Think I've gotten better results from working the dough more actually.

Three weeks is nothing to sneeze at though. Sounds like the pro stuff is just built different.

Knew a guy in my early 20s who kept talking about letting strangers borrow power tools from your garage through an app. Called it "ToolShare" or something. I laughed and said who would let some random dude use their table saw. Last year that same guy sold his startup to Home Depot for like 40 million. Still makes me wince every time I rent a tiller from the hardware store.

Wait, you actually got a mushy texture from 4 hours at 130F? That's wild because I've done ribeyes at that temp for way longer and never had that happen. The enzymes in beef usually don't go full-on mush mode until you push past like 6 or 8 hours at lower temps. Honestly though, 130F is on the low side so I'm kind of surprised the texture fell apart like that. Maybe you got a tougher piece of meat or the pack had some aging already done to it? For me the sweet spot for ribeye is around 2 to 3 hours tops, anything beyond that and you're really just breaking down all the good stuff that makes it a ribeye in the first place. The 2 hour one sounds like it was done right, so stick with that and don't overthink it.

wait, people REFUSED to switch POV? like they actually argued with you about it? i thought the whole point of a workshop was to try new things, not dig your heels in lol. that's wild.