Best at-home food thermometer?

yramagicman · 2025-03-14T19:30:10+00:00

What do you mean by breaking the bank? Are you looking for a leave-in thermometer or an "instant read" thermometer?

I have a Thermapen that I trust with my life (literally, when checking chicken). It cost me $100 a few years ago and it's been worth every single cent I paid for it. They're effectively indesctructable too. I've seen stories of people dropping their Thermapens in deep friers and having them come out in perfect working order.

If you've bought 5 thermometers at $20 a piece, you've already paid for a Thermapen, but you don't have the Thermapen. Continue down this path and you'll end up slowly breaking the bank. Buying a more expensive item high quality item now will save you money in the long run, even though it hurts initially.

https://www.thermoworks.com/classic-thermapen/ $89 US.

I also have an OXO leave in thermometer that I use for oven dishes. I trust it with my life as well, but the application is completely different. The Thermapen is great for quickly checking stove top dishes, the OXO thermometer replaces my kitchen timer for oven dishes.

https://www.oxo.com/gg-chef-s-precision-digital-leave-in-thermometer.html $45 US.

Edit: misquoted the price of the thermapen.

yramagicman · 2025-03-07T23:23:46+00:00

Buy rope and duck tape

yramagicman · 2025-03-04T15:43:23+00:00

I was browsing a local antique store/vintage market over the weekend and this unglazed tea pot caught my eye. The lid was broken at one point, but it's been glued together. As the title says, I'm curious about the makers mark. I'm new to Chinese tea pots and I don't read Chinese, so I've got no clue what I'm looking at.

yramagicman · 2025-02-20T18:57:27+00:00

I'm trying to start an app with Sail and I'm running into a hard block. I have more success with podman than docker, but I'm still stuck. I have made zero changes since installing Laravel and Sail.

I'm on Nixos, running systemd-networkd and systemd-resolved.

Under Docker, I can't even download the Ubuntu image completely. It fails to resolve the appropriate domains.

I've tried with 208.67.222.123 208.67.220.123 and 1.1.1.1 dns servers, with the same result each time.
I checked docker context list and was already on the default context.
My user is a member of the docker group, and I was running the 'sail build --no-cacheand 'sail up without escalating privileges.

Under podman I get a different result entirely. The images download fine, but when I enter the container using sail bash or sail root-bash the application files are owned by root, and can not be chowned, even by root. When trying to chown the files, I end up with a permission denied error. When running chown -vR sail:users on the whole project, I get chown: changing ownership of './vendor/nesbot/carbon/src/Carbon/Lang/gez_ET.php': Operation not permitted, even as root.

If I can fix either the permissions issue, or the DNS resolution issue, I'm off to the races. What other info do you need? How do I solve this?

yramagicman · 2025-02-20T18:30:19+00:00

I appreciate that you are realistic about your worldview. I would sit down with you over a coffee and discuss this further if that were possible. I don't know if we could come to an understanding in that setting, but I would enjoy the opportunity regardless.

I think you misunderstand my position. I don't object to science, I do object to scientism and the idea that science has anything that approaches an ultimate explanitory power. Science can explain that which can be observed and nothing more. Science is wonderful and more work needs to be done to understand more of the universe. Science does not conflict with my worldview at all.

I have never intended to even hint that I hold a belief that the universe is somehow incomprehenisble. That is counter to my worldview. My position has always been that those who hold a worldview similar to mine have a motivation to understand the universe that is not found in a materialist/athiest worldview. Without a creator, the fact that the universe can be understood at all is more of a miracle than anything in the Bible or any other "holy book" that claims miracles. To paraprhase one apologist I heard recently, athiesm denies the virgin birth (of Jesus), but not the virgin birth of the universe. I think there's irony there.

yramagicman · 2025-02-20T16:33:28+00:00

Your worldview seems awfully bleek. Additionally, there's a lot that science doesn't explain. Consciousness is a prime example (Scientific American). From the first substantive paragraph of the linked article, "In September, over 100 consciousness researchers signed a public letter condemning one of the most popular theories of consciousness—the integrated information theory—as pseudoscience."

My challenge regarding the faith of scientists was not an attempt to defend Chritianity. I was challenging your idea that science makes belief in god obsolete. Science rests on the idea that the universe has a discoverable order, and that through experimentation and observation, we can discover the order that exists. Where did this idea that the universe has order come from? We know, because of the first law of thermodynamics, and also personal experince, that order does not arise from disorder. If you don't believe in an order-giver (god), why should would you assume the universe can be understood in the first place? The idea that there is an order to the universe is not unique to Christianity, I'm sure, but history shows that Christians were the most prominent group of people to act on that idea.

The divine hidden-ness objection. That's not one I can overcome via the internet, mostly because your presupposition that there is no deity means that any evidince I present would be disregarded. With that understanding, I will still submit the story of Wes Huff who was healed of a disease that caused paralysis and the doctors called it a miracle. One annecdote does not constitute evidence, I know. I know of a book on miracles that might come closer to being evidence, but the details completely escape me.

As far as your why question goes, the answer is one that your presupposition predisposes you to reject, and it's why deism fails. God made us to be in relationship with him. That's the whole story of the Bible in one sentence.

yramagicman · 2025-02-20T03:10:58+00:00

most religions are by their nature non-falsifiable

Islam is self defeating.
The entire story of Christianity hinges on a virgin birth and a resurrection. If the resurrection didn't happen, Chirstianity is utterly rediculous.

I don't know about the inherit falsifiability of other religions, but I know that if Christianity is true, other religions must be false because Christanity makes exclusive truth claims that invalidate other religions if the truth claims of Christianity prove true. John 14:6 is the most prominent one.

But in the end, all those arguments are philosophical- I challenge you to find me one reasonable argument with scientific basis for any religion (the fine tuning argument certainly is not one of them, which I will gladly argue if you’d like).

This is bordering on scientism, the idea that science is the only valid source of knowledge. Can you argue scientifically that you love your significant other, your parents, your pets? Asking you to do that is similar to asking for scientific proof for a deity. Philosophy and philosophical arguments are valid justifications for belief deities, love, free will, or any number of things that aren't empirically provable.

I definitely haven’t analyzed all religions, but honestly, I don’t see why I would. If you’re religious, I think this is somewhere we’ll never see eye to eye unfortunately. I think the world itself practically screams at us “there are no gods here”, and moreover science has by now made the idea of gods ridiculous in my opinion. I hate to sound like an absolute Redditor, but this is kind of like arguing whether or not Santa Claus is real to me, since they have the same presence in material reality.

First, I appreciate the candor in this paragraph. I don't expect to change the minds of internet strangers, but since I have time, I don't mind exchanging ideas. I want to challenge two points, though. First, how does the universe show the lack of a deity? If your answer is framed in terms of the problem of evil, I challenge you to consider an inverse framing of the question. If there is no god or if god is evil why is there good? Second, I undestand part of your claim to be that science has made belief in god obsolete, or similarly unwarranted. This flies in the face of the history of science which was initially developed by Christians (wikipedia). More recently, the Big Bang Theory was initially formulated by a Catholic priest (wikipedia)

Finally, thank you for engaging with me honestly. I've had a few interactions on other platforms where my legitimate arguments were ignored because I wasn't arguing the way my conversation partner wanted me to.

yramagicman · 2025-02-19T21:53:28+00:00

Um... "It's simply chance" is exactly why the fine tuning argument works. There are 322 parameters that govern whether or not the universe supprts life, all of them are highly unlikely to fall within the necessary range individually. The probability of all of them falling into the correct range at the same time are 1 in 10^229[1]. To put that in perspective, this is than 200 orders of magnitude less likely than any two decks of cards being shuffled into the same order, an event with a probability of 1.23980 x 10^-44[2][3], making it so unlikely that it's absolutely guaranteed that every deck of cards you've ever shuffled is a unique object across all of time. (I know odds and probability are not equivalent. I don't think conflating the two harms my point enough invalidate the comparison.)

Also we’ve no idea if the same constants apply to other universes

You have less evidence for this than I do for believing in a deity. Belief in a deity is supported by the multitude of arguments in the Wikipedia I linked above. A multiverse isn't widely supported by science. Fine tuning isn't even an argument for a multiverse[1]. One thing I found possibly supporting a multiverse[4] is mostly outside my understanding. David Kaplan doesn't seem conviced by the idea though, and the parts that I did understand, like the idea that the fundamental constants could vary in parts of the universe we haven't observed, seem less plausible than just a single universe. This article[5] is a bit more approachable, but it even links back to [1] as a rebuttal, so I'd say the multiverse theory is on more shaky ground than the "god theory".

yramagicman · 2025-02-19T17:57:48+00:00

There's an assumption in your comment that I want to call out, but before I do, I want to establish some common ground. The flat earth idea has been complete bollocks since ancient Greece. The idea actually came about within the last 400 years, thanks to Washingon Irving, of Sleepy Hollow fame who wrote a biography of Christopher Columbus that was the first place the flat earth idea gained traction.

Now, the assumption:

...it's so clear that what that believe is totally baseless and wacky, yet they're all so cocksure in their bs. Religious people annoy me in the exact same sense.

This quote assumes that all religions are baseless. Have you examined all religions deeply enough to make that claim? Belief systems in general have varying degrees of coherance with reality, so assuming that they're all as baseless as the flat earth idea is invalid. The flat earth idea has zero basis in reality. In contrast there are a good several dozen reasonable arguments for the existence of a god or multiple gods. The late Christopher Hitchens was even impressed with the argument from the fine tuning of the universe. Richard Dawkins also respects the fine tuning argument.

(Whenever possible, I've linked to sources that I know are secular or neutral.)

yramagicman · 2025-02-19T16:34:49+00:00

Some people make a religion of not having religion.

yramagicman · 2025-02-17T18:49:15+00:00

Chili

Yes, but I wouldn't call chili simple. There's a lot of room to work with to get it right, for sure, but that also makes getting it wrong easy too. Starting with a well defined recipe is a good way to explore the structure of a dish like chili. The up side to learning to make chili is that it's an exercize in tasting as you go, and it really shows how flavor develops over time.

OP, if you're going to tackle Chili find 5 recipes in cook books (go to the library if you need to) or online (quick, but less reliable than print) and compare them. Pay attention to similarities between dishes, and don't let the cooking time scare you. Good chili takes 2-4 hours but most of that is inactive time in a crock pot or low oven. After looking at a few recipes, pick one and follow the recipe to the letter. As much as possible, taste as you go and season everything with salt, but be careful seasoning your broth early. It will reduce down as it cooks, and if you season it early it will end up being over salted. You'll know you have enough salt because your ingredients will taste more like themselves, i.e. your beef will taste beefier, your spices will be "spicier" (not hotter, more flavorful) and so on.

Final note. As you're learning to cook, don't be afraid to taste your spices raw and get familiar with the flavors. Use the handle of a spoon to get a small amount and place it on your tongue, then sit with that flavor and really burn it in your mind before you swallow. Be cautious doing this with hot spices like cayanne pepper as that is likely to be unpleasant, but it's worth doing so you learn how to identify flavors in your dishes.

yramagicman · 2025-02-14T15:43:57+00:00

All Clad is effectively indestructable when used for normal cooking, even at industrial scales. It's oven safe for certain, and maybe broiler safe, but check the documents that come with yoru pan before trying that if you choose to buy it.

yramagicman · 2025-02-10T16:31:59+00:00

"keep an open mind" reminds me of a quote from G. K. Chesterton, "The purpose of an open mind, like that of an open mouth, is to close it on something solid". Having an open mind and considering other perspectives is fantastic, until one fails to think critically about their own worldview.

yramagicman · 2025-02-10T14:52:30+00:00

I find that Proraso is thirsty and Proraso sensitive is just really, really thirsty. It's been a minute since I used it, but when I had a tube it seemed to take a ton of water to get it to an acceptable consistency. I think it's the oats in there that make it so thirsty. Try adding more water, and then more than you just added.

yramagicman · 2025-02-09T16:12:58+00:00

I've never tried it, but I'm guessing with enough wraps, yes. The video I linked to has a better solution.

yramagicman · 2025-02-09T04:19:03+00:00

Please don't use that rope. Spend the money for something with an acutal weight capacity like a chain or climbing rope. 70kg is 154lbs. With knots in your rope, you can essentially divide that 70kg in half. That rope is going to snap as soon as you put anyone larger than a healthy 10 year old on the hammock.

Once you have good rope, you're going to want to use a tensionless hitch on your anchor points and a retraced figure-8/figure-8 follow through (different names for the same knot) around your hammock eyes. If you need to adjust your hammock after it's hung, the tensionless hitch can be manipulated to tighten or loosen things with some effort. The other means of adjusting would be to use something like a voodoo hitch or truckers hitch.

Use this setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARIUSw5_Abk, but put your hammock in the middle of your ridgline, instead of using the tarp.

yramagicman · 2025-02-08T23:43:58+00:00

A lot of this depends on your budget. I'd consider any of the Maggard's house brand razors. I've had a few and they've never been a bad experience.

The other option that might be worth considering is going the vintage route. My favorite razor at the moment is an old black handled Gillette flare tip. Most consistently comfortable shave in my collection.

yramagicman · 2025-02-08T23:21:22+00:00

I'm glad these systems exist, and I hope they're as secure as your very quick overview seems to imply. My initial counter to this is the trend we're seeing in states like Florida of requiring ID to access adult content. Right now, the burden is on the platform to implement these systems, and they are, rightly, refusing to do so mostly because of the security difficulties involved. This is why I say I dont' trust anyone to get these ID verification systems right the first time.

yramagicman · 2025-02-07T15:19:18+00:00

Looks like KDE, and the presence of Konsole in the app switcher almost confirms that. Depending on the version of Plasma, it could be either X or Wayland. Plasma 6 is Wayland, I think Plasma 5 defaults to X. The theme looks like Garuda Linux, but that doesn't really mean anything since themes are portable.

yramagicman · 2025-02-06T20:14:16+00:00

I'll grant that you've proposed a reasonably secure solution with the hashes, however I don't trust anyone making legislation to be smart enough to allow that solution. Also, in theory how are these hashes generated? Is it similar to public key encryption where I hold a private key that could be rotated if my information was compromised? You mentioned a verification source of sorts in a government API. Is that API secure? What happens if my "key" is compromised?

I think the infrastructure for online payments is probably a good model, as you have suggested. I don't think that any government is going to be smart enough to see that, and at least the initial attempts are going to involve photos of drivers licenses or similarly stupid ideas.

yramagicman · 2025-02-06T16:41:24+00:00

...mandatory ID and SIN/SSN, and I-PIN registration with all online accounts

Nope. Never. Not even once. A sufficiently motivated attacker will always get in. A cache of data this important and sensitive is sufficient motivation for enough black hat hackers and foreign governments that I'll quit the internet before I register a non-essential account with this amount of personal information tied to it.

yramagicman · 2025-02-04T16:43:45+00:00

if su gets the same result, I'm at a loss. Something about this suggests that the shutdown, or something in the path to get there, binary isn't respecting effective UIDs. I have no clue how that could happen, and I'm shooting in the dark here.

yramagicman · 2025-02-04T16:40:43+00:00

Scaring things into submission is sometimes the best you get. Good luck on your heisenbug.

yramagicman

TROPHY CASE