The Food Lab Video Series: Boiling Water

Everything you've always wanted to know—and everything you never knew you needed to know—about boiling water.

By
J. Kenji López-Alt
Kenji Lopez Alt
J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
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Updated November 01, 2019

Several years ago, we produced a Food Lab video series for Serious Eats. The only problem? It lived behind a paywall, and almost nobody got to see it. Now, we're finally releasing it to our readership for free.

Have you ever heard that cooking pasta or blanching vegetables in a large pot is important because it allows the water to return to a boil faster? Well, have I got some news for you.

boiling-water

In this episode of the Food Lab video series, join Katie and me as we explore Earth's most valuable resource: water. The episode is based on an article I wrote nearly a decade ago, called "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (Plus More!) About Boiling Water." The parenthetical probably describes the bulk of the article, but, well, I find this stuff to be fascinating and useful.

So come watch while we discuss what boiling truly means! We'll also learn how managing pressure can help you achieve different goals, why adding salt to your pasta water makes it look like it's boiling harder...only it's not, and whether a large pot really returns to a boil faster than a small pot after you've added pasta to it.

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