<story><title>Ask HN: What&apos;s the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?</title><text>A lot of what hackers do takes years of building knowledge upon knowledge. That&amp;#x27;s also true for physicists, marketers, salespeople, managers, etc.&lt;p&gt;Are there any quick wins that 30 ~ 60 minutes of intense concentration can generate?&lt;p&gt;For example an average person, if focused, can learn to read (but not understand) Korean decently in under an hour.&lt;p&gt;A person can also learn a few guitar chords and possibly play a carefully-chosen song in that time.&lt;p&gt;But those aren&amp;#x27;t valuable skills in themselves.&lt;p&gt;Do you know of any simple + valuable wins in your area of interest?&lt;p&gt;(&amp;quot;valuable&amp;quot; intentionally left vague)</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>WillDaSilva</author><text>You mentioned cooking jasmine rice using a 1:1 ratio of water to rice, but rice generally can&amp;#x27;t be cooked using a linear ratio like this. As you increase the amount of rice being cooked, and change the size&amp;#x2F;shape of the cooking vessel, more of the water will be lost as steam. It&amp;#x27;s easiest to use a rice cooker, which will allow you more flexibility with regards to how much water&amp;#x2F;rice you used, but if you don&amp;#x27;t have a rice cooker (or anything that can work as a rice cooker) then I&amp;#x27;d recommend the method where you cook the rice in a covered dish in the oven.</text></item><item><author>RobertRoberts</author><text>How to cook for yourself, really, really good food. I no longer crave restaurant food, and all of the really important things I learned about cooking take just the time to read it, hear about it and then try it. All without any special hardware.&lt;p&gt;A few examples:&lt;p&gt;1. Cooking jasmine rice: rinse it first, 1 c. water to 1 c. rice ratio. Bring to boil, turn down heat to lowest setting. Leave lid &amp;#x2F;the entire time&amp;#x2F;. Fluff the rice (look this up) when done. (about 12-15 min of cooking)&lt;p&gt;2. Baking a cake: (any square pan yellow cake) Read how baking powder actually works, then you realize you need to mix and bake quickly. Letting it sit before baking will make a flatter cake. Also, stick a butter knife in the middle to test when it&amp;#x27;s done, if it comes out with batter stuck on it, it needs a few more minutes.&lt;p&gt;3. Eggs: When frying, scrambling, put the eggs in warm water before cracking to make them room temperature first. They cook better this way.&lt;p&gt;4. Chocolate syrup: 1 c. water, 1 c. cocoa power, 1 c. sugar, 1&amp;#x2F;2 tsp vanilla, 1&amp;#x2F;2 tsp salt. Blend it in a blender. (sealed container works best, as it&amp;#x27;s messy) Better than store bought, super cheap, use organic if you like...&lt;p&gt;etc...&lt;p&gt;Why is this valuable? Because I am no longer tempted to waste money at restaurants any more, or buy unique expensive organic products (because I can make them now). I feel incredibly free and liberated that I get food at home that tastes better than what is at a restaurant now. (for about 90% of the stuff I like)&lt;p&gt;Also, I can teach my kids, and they start life with these skills. Great question, way too many things to write down...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>RobertRoberts</author><text>I wanted to demonstrate that it can be simple, but you are right there are a lot of variables, but I think they are small. The size&amp;#x2F;type of pot you use may affect water amounts.&lt;p&gt;But I found it very useful to learn to cook with whatever you have available to you. And then learn to adjust. All of these things take tiny amounts of time and yield great results. (mainly through practice of course)</text></comment>
<story><title>Ask HN: What&apos;s the most valuable thing you can learn in an hour?</title><text>A lot of what hackers do takes years of building knowledge upon knowledge. That&amp;#x27;s also true for physicists, marketers, salespeople, managers, etc.&lt;p&gt;Are there any quick wins that 30 ~ 60 minutes of intense concentration can generate?&lt;p&gt;For example an average person, if focused, can learn to read (but not understand) Korean decently in under an hour.&lt;p&gt;A person can also learn a few guitar chords and possibly play a carefully-chosen song in that time.&lt;p&gt;But those aren&amp;#x27;t valuable skills in themselves.&lt;p&gt;Do you know of any simple + valuable wins in your area of interest?&lt;p&gt;(&amp;quot;valuable&amp;quot; intentionally left vague)</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>WillDaSilva</author><text>You mentioned cooking jasmine rice using a 1:1 ratio of water to rice, but rice generally can&amp;#x27;t be cooked using a linear ratio like this. As you increase the amount of rice being cooked, and change the size&amp;#x2F;shape of the cooking vessel, more of the water will be lost as steam. It&amp;#x27;s easiest to use a rice cooker, which will allow you more flexibility with regards to how much water&amp;#x2F;rice you used, but if you don&amp;#x27;t have a rice cooker (or anything that can work as a rice cooker) then I&amp;#x27;d recommend the method where you cook the rice in a covered dish in the oven.</text></item><item><author>RobertRoberts</author><text>How to cook for yourself, really, really good food. I no longer crave restaurant food, and all of the really important things I learned about cooking take just the time to read it, hear about it and then try it. All without any special hardware.&lt;p&gt;A few examples:&lt;p&gt;1. Cooking jasmine rice: rinse it first, 1 c. water to 1 c. rice ratio. Bring to boil, turn down heat to lowest setting. Leave lid &amp;#x2F;the entire time&amp;#x2F;. Fluff the rice (look this up) when done. (about 12-15 min of cooking)&lt;p&gt;2. Baking a cake: (any square pan yellow cake) Read how baking powder actually works, then you realize you need to mix and bake quickly. Letting it sit before baking will make a flatter cake. Also, stick a butter knife in the middle to test when it&amp;#x27;s done, if it comes out with batter stuck on it, it needs a few more minutes.&lt;p&gt;3. Eggs: When frying, scrambling, put the eggs in warm water before cracking to make them room temperature first. They cook better this way.&lt;p&gt;4. Chocolate syrup: 1 c. water, 1 c. cocoa power, 1 c. sugar, 1&amp;#x2F;2 tsp vanilla, 1&amp;#x2F;2 tsp salt. Blend it in a blender. (sealed container works best, as it&amp;#x27;s messy) Better than store bought, super cheap, use organic if you like...&lt;p&gt;etc...&lt;p&gt;Why is this valuable? Because I am no longer tempted to waste money at restaurants any more, or buy unique expensive organic products (because I can make them now). I feel incredibly free and liberated that I get food at home that tastes better than what is at a restaurant now. (for about 90% of the stuff I like)&lt;p&gt;Also, I can teach my kids, and they start life with these skills. Great question, way too many things to write down...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>monetus</author><text>Good advice on the water.  Similar to how people learn ovens, it helps to learn pans.  The best method I&amp;#x27;ve tried so far is a ~2:1 ratio (adjust to desired texture) in a 14&amp;quot; wide, lidded, enameled skillet.   I&amp;#x27;ll try the oven again soon to compare, but that particular pan on a stovetop is hard to beat.  Learn your pans.</text></comment>