Why do people place a wooden spoon on a water pot that is boiling?

A spoon on a water pot that is boiling

The majority of us believe we understand our way all around kitchen, but every so often, we find something new that surprises us. In reality, after adopting those cooking tips for ourselves, we may be left wondering how we survived for so long without them.

Placing a wooden spoon over a kettle of boiling water is one of these intriguing actions. Not only is it a handy spot to hold the spoon, but it also prevents the water from spilling over the saucepan. How often have you been preparing pasta when you take a quick break from the burner and return to the sound of water striking the item below? You won’t need to be concerned about it anymore.

 

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Публикация от Grace Frey (@gracefrey410)

Knowing why a wooden spoon prevents the liquid in the pot from heating is quite another from simply knowing that it does. There have been numerous hypotheses over the years, but when attempting to uncover the reality of something involving science, it is always better to include scientists.

Wood is an insulation, so it won’t carry electricity and heat, claims Michelle Dickinson, the creator of “The Kitchen Science Cookbook.” A wooden spoon rests colder than the pot it is sitting in when it is placed on top of boiling water.

Boiling spaghetti and other comparable starchy meals might occasionally make the water more likely to boil over. The water becomes thicker when the starch is added, which causes the bubbles to grow larger and bubble over more readily. Any bubble’s shell is made up of a mixture that are kept connected, however in the case of spaghetti bubbles, starch holds the exterior around each other.

According to Dickinson of Simplemost, “If the bubbles hit the cooler and dryer wood, these molecules to break their chain and the bubble explodes, releasing the vapor from within bubble.”

As the water warms up once more, the cycle will continue, but the spoon will maintain the bubbles bursting.

Jed Macosko, Ph.D., a senior scientist at Wake Forest University and the head of Academic Influence, claims that the spoon’s texture also has a role. The spoon’s textured surface and the reality that it is made of water-loving wood are what prevent the bubbles from exploding forcefully.

Without the spoon, Macosko warns, “huge bubbles of steam may rise in erratic bursts, splashing scalding heated air all over the stovetop.”

Scott Beaver, a computational chemistry doctoral holder, claims:

The opportunity for bubbles to begin soaking and seeping into the wood is greatly increased by this. The bubble gets widened by this. The surface tension’s holding power over the bubble is surpassed by the stretching power needed to separate it. As a result, the bubble bursts.

Although it doesn’t really important how this kitchen trick works, the reality that it does can nevertheless assist you save time and hassle.

Source: 12tomatoes

 

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