Ways to make water boil faster?

I love to steam broccoli and other veggies but I hate waiting for my water to boil. How can I speed up the process in a way that won't affect the flavor?

KatyM
  • Posted by: KatyM
  • October 9, 2012
  • 133895 views
  • 11 Comments

11 Comments

Chefmemo321
Chefmemo321 April 15, 2020
Easier if you put salt in the water then Put it to boil it usually takes a while without salt but this way makes it quick not very fast but faster than just plain boiling
 
Ian V.
Ian V. May 11, 2020
Salt increase time
 
ATG117
ATG117 October 11, 2012
agree with the lid and larger pot with more surface area. I have also heard that boiling warm water takes longer than boiling cold water. I know this seems counter intuitive and I don't recall where I heard it, but I think it was from a trust source. And high school chem is no longer in my memoir bank
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 October 11, 2012
I think you might be talking about freezing hot water, takes quicker than freezing cool water.
Yes and No...what happens in the freezer with hot water is that it quickly 'sublimates' (evaporation cooling)..which brings the temp down to same as 'cool' water...and it freezes faster because quite a bit of the water is gassed away. Giving a lower quantity of water to freeze for a cube; so it's not a fair fight.

This would make a good science project for a kid...freezing hot water in trays..and logging the time, and then re-melt the resulted frozen cubes and weigh or measure the liquid---yet another reason to have a good kitchen scale (g).


(I do seem to remember something about boiling tho that I think about it...which probably has to do with old 'hot water from the water heater' has more minerals and lime and is harder than the cold water tap).
 
Ellie
Ellie June 14, 2019
They are actually talking about water boiling not freezing If you just look it up. If you didn't know
 
Ilyena
Ilyena January 18, 2020
I don't know if you've found this out already, but boiling hot water takes less long. Coldwater takes longer.
 
jsdunbar
jsdunbar October 11, 2012
In addition to the above, 1) use a frying pan or other pan with a wide bottom to expose a bigger surface to heat; 2) if you use salt, don't add it until the water is boiling because salt raises the temperature at which water boils
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 October 9, 2012
For broccoli. I use the microwave* with just a rinse of water and cover with plastic wrap and nuke for 1 min--so there's like 1 tsp of water in the bowl. (I like lightly cooked broccoli and not very soft).
A touch of olive oil, or butter and salt flavors it--I'll serve with a wasabi mayo. Or just the butter and salt.

* the microwave method can degrade vitamins if you go very long to make soft broccoli because the heat gets higher than 'steamed' if left longer than 1 min.
 

Voted the Best Reply!

boulangere
boulangere October 9, 2012
I can vouch for the electric kettle method - I use it any time I need hot or boiling water fast(er).
 
Benny
Benny October 10, 2012
Same here. My electric kettle boils water much faster than trying to bring a big pot of water up on the stove alone. When I need a large vat of water for pasta, I heat half the water on the stove,while I start the other half in my electric kettle. everything is boiling in much shorter amount of time.
 
Nili
Nili October 9, 2012
Keep the pot lid on. Use less water. Use higher flame. Use a thinner stainless steel pot (these are generally bad for cooking but they transfer heat really fast).

or...

Use an electric kettle, or microwave (be careful) to boil the water and then pour it into your heated steaming pot.
 
Recommended by Food52

Popular on Food52