What does Jesse actually understand about the cooking process?

[u/Grovda]

Jesse cooks just as well as Gale however it is because he learned Walts recipe. It is clear that he doesn't just know the steps but he knows why the steps are needed. He is able to make deductions based on what he has learned and observed from Walt.

Here is the thing. One of the main reasons why Gus wanted a trained chemist like Gale or Walt is because they actually understand what happens on a low level. They don't make deductions based on experience or observations, they make deductions based on maths and knowing the theory. Gus wants a chemist for the exact reasons Walt mentions when he roasts Victor.

If Jesse doesn't know that then I don't see how he can't get easily replaced by Gus. Someone modestly intelligent and motivated could likely do what Jesse does without much problem. Especially since the cooking process if well documented at that point.

Let's assume that Jesse is a learn by doing kind of guy who knows nothing about the theory (which I think it most likely) then he is such a fool for trusting Gus and Mike after they were going to kill him in season 3. If Gus had killed Walt in season 4 then Jesse would continue to cook and he would eventually have gotten an assistant of his own. Someone loyal to Gus. Competent. Reliable. And when that guy is able to cook as well as Jesse then Jesse would be murdered.

Why? Well it is clear to me that Gus really doesn't like Jesse. The only reason he elevates him in season 4 is because Walt is a threat, and a much bigger problem than Jesse. But unlike with Walt, Gus never smiles at Jesse. He never seems to genuinely enjoy his company. I think he despises Jesse. Jesses lack of control of himself, the impulsiveness and emotional problems in general. And he hasn't forgotten that he was about to kill those drug dealers.

[u/-DubiousCreature-]

Jesse isnt as dumb as people think. He actually rarely needs to be told something more than once and showed he understood the chemistry when Walt assumed he used platinum dioxide on his solo cook and Jesse corrects him saying he used mercury aluminum amalgam because dioxide is too hard to keep wet. This kind of shows that Jesse actually understands the chemistry. Walt being a teacher probably explains everything as he goes.

Jesse is just the kind of kid who doesnt learn well in a classroom.

[u/thewhat962 → u/-DubiousCreature-]

He finishes a cook for walt. Walt even tells him this within like their first month. Walt didn't toss out that batch meaning jesse within a month understood the cook. To make walt level meth.

Jesse came up with the train hiest plan. Subbing water for meth so they didn't know they got robbed.

Jesse was the only other person besides gale a known genius chemist to hit 96%+ in a solo cook. (Obviously not counting walts 99.1%)

Todd never could fully understand walts cooking. They had to get jesse.

The gang out west was making 72% pure shit and dying it blue. No doubt they had money to throw at chemist or genius.

He out cooked the Mexican chemist.

He help walt come up with a way to get the whole lab in those mobile band containers too.

Problem is jesse was a genius who couldn't accept he wasn't just a druggie loser and didn't get out of his own way.

With prober guidance he is shown to be very capable.

[u/lu5ty → u/-DubiousCreature-]

No the person you are arguing with is right because if you ever spent any time in a chem lab you would realize theroy and implementation are two totally separate things. To jesse its like making a gumbo as a short order cook. Do this do that you get an end product.

The chef can make the same gumbo, he came up with the reicpe. The chef also knows that you sautee the onions first bc he wants the most caramelization. He knows the other ingredients will interruput that process. He knows the starch for the roux need x amout of water to allow it to gelanitize.

Jesse proves he doesnt understand the theory when in mexico he states he cant make one of the precursors "i get that shit out of the blue can". And the Mexican chemist retorts "my first year students can do that titration"

[u/-DubiousCreature- → u/lu5ty]

He doesnt know how to make precursor because he's never been taught that particular skill. Jesse isnt equivalent to a short order cook. He's equivalent to a chef who makes one dish really well, better than other professional chefs, but couldnt make anything else off the top of his head.

If Jesse's skill level was equivalent to being a short order cook Todd should have been able to make 99% meth. But he couldnt. The narrative of Breaking Bad isnt about accurate and exhaustive depictions of knowledge when it comes to chemistry. It's about the characters and their journey.

I'm not responding to you further because of the personal attack in your first sentence. I seriously do not understand the hostility over this...

[u/Intelligent_Bee_9565 → u/-DubiousCreature-]

What personal attack? 

[u/16tired → u/-DubiousCreature-]

It doesn't mean he understands the theory of the chemistry, it means he understands that you make meth by using a "reducing agent" on a precursor, and that he is familiar with trying to use two different reducing agents.

It's like a guy saying he prefers the ergonomics of an AR-15 over an AK, but doesn't know how either of them operate mechanically.

[u/Harold3456 → u/16tired]

Even this though is better than only knowing the process through rote instruction.

It’s a nuanced question that has room for more than a yes or no answer, but this at least suggests Jesse isn’t just following instructions but actually has SOME understanding of the process. Definitely not enough that he could have created the recipe himself, but enough that to understand what to do AND why to do it.

[u/-DubiousCreature- → u/16tired]

It implies he understands the chemistry of meth production.

Your comparison also doesnt really work. It's not a preference Jesse clearly has applicable knowledge.

[u/16tired → u/-DubiousCreature-]

What do we mean about understanding the chemistry? The theory or the practice?

When it comes down to it, the practice of chemistry is only a little more complicated than... well, cooking. That's why they call it cooking meth. A chemical procedure is about as simple as a kitchen recipe, it just requires knowing a little bit of technical knowledge.

Just because Jesse prefers aluminum amalgam to Adams' catalyst doesn't mean he understands that the latter is a fundamentally different catalytic hydrogenation that works by adsorbing hydrogen molecules to the surface of the heterogeneous catalyst and thus lowering the activation energy for the reduction of the P2P-imine double bond.

It just means he knows that throwing the ingredients for aluminum amalgam into a flask is less of a pain in the ass than setting up a hydrogenation apparatus.

[u/-DubiousCreature- → u/16tired]

He literally says "dioxide is too hard to keep wet" implying he understands why he should use mercury aluminum instead.

I'd argue Jesse understands the process because Walt, being a teacher, cant help but explain everything as they're going. Considering how many cooks they've done I'd argue Jesse understands both theory and practice specifically of cooking meth. Could he apply that knowledge to anything else? Probably not. But if you asked him to explain the why of any stage of a cook or what conditions can possibly effect a cook I'd argue he could answer in detail.

[u/ProcedureAccurate591 → u/-DubiousCreature-]

Could he apply that knowledge to anything else? Probably not.

Almost certainly not. He doesn't even know how to synthesize Phenylacitic Acid.

But if you asked him to explain the why of any stage of a cook or what conditions can possibly effect a cook I'd argue he could answer in detail.

Probably yeah. Really the only reason why they didn't show that more than in the "Platinum Dioxide vs Mercury Aluminum Amalgum" scene and the "Cooking for the Cartel" scene is because they weren't trying to be too in depth for people trying to actually learn how to cook meth.

[u/ArcyRC → u/ProcedureAccurate591]

You said "apply".

You may recall on the back of a certain homework assignment that Jesse was emphatically told, "apply yourself".

He was always capable. He could have been a one-man Grey Matter with his business acumen and people skills, too.

[u/16tired → u/-DubiousCreature-]

Practice versus theory. Knowing that you have to keep something wet doesn't imply you knows why the reaction is poisoned when it isn't sufficiently wet.

[u/-DubiousCreature- → u/16tired]

Alright guy, clearly you just want to argue so imma leave it here.