Why can't we use hot tap water to cook

[CharlieD]

Well, maybe not 25, but at least 10 for sure.

 

[kcbowie]

I tried to search for the answer, but couldn't find anything here nor could i find anything scientifically based. More or les it is a here say, somethig tht I've heard many times and av sed itasexpalnationmy self. But in reality I do not think it quite woks that way. Liker example lead pipes racically noody ha lead pipes today. Not n th hoses buil lat 20 years.

Has anybody senn a more plosable expnation?

I use both depending on what I am doing...hot water boils faster lol.
When making stocks or consummes I use cold.

 

[mollyanne]

Good question, Charlie. I read where a guy answered your question like this..."If you've ever seen the gunk sitting in the bottom of a hot water tank then you would know". That did it for me . I now use bottled spring water to make coffee, won't even wash my vegetables with warm water, and think about his comment everytime I wash my hands in warm water even. But I still wash my hands in warm water, take warm showers, and soak in a warm bubble bath...I'd rather die of gunk poisoning than give that up .

A tankless hot water system? That sounds like a winner. Thanks for that suggestion.

 

[jpaulg]

hot water from a Hit water system or urn has been repeatedly boiled causing all the free oxygen in the water to boil off and dissipate.

This is not harmful.

However if you want the free oxygen to bind to what you're cooking and enhance the flavour (best example is tea) then you are best off starting with water that hasn't been boiled previously. Without going into all the food science technicalities oxygen helps lift and enhance flavours.

If you're simply using H2O as a cooking medium (eg steaming or boiling) then it makes no difference.

 

[GB]

hot water from a Hit water system or urn has been repeatedly boiled causing all the free oxygen in the water to boil off and dissipate.

Hot water tanks are generally set well below the boiling temp. Why would the water have been repeatedly boiled?

 

[jpaulg]

Hot water tanks are generally set well below the boiling temp. Why would the water have been repeatedly boiled?

Whilst the average temperature is below boiling the water next to the heating elements is boiled.

 

[GB]

I am not sure that is true jpaulg. The excess heat would transfer to the rest of the water before boiling occurs.

 

[Claire]

I'm revisiting the site and thought it would be interesting. Once we lived in military quarters (Fort Monroe, Virginia) where we lived on the 3rd and 4th floor apartment. When we first moved there, the family who lived on the ground and first floor (oh, dear, I'm mixing ... oh, well, they lived ground and 1st floor, we lived second floor and attic). Anyway, the ground floor had all the utilities and they told us that they had the water heater set super high at request of the last people who lived in our quarters. The water would cool down by the time it hit the top floor bathroom so that you couldn't take a hot shower.

BUT, that meant that the water came out at quite literally boiling temperature (I could put it in a pot, turn on the burner, and the teakettle would whistle in seconds).

Then, we had a storm come through and lost electricity. The stoves were electric. I just ran the water until it got hot, and made my husband a thermos of mocha java using instant cocoa mix and instant coffee. Husband went to work with the thermos, and his boss, the general, wanted to know why he had hot coffee and no one else did. Of course husband poured his boss a cup and they sat companionably as they did their work.

Now, I know there are people who wouldn't dream of having instant coffee or cocoa around, but it sure pays off if you're stuck in a storm. We're past middle age, so we're too old to die young. I do purify my water so we can drink the quarts of water we need to. But in a pinch? Probably won't kill you. If it did, I'd be dead, because I've lived in many houses with lead pipes and paint.

 

[John V]

Now I did a little research awhile back on ancient Roman recipes. Quite a few survive, tho the nomenclature can be puzzling. Anyway, some of the recipes were so salty, they were inedible. The researchers thought they had blundered on the translations. They had NOT. Alas, one of the symptoms of lead poisoning is diminished capacity to taste salt. The Romans had lead pipes to deliver water and used certain lead serving dishes and cups. Further analysis of the bones of humans from these areas and times revealed very high lead content.

 

[Caslon]

Sorta relevant...don't mean to get into household plumbing here,

I cranked up my hot water heater too much and was getting weekly spits of dark water out my bathtup faucet ( because the bathtup inlet pipe has no restrictor).
Turning down the hot water heater's thermostat took care of it.

It's the higher hot water heater temp that allowed fungi/mold to grow slowly on the pipes leading to my tub.

It only showed up because my tub faucet pipe allows more volume of water thru, than does my smaller weaker water volume kitchen faucet.

Still, it makes you wonder if you're not getting 20 years worth of necessary body minerals per glass full (municipal city water source).

 

[Chef Dave]

When I lived overseas (Ghana, Thailand, El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon), we did not use tap water for cooking because of concerns over the water's purity. The fact that my building's water line in Beirut also ran beneath the sewer line was also a source of (cough-choke-wheeze-gasp) concern.

Here in the states, I use tap water ... but not when I visit relatives in southern Michigan where the water in some areas has a high iron content and tastes "rusty."

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Don't ever drink the tap water in Brighton, Colorado...it is very high in minerals...so high it feels slimy out of the tap.

 

[kizzer1102]

I've done some research on this because I live in an older home and we do have hard water.

Firsty, lead sodered pipes is not that big of a deal today. If you have an older house (built before the 1950's) then you may have some lead sodered pipes, if that's the case then you should have your water tested. Newer homes though do not have lead pipes and chances are that if you do have an older home the pipes have probably been replaced sometime in the last 60 years.

The chance for metal built up in the hot water tank is the main reason we don't use hot water for cooking. If you have hard water the concentrations of magesium and calcium are pretty high. These elements make the water taste funny and make washing dishes "harder" because it makes soap molecules not want to dissolve in your water.

Cold water from the tap will also have more dissolved oxygen in it because it is not sitting stagnant in your hot water tank. This will make it taste better.