You are correct. Initial internal temperature and geometry of the food are key inputs. Once you know these, simulation is possible, but it takes some work.
A few years ago I wrote an app called Sous Vide Dash that was initially targeted at professional level kitchens-and later white labeled by PolyScience, the leading provider of professional sous vide equipment. We did full thermodynamic simulation in that app, and modeled both temperature and pasteurization. To my knowledge it's still the only cooking app that has an embedded numerical solver for partial differential equations. In 2012 we won the StarChefs International Chefs Congress Innovator award for our work.
Popping back to the top of the stack, it's a very exciting time for precision cooking. As one of the founders of Meld, I can tell you there is a lot more to come.
A few years ago I wrote an app called Sous Vide Dash that was initially targeted at professional level kitchens-and later white labeled by PolyScience, the leading provider of professional sous vide equipment. We did full thermodynamic simulation in that app, and modeled both temperature and pasteurization. To my knowledge it's still the only cooking app that has an embedded numerical solver for partial differential equations. In 2012 we won the StarChefs International Chefs Congress Innovator award for our work.
Popping back to the top of the stack, it's a very exciting time for precision cooking. As one of the founders of Meld, I can tell you there is a lot more to come.