One of the sadly more neglected branches of research is the science of burger flipping. During the BBQ months, a key conundrum for the gastronomically inclined is whether a burger flipped many times cooks more quickly than one flipped only once. And if so, how many flips is ideal?
Today, we get an answer to this important question thanks to the work of Jean-Luc Thiffeault, a mathematician at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Thiffeault has created a mathematical model of burger flipping which leads to a crucial insight that should allow you to cook burgers 29 per cent more quickly.
Thiffeault’s model is relatively simple. It assumes a flat burger that is one centimeter thick but infinite in extent (in mathematics, dreams can come true). The model includes a heating element on one side of the burger with fresh air on the other.
