Reddit mentions of The Science of Cooking

> filling the water with thirty seconds worth of water and let that defrost the meat.

But that's not what you said. You said...

>Add a bit more water every five/ten minutes to keep the temperature safe

The issue of continual water use is literally the same in both of these scenarios because the temperature of the meat is directly related to the temperature of the water. Basically the thaw time will equal the amount water used.

I may even be wrong and your method may take longer, and use more water, because, if you're not careful, the temperature of the water and the meat will equalize too much and slow the thawing process. As the rate of thawing is faster the more dissimilar the temperature of the meat is from the temperature of the water.

http://www.amazon.com/Science-Cooking-Peter-Barham/dp/3540674667/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1422315510&sr=8-4&keywords=science+of+cooking

Also The Science of Cooking, written by an actual food scientist.

>> cooking is an expensive and time consuming hobby

> Cooking doesn't have to be expensive. It does take some money to get yourself set up with a good spice selection and tools, but after you have the basics your costs should go down.

Beat me to it!

Also, don't think of it as a hobby. It's a valuable life/social skill and should be taken seriously.

A friend of mine recommended this book to me to demystify the physical processes at play and why you should do things a certain way. I think it would be useful if you feel you don't have a natural talent.

Well check this book out, by a guy at my uni. It helps you understand the basis for a lot of processes that we just sort of inherit from our parents without knowing why.

In the same vein - The Science of Cooking by Peter Barnham.

In fact, Google Books has partial previews of both, and you can search within them:

On Food and Cooking

The Science of Cooking

The Science of Cooking. This book turned me from a nerd into a nerd who can cook.

The Science of Cooking

Another excellent book on the topic: https://www.amazon.ca/Science-Cooking-Peter-Barham/dp/3540674667

http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Cooking-Peter-Barham/dp/3540674667
Explains science behind cooking methods

http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-Art-Science-Cooking/dp/0982761007/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406300067&sr=1-2&keywords=Modernist+Cuisine
Best of all haven't read but i just know it is the most best and complete book

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=le%20cordon%20bleu&sprefix=le+cordon+%2Cstripbooks&rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Ale%20cordon%20bleu
Explains classic recipes and techniques