with a heat conducting spike or two, to get the interior temperature up faster.

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