> 3 different cooks will read his instructions and will end up with 3 different steaks
Either his instructions are shit, or the cooks are donkeys.
Sear steak at high heat, 1 minute, rotate steak 45 degrees, flip steak to sear back side for 1 minute, rotate steak 45 degrees. Move steak to indirect heat until internal temp probed at center of steak reaches 145F, remove steak and plate steak after resting for 4 minutes.
There. If you follow those instructions you can get a perfectly done steak every. single. time.
Shit is only subjective if you don’t have a repeatable way of measuring things.
You absolutely can learn steel working and foundry type of stuff from books, but you have to find ways of measuring what you are doing. E.G. heat to this temp, control cooling process by means of $X, $Y, $Z. Inspect crystal structure of coupon, X-ray for porosity.
It isn’t easy, but it can be done.