How To Boil Water
Boiling water might seem like a simple task for most people that have spent more than 5 seconds in a kitchen. But I believe that anyone that can boil water can cook great food.
Warning: Boiling water can cause injury. Always take extreme caution when boiling water. If any part of your body is hit by boilling water, then run the affected area under cold water immediatley. If somehow boiling water is poured over your head I suggest you take a cold shower. While this might sound like I’m joking, I’ve heard many nasty stories of what’s happened to people that have been splashed/immersed/drowned in boiling water. It will burn you, and if you get burnt seek urgent professional medical advice.
So I’ve shared the scary bit about burns and stuff, but keep in mind, millions of people are boiling water everyday. It’s not that dangerous.
So without further ado I present the bullet proof instructions for boiling water.
The simplest method is to buy a an electric kettle and follow the instructions inside the box. This is great for people making tea or coffee, but if you want to cook then you need to step outside your compfort zone.
- Find a saucepan
- Fill it 3/4 full with water (maybe only fill it half full if your not yet confident in the kitchen)
- Select which hotplate to use and turn it up to it’s maximum setting
- If you’ve followed all the directions so far the water is guaranteed to start boiling
- If you’re in a rush then put the lid on the saucepan. This helps retain the heat and will make the water boil quicker.
- Once intense bubbling occurs you have made boiling water. Success
It’s about the simplest thing to do in the kitchen (on par with using a toaster to make toast) but it’s much more versatile. With a few more lessons you’ll be able to reheat soup, cook vegetables and sterilise towels for when a house guest goes into labour.
If you think that the water is boiling too much then there are a couple of quick fixes to bring things back under control. The first and most responsive is to lift the saucepan from the hotplate. Try it for yourself and see what happens. The other method is to turn the hotplate down. This takes practice to achieve the desired result and I can’t give you simple instructions here as different heat sources have different results.
The safest method is to lift the saucepan and reduce the heat, then put the saucepan back on the heat. If it starts boiling again too fast then repeat until the desired boiling rate is achieved.
You can also boil water in a microwave oven, the best bet here is to follow the instructions that came with your microwave.
