primitives figure out how to boil water

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=353x1990

Oh my.

LiberalEsto  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Mon Jun-30-08 08:19 PM
Original message

A handy energy saving tip
   
This is an oldie, but with energy prices going through the roof, I thought some of you might find this useful.

First of all, whenever you boil a pot of water, put a lid on it. It not only reduces the time it takes to come to a boil, but in the summer it keeps the kitchen cooler and makes it easier on the air conditioner.

If you're cooking pasta, put it in the pot, let it return to a boil, put the lid back on and TURN OFF the flame.

Let it sit for the exact number of minutes it says to cook on the package. It will come out perfectly done, and in the summer your kitchen will stay cooler.

Warpy  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-01-08 12:16 PM
Response to Original message

2. Back when I did dinner parties I collected flat pan lids. I'd put one on top of a pot I was simmering something in and set another pot on top of it, something that needed to be warmed, like frozen veggies. I did this even when all 4 hobs weren't in use. It kept frozen veggies (and things like dessert sauces) from being overcooked or even scorched while capturing what would have been excess heat escaping into the house.

By the way, what are "hobs"?

I suspect the warped primitive means "burners," but one can't be sure what the primitives really mean, even in short little words.

REACTIVATED IN CT  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-01-08 07:40 PM
Response to Original message

3. Add a little olive oil along with the pasta.
   
This really does work well - I've been cooking pasta this way for a few years.

I dunno. 

I've always just put a slice of butter in the water boiling the pasta.

DUgosh  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-04-08 12:28 AM
Response to Reply #4

5. and the bonus of this method is that the pasta will never be overcooked again. This also works with hard boiled eggs too.

Here the primitives go again, making life harder than it needs to be.

If one wishes to boil water fast, dump some salt into it.

As for "energy savings," what does this do, save circa 1/100,000,000,000th of a kilowatt?

franksolich boils eggs all the time; franksolich dumps salt into the water, the water boils very quickly, the eggs get done in no time at all, and the stove is shut off.  Not much of a chance to "build up" heat this way, and what little itty bitty tiny bit of heat that warms up the summer kitchen is quickly dissipated, like within a third of a second.

[Flame]

Putting a lid on the pan is common sense...duh.   As for olive oil in the water, the foodies say that if you do that the sauce has a hard time "sticking" to the pasta, so its better not to, unless the pasta will be eaten without sauce.

As for salt, I've no idea if it makes the water boil faster, but I do know it makes the pasta taste better!

[franksolich]

Putting a lid on the pan is common sense...duh.   As for olive oil in the water, the foodies say that if you do that the sauce has a hard time "sticking" to the pasta, so its better not to, unless the pasta will be eaten without sauce.

As for salt, I've no idea if it makes the water boil faster, but I do know it makes the pasta taste better!

I've always suspected this salt thing was an old wives' tale, but out of habit, I do it.

As for pasta, one time in college I prepared a big spaghetti dinner for a lot of people, including a couple of women majoring in home economics.  It was a disaster; all the spaghetti stuck together.

Then one of the women pulled me aside, and told me that if one puts a little bit of butter or margarine or shortening or vegetable oil or grease into the boiling water, before one adds the pasta, the pasta won't stick together.  She was right; I've done it since then, including when fixing a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese.

[Chris_]

Putting a lid on the pan is common sense...duh.   As for olive oil in the water, the foodies say that if you do that the sauce has a hard time "sticking" to the pasta, so its better not to, unless the pasta will be eaten without sauce.

As for salt, I've no idea if it makes the water boil faster, but I do know it makes the pasta taste better!

Actually adding salt to water lowers the specific gravity, and therefore also lowers the boiling point (temperature) of the solution, therefore requiring slightly less time (as well as applied heat) to arrive at a boil........

Adding salt in the same manner also lowers the freezing point of the same solution.....like we used to do when making home-made ice cream in a hand-cranked freezer - YUM......

doc

[Flame]

Putting a lid on the pan is common sense...duh.   As for olive oil in the water, the foodies say that if you do that the sauce has a hard time "sticking" to the pasta, so its better not to, unless the pasta will be eaten without sauce.

As for salt, I've no idea if it makes the water boil faster, but I do know it makes the pasta taste better!

Actually adding salt to water lowers the specific gravity, and therefore also lowers the boiling point (temperature) of the solution, therefore requiring slightly less time (as well as applied heat) to arrive at a boil........

Adding salt in the same manner also lowers the freezing point of the same solution.....like we used to do when making home-made ice cream in a hand-cranked freezer - YUM......

doc

cool....I learned something today!