The Boiling cooking method

Boiling is one of the most essential and easy cooking methods that we commonly use to prepare food daily. It can be defined as the process of cooking food at a relatively high temperature of a water-based liquid. This method of cooking is used to prepare foods like pasta, vegetables, eggs, and different meats. Below we shall learn more about the boiling cooking method.

What is boiling cooking method?

The Boiling method is a wet cooking method that happens when the water/ any liquid temperature reaches 100 degrees Celsius.  The Food is completely immersed into water for even heat distribution and cooking.

 How to Make Water Boil Faster

• Adding a soluble substance like salt  to the water helps to lower the temperature of required boiling temperature and make that water boil faster.
• Covering your cooking pan with a fitting lid this will help to trap in the hot moisture which raises the temperature within the cooking pan hence making water to boil faster.

Does altitude affect the boiling point?

The boiling point of water or any liquid is highly dependent on the atmospheric pressure around you. Higher elevations and locations with a lower atmospheric pressure result in water reaching the boiling point at a much lower temperature than places on a lower altitude. One will However, berequired to boil their food longer due to the lower temperatures of boiling.

4 Tips on how to boil your food perfectly

• Try to estimate the correct amount of water that you will need, adding in more cold water will bring the temperature of your water down and the cooking process will be slower.
• When adding food to boiling water, add a bit at a time, this will allow the water to maintain its heat and boiling temperatures.
• Make sure that you have enough water to submerge your food and ingredients making sure that the food is completely submerged under the water, this is to enable the food to boil evenly.
• A large, and deep saucepan, preferably with a well-fitting lid, is the most important tool you need to boil food perfectly.

Benefits of the Boiling cooking method

Boiling is an incredibly simple cooking method that will allow you to cook a large amount of food relatively and easily.

A quick initial boil of green vegetables is an ideal way to boost their colour while maintaining their nutritive value. This is as long as the cooking of vegetables is kept to a minimum.

Boiling food is a wonderful way to cook tough cuts of meat and poultry like offal’s, or molokonyi, ox bone stew. These tough cuts produce very nutritious stews when boiled for long hours.

Boiling Reduction sauces and concentration of flavours. This is perfect for making gravy and pan sauces

Boiling food retains its natural flavours, without the addition of fats or oils as in sautéing or frying cooking methods. Boiling also makes flavours more concentrated by reducing sauces.

Demerits of over boiling food

over boiling food may result in a loss of water-soluble vitamins and minerals. It is therefore advisable to incorporate the cooking liquid/ soup into what you serve. Boiling may result into water-soluble vitamins leaching out into the cooking liquid during the boiling process.

If you drain the soup , you may be throwing away a lot of nutrients, too. One way to prevent this is to serve the cooking liquid as part of the dish to maintain the nutritional value of what you’re cooking. Soups and stews have this to their advantage.