Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[KennethT]

18 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

But boiling water never exceeds 100℃ at sea level or whatever temperature appertains a different altitudes. In any one place, there is no difference in temperature between a boil and a hard boil.

 

 

Exactly, once 100C is attained, any extra energy goes to the latent heat of vaporization....  So the more heat energy there is, the more violent the boil as there's more vaporization, but temp stays the same.

[Smithy]

35 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

But boiling water never exceeds 100℃ at sea level or whatever temperature appertains a different altitudes. In any one place, there is no difference in temperature between a boil and a hard boil.

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Exactly, once 100C is attained, any extra energy goes to the latent heat of vaporization....  So the more heat energy there is, the more violent the boil as there's more vaporization, but temp stays the same.

 

This is true, but bubbles start to develop at lower temperatures. "Simmer" covers a much wider range of temperatures than I'd thought back then, and the observed, for-practical-cooking-purposes boil happens at slightly less than 100C. In addition, the viscosity affects boiling point when it isn't pure water. 

[blue_dolphin]

This article has a pretty good boil vs simmer discussion.  

[rotuts]

@blue_dolphin

 

interesting article .  thank you for sharing.

[Shel_B]

12 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

This article has a pretty good boil vs simmer discussion.  

And what is the missing 7-degrees between simmering and boiling called and what would you cook at those temps?

[blue_dolphin]

9 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

And what is the missing 7-degrees between simmering and boiling called and what would you cook at those temps?

It’s the Black Hole of Boiling.  Nothing should be cooked there! 🙃

[Shel_B]

5 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

It’s the Black Hole of Boiling.  Nothing should be cooked there! 🙃

Perhaps that explains why my poaching chicken thighs disappeared ....

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, Shel_B said:

And what is the missing 7-degrees between simmering and boiling called and what would you cook at those temps?

 

I postulate that that's the range of "low boil" as opposed to "full boil" or "rolling boil". I admit that so far I haven't found anything to support that terminology. However, Shirley Corriher in Cookwise notes that grain starches thicken at "just below the boiling point of water; can be held at this temperature without damage" (p. 275, First Edition, 1997) whereas root starches thicken at lower temperatures. The exact temperature depends on the exact starch, of course. My point here is that "just below the boiling point" may be that ill-defined 7-degree range.

[Shel_B]

3 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

@Smithy  Your postulation was a very fine post.