[vash]

my conclusions: this is what i think played out.

the baking soda test. all the rest of the pans were boiled way down until there was just a puddle of concentrated solution. the pan was all dusty from the cooked down baking soda, like it was dusted with powdered sugar. tasted just like that one time i tried to brush my teeth with the stuff. her fancy pan had a lot of water remaining, and there was no powdered sugar dusting. i think the water would taste the same if we boiled down water in a glass bowl.

the food. was essentially steamed. that was why the meal had to be vegetarian. i should have asked her to fry and egg, or cook a pork chop. warmed up veggies are easy for any pan.

the vacuum cooking. not possible. unless my thermodynamic professor was wrong. i know for a fact every time that button poked up and the holes exposed themselves, the contents would see atmospheric pressure. the lid being slightly stuck on there, i assume was nothing more that surface tension.