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the
clueless cook's handbook: how do you boil water? 
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how
to boil
water Yeah, some of you are
laughing as you read this, thinking, "Okay, even I’m not
clueless enough to ask that dumb a question." Well goody for you
– it’s an essential kitchen skill. But bear with me, because I’m
starting from the basics, the very, very basics, and it doesn’t get
much more basic than boiling water.
At any rate, begin with cold water from the tap. That’s right, cold water, not hot, even though that would heat up faster. The reason is this: when hot tap water sits around in your pipes, the higher temps allow the gunk that's collected in the pipes to dissolve more readily in your water. And you don’t want to be ingesting that, right? Don’t fill the pot all the way up – keep in mind that anything you add to the boiling water will increase the volume, and plus, you’ll need to allow room for those bubbles to do their thing. Place the pot on the stove and turn the heat to high. If you want to speed up the process, put a cover on it; I often leave it uncovered because it gives me more time to wash, peel, dice and otherwise fuss around with any other preparations that need to be made for the meal. You may see little bubbles forming at the edges of the pot; these are just air bubbles from the water, and don’t mean the water’s already reached a boil. When steady streams of big bubbles are sent up from the bottom of the pot, your water’s good to go. |
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