ISO "heat settings" clarification

[mumu]

If a recipe doesn't give u a heat setting to put the stove on what is the best place to start? I have a recipe for boiled peanuts and it says put seasonings etc. in pot and bring ingr. to a low boil. Low boil could be achieved at low,medium or high? I am thinking medium would be ok....but unclear on how u would decide? Is there a cooking rule or something u should follow?

 

[CharlieD]

Personaly, I like to put it on hot and when it starts boling then I turn the fire down.

 

[mumu]

so is it based on how fast u want it to be....to get to the low boil?

 

[Andy M.]

When you start a pot of liquid that you want to boil, start it at the highest setting so it will get to a boil as quickly as possible. Then adjust the burner to maintain the low boil or simmer or whatever you need.

There is no point in heating up to a boil at any speed other than the fastest possible. It's just a waste of time. That's why so many recipes will say, "Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer."

 

[Kayelle]

Mumu, even if your stove had settings on the dial they can't be relied on. Like Charlie said, turn it up as high as it will go to see what a fast boil looks like, and turn it down from there. You want to see bubbles, but fewer than a "fast boil".

We had a similar thread recently that went on and on......the truth is, it's not rocket science. Good luck with your peanuts, I'm sure they will be fine.

 

[Addie]

A low boil is 212ºF. The same temp as a high boil. The only difference is the amount of bubbles you see and the size of the bubbles. What numbers you may have on your knobs really doesn't matter. Just common sense does.

 

[mumu]

my confusion is when they said low boil...well,let me explain i just finished cooking something that said over medium heat bring to a low boil,and with that fresh in mind i could not understand the boiled peanuts recipe. Yes i agree to look at the food and not at the dials, my confusion is why couldnt the peanut recipe be over medium heat to get to a low boil. How do u tell when to use one way or the other? Hope that made sense. Am i right in thinking u can bring it to a low boil on medium or even low heat just take longer here on low.

 

[GLC]

Well, I think they only specify the setting when there's some concern about burning something on the bottom as it's coming to a boil. I wouldn't think it would matter with peanuts. It would matter a great deal with milk. Or maybe when there was just something barely covered with water that would be in contact with the bottom of the pan. So the instructions are to use "medium" to bring it to a boil. And you adjust from there to keep it boiling, if that's the plan. "Medium" is hard enough to define. No one can say which setting on every range would hold it to a low boil. As you see in the other thread about a weak range burner, some have trouble holding a boil at all. On my gas range, I need a heat defuser to hold even the "simmer" burner down to a simmer.

I would not, however, assume that just because a recipe didn't say to use medium to bring a pan of milk to a boil I could blast away on high heat. It may not occur to the author that someone might not realize they would be scorching the milk on high before it all boiled.

 

[Addie]

Why would you want to waste your heat source by starting out on a lower heat? These are peanuts. Boiled peanuts. Start on high, then adjust to a lower temp for a slower boil. The recipe author is at fault. It is up to you to use common sense and figure it out.

 

[mumu]

could some one tell me after they look at this( you tube clip) why this lady turned the sloppy joe up to high to reach a medium boil,had already been on medium heat so wouldnt just increasing medium heat to say medium high been ok too, to reach medium boil. thanks for any advice.How to Make Sloppy Joes With Beef and Sausage - YouTube

 

[Andy M.]

...why this lady turned the sloppy joe up to high to reach a medium boil,had already been on medium heat so wouldnt just increasing medium heat to say medium high been ok too, to reach medium boil. thanks for any advice.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rkRVAthRDc&feature=related

Simple. IT'S FASTER! Why waste time waiting for something to boil?

The speaker also told you to turn the burner to low to simmer the mixture. That's just a suggestion. On my stove LOW won't simmer anything so I adjust to get the reaction I need.

 

[Addie]

Same here. On my stove, low would only keep something warm, not on a simmer. Each stove is different. Whereas, med would still keep it at a rolling boil. And High would have it scorching. I have an electric stove. And these settings are for the large burners. On the smaller burners, the settings are marked the same on the knobs, but you get different results on the smaller burners using the same markings. Also, the right back burner on my stove is right over the oven vent. So if I have the oven on and the excess heat is coming up through the vent on the smaller burner it will affect the applied heat to any pot regardless of whatever I may have the knob setting at. Therefor, if I put that burner on low, and the oven is on, there is the possibility that something may simmer depending on the size of the pot and the viscosity of the contents of that said pot. I then have to delve into my level of intelligence and decide what the best setting for that particular burner should be. I also have to make the decision of how well done do I want that particular item of food to cook. Well done, medium or rare. It is a liquid or solid or a little of each. Is it a protein or a carb. Each one requires a different temperature and length of time to cook. For veggies, a lot of folks like theirs crispy and barely cooked. Others like myself like them cooked to death in a rolling boil. Carbs such as pasta also require different considerations when cooking different shapes and thicknesses. Rice is another carb that needs entirely different considerations than pasta. Where as pasta requires six quarts of water to one pound of pasta, rice requires two cups of water to one cup of raw rice. And then you get into different kinds of rice. And then there are rice cookers. Rice once it has come to a boil, must be reduced to a simmer for a length of time longer than a pound on Angel Hair pasta. Yet it weighs more than the two cups of rice.

So as you can now see, there is no one answer to your question. It depends.

Sorry folks for the overly long missive.