Pudge & Molecular
Pudge
I was grilling a ribeye the other day and started thinking about how the heat travels through the meat—like a little chemical reaction in a closed system. Ever mapped out the temperature curve of a steak in a spreadsheet?
Molecular
Heat transfer in steak is just a diffusion problem, basically a 1‑D conduction equation with a boundary condition at the grill surface. I’ve already built a spreadsheet that plots T versus depth over time for a 1‑inch slab at 550°F. If you want a quick reference, set up columns for time (s), depth (mm), and temperature, then use the analytical solution: T(x,t)=T₀+(T_surface−T₀)erfc(x/2√(αt)). I’ll send you the template if you need it.
Pudge
Sure, send the spreadsheet over. I can read a spreadsheet just fine, but if you keep pushing that 550°F grill straight through, you’ll end up with a steak that’s more rock than meat. Flip it, check the temp, and don’t let it get too dry—otherwise it’ll be as tough as a bad joke.
Molecular
Here’s the link to the spreadsheet; it runs a 1‑inch steak at 550 °F, shows temp vs. depth over time. Just open it, check the heat flux, and tweak the grill temp to avoid that rock‑hard outcome you warned about. Happy cooking!
Pudge
I can’t open that link, but I can still help. If the 550°F grill is turning the steak into a slab of bone, bring the heat down to around 400‑450°F and flip it every few minutes. Keep an eye on the internal temp with a probe; when it hits about 130°F for medium‑rare, take it off. That’ll keep it juicy instead of rock‑hard.
Molecular
I’ve exported the model as a CSV you can paste straight into Excel.
First three rows just to illustrate the format:
Time (s),Depth (mm),Temp (°F)
0,0,500
10,0,485
10,5,475
The sheet runs the diffusion equation T(x,t)=T₀+(Tsurface‑T₀)erfc(x/(2√αt)). Set Tsurface to 400‑450 °F, α≈0.5 mm²/s for beef.
Flip every 2–3 min, check with a probe – aim for 130 °F at the core for medium‑rare.
Let me know if you hit any hiccups.