hot water and boiling veg/potatoes

[sojourner]

^ so it's from practices past, then?

 

[foo]

Here foo, I've googled it for you...............




There you go.

ah bless ya - thanks moo x

see my post ^^ i am now in the know.

and i am superior.

my son has to cope with this fact.

(although we have a modern house so he's probably right.....but, sssshh!)

 

[bi0boy]

I'm sure I saw a programme once where there was a dead pigeon in the hot water tank.

Or was it the cold water tank......................




Anyway it was fairly revolting. Nah, must have been the hot water tank otherwise I'd never drink tap water.

Our science teacher always told us not to flick the water from the hot taps at eachother 'because it has come from a tank full of dead pigeons and things'.

 

[sojourner]

(although we have a modern house so he's probably right.....but, sssshh!)

Hey foo's lad!!

I quoted her - just for you like

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Whatever the water, there is no advantage in using hot water before putting the potatoes in. Part of the cooking occurs while heating up the water which simultaneously starts to heat the potato. If you cook the potatoes in water that is already hot, the middle of the spuds won't be cooked properly.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Our science teacher always told us not to flick the water from the hot taps at eachother 'because it has come from a tank full of dead pigeons and things'.

A friend at school drank from the non-drinking water tap in the boys' loos and died of meningitis. 'Tis true.

 

[trashpony]

When you make up baby food/milk, you are only supposed to use water which has been boiled once. If you boil it twice it's not good for them but I can't remember why.

I know that your house is probably exempt from the non-potable nature of the hot tap water but I think you should tell your son that 'it's standard good practice to use the cold tap' in a professional sort of way

 

[foo]

I think you should tell your son that 'it's standard good practice to use the cold tap' in a professional sort of way

cheers trashy - but i lost any chance of him listening to professional sounding advice from me about half an hour ago when he read that other thread


lol soj <blocks screen with flapping hands>

 

[trashpony]

cheers trashy - but i lost any chance of him listening to professional sounding advice from me about half an hour ago when he read that other thread


lol soj <blocks screen with flapping hands>

Oh bugger. At least you were right and he's wrong and I think that's the main lesson to be learned here

 

[aqua]

the cold water in the kitchen comes straight from the mains unlike the other cold taps and all hot water taps where the water sits in tanks in your house (unless you have a snazzy combi boiler that heats hot water on demand)

 

[Herbsman.]

I read that the hot water may contain more dissolved copper than the cold water.

 

[King Biscuit Time]

It's cause of hot tanks, and the rank things that can die/grow in them.

People have died from drinking water from the hot tap i think. But as you say, now people have combis so its not really a big deal.

 

[Ms Ordinary]

When you make up baby food/milk, you are only supposed to use water which has been boiled once. If you boil it twice it's not good for them but I can't remember why.

When you boil water, you lose some of it as steam.

The water lost as steam is 'pure' water, and so the water left behind in the kettle has a higher concentration of whatever other stuff tapwater has in it (added chlorine, fluoride etc plus naturally occurring whatever it is that makes hard water hard).

The longer you leave water at a rolling boil, or the more times you boil the kettle, the more concentrated the remaining water will be

 

[Herbsman.]

When you boil water, you lose some of it as steam.

The water lost as steam is 'pure' water, and so the water left behind in the kettle has a higher concentration of whatever other stuff tapwater has in it (added chlorine, fluoride etc plus naturally occurring whatever it is that makes hard water hard).

The longer you leave water at a rolling boil, or the more times you boil the kettle, the more concentrated the remaining water will be

Actually, the chlorine evapourates when the water is heated. So kettle water is actually lower in chlorine than tap water.

 

[nuffsaid]

Actually, the chlorine evapourates when the water is heated. So kettle water is actually lower in chlorine than tap water.

Which justfies my method (can't believe not mentioned before after reading this thread). I boil water in the kettle then add that to the pan to boil food in. It might use more energy, not sure, but I don't care, I can't stand hanging around waiting for water to boil so I add boiling water to the pan from the kettle. The kettle boils it a lot quicker than most hobs.

 

[geminisnake]

We have a combination tank afaik but boy used to get sore stomachs til we realised he was drinking water from the hot tap in the bathroom occasionally, so don't do it people!!

 

[Chz]

As I understand it, if you have a combi-boiler that's taking water direct from the mains (same as the cold) then it's pretty irrelevant. If you're unsure, just use the cold - it is ever-so-slightly less efficient that way, but no big deal.

Your boiler is more efficient at heating water than a saucepan on the hob. Less so if you put a lid on it, more so if it's gas. (A lot of the heat gets wasted up the side of the pan with gas) If you have a gas hob and don't wish to meddle with your hot water tap, a powerful electric kettle (2500W+) is probably the fastest and most efficient way to boil your water.

 

[sumimasen]

A brief lesson regarding a home's water system. There are two possibilities

i) Direct

ii) Indirect.

In the first system, cold water from the mains is fed to every tap. Therefore, you can drink the water from any tap.

If it's indirect, it means that the only drinkable water is fed to the kitchen tap. The rest gets stored in a tank in the attic. Because the tank has possibility of contamination, this is why it's unsafe to drink from any other tap.

Going back to the original post, it was common at uni to put a teabag in a mug and fill it straight from the hot water tap!

 

[Herbsman.]

Yuk! I bet that didn't taste particularly pleasant

 

[lang rabbie]

But in the case of cooking main crop or floury potatos (and other hefty root veg) isn't the point of starting with cold water so that the whole veg cooks evenly.

The theory was that, if you use boiling water, the outside gets boiled to mush by the extra heat in the first five minutes from the boiling water while the middles remain uncooked. But I'm not sure if it is true..

 

[Herbsman.]

But in the case of cooking main crop or floury potatos (and other hefty root veg) isn't the point of starting with cold water so that the whole veg cooks evenly.

The theory was that the outside get being boiled to mush by the extra heat in the first five minutes from the boiling water while the middles remain uncooked.

Yeah that's correct chap.

Or chapette.

Stuff like broccoli, peas, carrots etc should be cooked in boiling water IMO as they take far less time to cook, and you want them to be cooking for as short a time as possible

 

[pogofish]

The kitchen cold tap is also usually the one likely to be on the rising main. Which is the only one considered potable. All other tanks are usually fed by the header tank, which is generally not.

The pressure difference between the weaker header fed tanks & the stronger rising main should be obvious

 

[Logales]

Another thing to consider is after using the hot tap, the water will cool down in the pipes back to the boiler. When it reaches 37 degrees there is a danger that bacteria harmful to humans will develop. I don't know the exact details but remember one of the mechanical engineers at work explaining it some time ago.