Please fill out the form below, and we’ll send you a PDF copy by email. Are you ready to be amazed? Sign up for our newsletter, which is full of cool, interesting, and inspiring science stories.
Fill out the form below to listen to the audio version of this article59262EmailCountryAre you ready to get interested? Sign up for our newsletter, which is full of cool, interesting, and inspiring science stories.
James is a published author with four pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.
Slapping chickens to cook them has been tried for years since people learned that physics says it’s possible. Now a YouTuber has finally achieved it.
Someone asked a question on Reddit a while ago in the No Stupid Questions subreddit: “If kinetic energy is turned into thermal energy, how hard do I have to hit a chicken to cook it?”
This is both a stupid question and kind of the best question the Internet has ever heard. A physics major over on Facebook, Parker Ormonde, did the math.
“As your friendly neighborhood physics major, I decided to calculate this with a few assumptions. The formula for converting between kinetic energy and thermal energy 1/2mv2=mcT,” he wrote on Facebook.
“The average human hand weighs about . 4 kg, the average slap moves at 11 m/s (25 mph), a rotisserie chicken weighs 1 kg (2 lbs), and it can hold 2720 J/kg*c of heat. Let’s say the chicken has to reach 205C (400F) before we can call it done. The chicken will start off frozen so 0C (32F). “.
He finally came to the conclusion that “you would have to slap the chicken 1665 times fast in order to cook it in one slap.” 65 m/s or 3725. 95 mph. “Advertisement.
That’s a pretty big ask, since the Earth spins at about 1,600 kilometers per hour (1,000 miles per hour), so it can’t slap its way to a roast. This sim from a 3D render artist on Twitter shows that a one-punch chicken has other issues. -.
To cook the chicken, you would have to hit it hard enough that it would spray all over the walls. In the process, you would also pretty much destroy and cook your hand. This, along with the broken bones in your arms and the bleeding, will probably take your attention away from serving and/or chinning the potatoes.
People didn’t want to break their bodies for lunch, so the question was raised of whether it would be possible to lightly spank the chicken a million times and cook it that way instead.
The translational kinetic energy of a body is half of the product of its mass and the square of its speed. So, you can’t just slap your chicken 3726 times at 1mph and make gravy. Along with that, the chicken has to cool down between hits, which means that your blows have to come very quickly after each other. -.
For regular slaps, it would take a lot more force, even if you could do them at superhuman speeds.
“1 average slap would generate a temperature increase of 0. 0089 degrees Celsius,” Ormonde calculated. “It would take 23,034 average slaps to cook a chicken. “.
Thats an absurd number of slaps when the oven is right there requiring precisely zero. Still, some people have tried, both with machines and other cheating techniques, which are better because the meat won’t get cooked on your hands.
The video shows that the slapping did, in fact, make the chicken hot. However, the logistics of slapping the chicken have often meant that it breaks far before it will cook. As the host puts it in the video “theres just a f*****g void where there once was chicken”. Advertisement.
But YouTuber Louis Weisz was not to be stopped. He has since gone back to his old enemy the chicken. With a few changes to his machine, which he now calls the “meatslapper 9001,” he showed in a new video that it is possible. The new slapper is soft so that it doesn’t completely destroy the chicken, but it still hits it very hard and very quickly.
To stop the chicken from losing heat, it was put in a bag and sprayed all over the room. He also chose to cook it longer at a lower temperature so that it could be pasteurized without having to be heated to temperatures that were too high to reach.
But it worked. It took around 135,000 slaps, and 8 hours to achieve, but it was worth it. Besides that, he cooked and ate a medium-rare steak that looked pretty good.
It has been thought of for a long time that you could cook chicken without using the oven, which is very convenient. In 1987, physicists from Ohio University did a more serious study (though it was clearly mostly for fun) on cooking chicken with potential energy. Advertisement.
“When an object is dropped from a height, its potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. Upon impact with the ground, this kinetic energy is converted into heat,” they write in their paper.
“If the change in height can be made sufficiently large, significant amounts of heat can be generated. Everyday tasks such as cooking could be made safe, simple and energy efficient. “.
Naturally, they took an 11. 3 kg (25 lb) Greaseball brand turkey, took it to the tenth floor of the administration building, and threw it off a ledge. They then checked the meat’s temperature.
The experiment ended because they didn’t have any more bananas to give to their assistant, but based on their measurements, they figured out that the meat would have reached 400° Fahrenheit (204° Celcius) in just 46 hours using that method. They also said that the meat was “very tender” after tasting it.
You may have seen the viral video going around of a man attempting to cook a chicken by just slapping it repeatedly While silly at first glance, the premise is based on some real science! Slap-cooking takes advantage of converting kinetic energy from the slaps into thermal energy that heats and cooks the meat But is it really possible to fully cook a turkey just by slapping it? Let’s take a closer look at the physics behind this cooking method.
The Viral Video That Started It All
In April 2021, YouTuber Louis Weisz uploaded a video showing his successful attempt to cook a chicken through slapping alone. It took him two months of testing and building a customized mechanical chicken slapper, but he was eventually able to get the chicken fully cooked after around 135,000 slaps over 8 hours.
The inspiration came from a 2019 Reddit thread posing the question of whether you could cook a chicken through slapping. The general consensus was that it was theoretically possible, but would be incredibly impractical without specialized equipment. Louis Weisz took this on as a challenge, and the rest is viral YouTube history.
His video spread widely, leaving many people curious about the validity of cooking through just kinetic energy. Could this really work for larger poultry like a turkey?
The Science Behind Cooking Through Slapping
While it may seem outlandish, there is real thermodynamic science that explains how cooking from slaps can work. Here’s a quick physics recap:
- Kinetic energy is energy associated with movement and velocity
- Thermal energy relates to heat and temperature
- The laws of thermodynamics state that energy can convert between different forms
So in theory, the kinetic energy from slapping can be converted into thermal energy that heats up the meat The more slaps and the faster they are, the more kinetic energy gets transferred as heat
There are some key considerations:
- The slaps must be hard enough to generate sufficient heat, but controlled to avoid destroying the meat’s structure.
- Limiting heat loss is crucial so the thermal energy stays contained within the meat.
With the right technique and equipment, there is no physics reason why slap-cooking couldn’t work! Now let’s look at scaling this up from chicken to turkey
Adapting the Method for a Turkey
Cooking a turkey solely through slapping poses some additional challenges:
- Turkeys are larger, so more total energy input is required.
- The meat is thicker, so the heat needs to penetrate deeper.
- Turkey skin is less elastic, increasing the chance of rupture.
Luckily, we can adapt some techniques and calculations to account for these hurdles:
-
Use a heavier paddle: A heavier slapping paddle packs more kinetic energy to transfer into the turkey.
-
Increase the slapping speed: Faster slaps again correlate with more kinetic energy.
-
Apply more total slaps: Since the turkey is bigger, it will need more slaps overall to reach the desired internal temperature.
-
Focus on cooking thighs first: Since turkey thighs tend to cook faster, applying more slaps here first can help heat propagate through the rest of the meat.
-
Prevent skin rupture: Limiting slap force and using a wide paddle can help avoid rupturing the thinner turkey skin.
-
Wrap in insulator: Wrapping the turkey in an insulating blanket or foil minimizes heat loss through the skin.
Estimating Slap Requirements for Cooking a Turkey
Let’s try to estimate how many slaps it might actually take to fully slap-cook a turkey:
- Turkey weight: Assume a 12 lb turkey
- Target temperature: 165°F internally
- Thermal energy required: Approximately 15,000 BTU or 4400 Watt Hours
- Kinetic energy per slap: Variable based on paddle weight and velocity
- Total slaps needed: Somewhere in the range of 300,000 to 500,000 slaps
This estimate shows that while daunting, cooking a turkey through slapping alone is definitely possible with the right equipment and perseverance. It goes to show that even an absurd idea like slap-cooking has some legitimate science behind it!
Trying Slap Cooked Turkey for Yourself
If you’re feeling experimental, you can attempt to slap-cook poultry at home:
- Use a heavy paddle attached to a robotic arm for automated slapping.
- Program the angle, force, and frequency of slaps to maximize energy transfer.
- Monitor the internal temperature as you go until it reaches 165°F.
- Limit airflow around the meat to retain heat, but avoid completely sealing.
- Focus slaps on the thighs initially to better conduct heat throughout.
While getting fully cooked slap-turkey for Thanksgiving dinner may be impractical, trying a few initial turkey slaps can let you experience the science firsthand. Just be ready for a very long and tiring cooking time!
The idea of cooking meat through just slapping may seem ridiculous, but the underlying science checks out. With the right equipment and techniques, slap-cooking allows converting movement into heat that can fully prepare a turkey or chicken. While not necessarily practical, it serves as an entertaining demonstration of physics and thermodynamics principles in action. So next time you see a slap-cooked meat video, you can appreciate the method to the madness!
I Cooked a TURKEY by Slapping It (feat @NickDiGiovanni)
FAQ
How much heat does a slap generate?
What is the best way to cook a turkey without drying it out?
What is the best way to cook a turkey covered or uncovered?