It’s a common joke that boiling water is a cooking skill many people have never learned.So without further ado, let’s jump right in and learn this skill… shall we?Turn on your stove burner to the highest temperature. Usually, this is marked as “high”.Get a pot, and put some lukewarm water in it. Let’s say four cups of water, and place it on the burner.To heat water to the point of boiling on a stovetop, we heat the pot containing the water.The heat causes the water’s temperature to rise. Some of this heat energy will escape from the top of the pot.
By covering the pot, most of the heat is caught inside, and the
water will reach the boiling point much faster.
To raise the temperature of 1 gram of water to 1 degree Celsius, it only takes 1 calorie of heat energy. To turn 1 gram of boiling water to steam takes exactly 539 calories.When the steam escapes, it takes heat energy with it. A lot of energy is lost from boiling water in an open pot. Therefore, by covering the pot we’ll save energy and shorten heating times.So don’t remove the lid from the simmering pot or you will lose energy and prolong the time it takes to boil the water.Even removing the lid from a simmering pot on low heat will cause the bubbling action of water to slow down.When the water has reached the boiling point with the lid on, it will start to leak out of the top of the pot. Turn off the stove, and remove the pot from the burner, and make your tea.Or…Keep the pot covered, and you can keep up the desired cooking temperature while using a lower burner setting. This is great if you now need to cook some vegetables for a few minutes.So there you have it. You’ve boiled water based on the proper principles.