[Sca-cooks] raised crusts and boiling water

[Philippa Alderton]

--- Stefan li Rous <stefan at texas.net> wrote:

> Is there a particular reason to bring the water to
> boiling and then
> let it cool down? Why not just heat it until it
> reaches 140-160
> degrees F.?

Well, I've always heated to boiling and cooled for a
couple of reasons. First being, that it's easier to
get it to the exact temp you want when it's cooling
down, than when it's heating.

Further, the heating to boiling does a few interesting
things to the water itself, since we're talking tap
water here, and rarely distilled water. It kills off
any little bacteria, yeasts, and bugs that may be in
it (keep in mind, I usually use well, rain or spring
water) and it "flattens the water- boiling tends to
drive out any fairly low-temp volatile impurities, and
it tends to drive out excess O2 dissolved in the
water. Also (think Pennsic water) the boiling may
alert you to impurities which are translucent at low
temps, which will show themselves after being reacted
a bit at a higher temp.

But, you can do what you want to ;-)

Phlip

=====
Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....

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