Boiling water

“ And what is boiling?"
"Bubbling," suggested the young philosopher's mamma.
"Yes; but ginger-beer bubbles," said Harry, "but you wouldn't exactly call that boiling. Boiling is the escaping of steam. That causes the bubbling; so the bubbling of water over the fire is only the sign that the water boils. But what occasions the escape of the steam?"
"The heat, of course—the—what is the right word?—the caloric," answered Mr. Bagges. ”

“ The boiling motion is from volumes of steam working its way through the waters from the bowels of the earth and spreading upon the breeze. Boiling water elsewhere wastes itself away, but these pools boil and boil from year to year, and scarcely vary perceptibly in height. Our untutored tourist turns his eye upon the mountain bordering the valley, whose sides are so encrusted with geyserite deposit that it appears to have been formed of this material, and to have been erected by boiling springs ”

“ Now as I was saying the harder you boil water the more steam it gives off and the heating and cooling processes are so exactly balanced that boiling water stands always at a uniform temperature no matter whether it is boiling hard as we say, or only just barely boiling. ”

“ It is not generally understood, or at least it is not borne in mind with sufficient care, that “after water is just boiling, all the fuel which is needed to make it boil violently is just so much wasted, without in the smallest degree expediting or shortening the process of cooking. It is by the heat, its intensity and the time of its duration, not by the boiling or bubbling up of the water, that the food is cooked.” ”

“ But a much larger quantity of heat enters into vapours than into liquids—into steam than into water. If over a steady fire a certain quantity of ice-cold water requires one hour to bring it to the boiling point, it will require a continuance of the same heat for five hours more to boil it off entirely. Yet liquids do not become hotter after they begin to boil, however long or with whatever violence the boiling is continued. ”

“ No boiling of the food takes place in any such cases as the above-named—it is merely heated by immersion in boiling water; the changes that actually take place in the food are essentially different from those of ebullition. Even the water contained in the meat is not boiled in ordinary cases, as its boiling-point is higher than that of the surrounding water, owing to the salts it holds in solution. ”

“ Boiling is to an unclean Water-Drop, like scratching to a bear, a pleasant operation. It gets rid of the little animals by which it had been bitten, and throws down some of the impurity with which it had been soiled. So, after boiling, water becomes more pure, but it is, at the same time, more greedy than ever to absorb extraneous matter. Therefore, the sons of men who boil their vitiated water ought to keep it covered afterwards, and if they wish to drink it cold, should lose no time in doing so. Nephelo and his friends within the kettle danced with delight under the boiling process. ”

“ In a very small still, having no worm, the condensation must be produced by linen, wetted in cold water, applied round the capital. A third method consists in plunging the boiler of the still into a larger vessel of boiling water placed over a fire, when the rose-water never acquires the burnt flavour to which we have alluded. ”

“ Boiling effects partial destruction or removal of organic and mineral impurities found in water, hence the importance of boiling the water where such impurities exist. Boiling also expels all the air and the gases which give fresh water its sparkle and vitality. ”

“ Water is boiling when it bubbles and jumps merrily about, and the steam comes in white puffs from the spout of the kettle. It does not boil when it begins to simmer and to sing. That is only the sign that it is near to boiling. ”

“ It is obviously the stronghold of the English heterogenist. "Water," he says, "is boiling merrily over a fire, when some luckless person upsets the vessel so that the heated fluid exercises its scathing influence upon an uncovered portion of the body—hand, arm, or face. Here at all events there is no room for doubt. Boiling water unquestionably exercises a most pernicious and rapidly-destructive effect upon the living matter of which we are composed." ”

“ Then a large receiver, into which meat, fowl, or fish is put to be cooked, is fitted on tight over the boiling water, and shut off from all possibility of being touched by steam or water by a close-fitting cover. Above this two other pans, or boilers, for vegetables, custards, etc., can be fitted with tight cover also; [Pg 219] and the whole boiler, which is about as large but higher than an ordinary wash-boiler, is also closely covered. Very little fuel will keep the water boiling hot when once it has reached that point, as no heat can escape by evaporation. ”

“ Science has revealed so many beautiful truths concerning boiling water, that we deem it advisable to devote an entire chapter to their consideration. The reader must not think that we have chosen a trivial subject. It has been well said, that there is no great and no small in nature, and that the force which shapes the world gives form to the dewdrop. To this remark we may add a similar one—namely, that some of the grandest phenomena in nature are represented on a small scale in a kettle of boiling water. ”

“ Take two equal boilers, containing equal quantities of boiling hot water, and put into them two equal pieces of meat taken from the same carcase—two legs of mutton, for instance—and boil them during the same time. Under one of the boilers make a small fire, just barely sufficient to keep the water boiling hot, or rather just beginning to boil; under the other make as vehement a fire as possible, and keep the water boiling the whole time with the utmost violence. ”

“ In cooking, the term boiling means the cooking of food in a boiling liquid, and water is the liquid generally used. Rapidly boiling water is no hotter than when the agitation is less, but in some cases, as in the boiling of rice, violently boiling water is recommended for the purpose of keeping the grains of rice separated. ”

“ Heat the water to bubbling boiling, sprinkle the measured grain in so slowly as not to stop the boiling of the water, stirring continuously. Let it boil up well, and if a coarse grain, cook over the fire until it thickens, then set into the outer boiler containing perfectly boiling water and keep it cooking rapidly the required length of time. ”

“ The heavier, also, the air is, from the quantity of moisture in it, the hotter water becomes before it boils. If the atmosphere were carbonic acid gas, water would get much hotter without boiling than it can under—"
"Present arrangements," interposed Mr. Badges. [248]
"Consisting of a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen," continued Harry. "Water requires only a very low heat to make it boil in an exhausted receiver, out of which the air has been pumped, so as to leave none to press upon its surface. Owing to boiling depending upon pressure, you can actually make water boil by means of cold." ”

“ Cooking utensils commonly used permit the escape of watery vapor and steam; thereby much heat is lost if food is cooked in rapidly boiling water.
Water is boiled for two purposes: first, cooking of itself to destroy organic impurities; second, for cooking foods. Boiling water toughens and hardens albumen in eggs; toughens fibrin and dissolves tissues in meat; bursts starch-grains and softens cellulose in cereals and vegetables. Milk should never be allowed to boil. At boiling temperature (214° F.) the casein is slightly hardened, and the fat is rendered more difficult of digestion. ”

“ Fig. 25
3. Boiling. A simpler and equally efficient method for purifying water for drinking purposes consists in boiling the water. It is the germs in water that render it dangerous to health. These germs are living forms of matter. If the [Pg 53] water is boiled, the germs are killed and the water rendered safe. While these germs are destroyed by heat, cold has little effect upon them. Thus Dewar, in working with liquid hydrogen, exposed some of these minute forms of life to the temperature of boiling hydrogen (-252°) without killing them. ”

“ On a properly-constructed hot-plate or sand-bath a dozen saucepans may be kept at the true cooking temperature, with an expenditure of fuel commonly employed in England to ‘boil’ one saucepan. In the great majority of so-called boiling operations, even simmering is unnecessary. Not only is a ‘boiled leg of mutton’ not itself boiled, but even the water in which it is cooked should not be kept boiling, as we shall presently see. ”

“ But to drive out all the dissolved air, the water should be subjected to a prolonged boiling, and this causes a wonderful increase in its cohesion after it is cooled; and water which has been treated thus will not boil except at temperatures considerably higher than the normal boiling point. Every engineer knows that the water from which he generates steam in his boilers must be aerated, if he would have the machine work regularly and avoid the danger of explosion. ”

“ Graham's Process.—This process consists in boiling fibrous substances in a solution of sulphurous acid, or a sulphite or bisulphite of soda, potash, magnesia, or lime, or other suitable base and water. The boiling is preferable conducted in a closed boiler, lined with lead, to protect it from the action of the chemical substances used, and is fitted with a valve which can be opened to allow the gases and volatile hydrocarbons contained in and around the fibres to escape. ”

“ For as the heat of boiling water is 212, and that of the internal parts of the earth 48, it is easy to understand, that the steam raised from boiling water, after being condensed in some mountain, and passing from thence through a certain space of the cold earth, must be cooled always to a given degree ”

“ Boiled water is not much better, for while the boiling process may have destroyed all poisonous or noxious germs, and rendered the water absolutely wholesome, it also drove off the natural gases which gave to the water a pleasant taste. Boiled water may be re-aerated by pouring from an ordinary sprinkling can several times.
Hard Water.—Hardness is a serious drawback, whether the water be used for cooking, bathing, or for washing clothes. Food cooked by boiling in hard water is, as a rule, not so well prepared. Greens take on a gray color. Tea is never so good made from hard water. ”

“ When it is once fairly understood that the meat is not to be boiled, but is merely to be warmed by immersion in water raised to a maximum temperature of 212°, and when it is further understood that water cannot (under ordinary atmospheric pressure) be raised to a higher temperature than 212° by any amount of violent boiling, the popular distinction between ‘simmering’ [15] and boiling, which is so obstinately maintained as a kitchen superstition, is demolished. ”

“ Some boilers are now made of wood, having steam-pipes running through them, and in those cases in which the admixture of water is no detriment steam—in the form of jets—is thrown directly into the fluid to be heated, which very quickly raises it to the boiling point. ”

“ In boiling the water don't let it merely come to a boil and then take it off, but let it boil fully for a quarter of an hour, as these little beasts, or microbes as they are called, are very tough customers, and take a lot of boiling before they get killed. ”

“ The flat taste which often results from the boiling may be remedied by shaking the water in a bottle or pouring it from one clean pitcher to another or by simply exposing it to the air overnight. Water should be kept cool, and should be protected from dust. ”

“ As this process requires much time and fuel, a more economical method is often resorted to: the milky fluid is left exposed for a night, when the oily parts rise to the top, and being separated from the water are purified by a very short boiling. ”