331–340 of 528 posts
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I know it's heresy to the British, but you can heat water for tea in the microwave just fine. And at least in my European imagination, every American has a microwave in their home.
>every American has a microwave in their home Of course we do! Europeans don't all have microwave ovens? How do you warm up leftovers? And yes, I drink tea daily with microwaved water.
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Lots of Americans drink kind of shit coffee as well, they just largely drink it from drip coffee makers. Alternative brewing methods like french press, aero press, pour over, etc. is starting to become more popular but is definitely still not a predominant way of doing it. And even then, the really bougie people will just have an instant boiler tap in their kitchen instead of taking up counter space with something th…
Drip coffee is pretty good, good taste and caffeine content while being pretty simple to brew, a decent machine is cheap as well. It's just a method, the beans you use are what actually count.
Espresso and similar pressure based brewing (Moka Pot) is far superior with equal beans. Tastes way better, more flexibility in creating different drinks, very fast to brew, etc . If it’s too concentrated or hard to drink an espresso shot then you dilute it (for all you black-coffee drinkers, it’s ok to use milk, it’s still coffee).
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The comment I replied to said the U.S. was limited to around 1100W which is why The U.S. doesn't use tea kettles. I reply with a very commonly used device that uses over 63% more power than 1100W showing that obviously isn't the reason the U.S. doesn't use tea kettles. And you reply with essentially, "Oh, but that's because the hair dryer isn't used continuously for 3 hours". Did you think a tea kettle is used for 3…
Please actually read what I said: there are differences in the appliance approval process which determines how much continuous power you can draw from an electrical circuit. Why would a manufacturer bother trying to prove discontinuous draw when they can just current limit, use the same element they do everywhere else with the same resistance, and not worry about it?
Because that is what was being discussed.
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You can end up superheating the water that way and scalding yourself. I also prefer to control the temperature of my water which you cannot do in a microwave. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/boil-on-troubled-waters/
It's something to be aware of, but in practice it's very difficult to superheat water at home. For superheating to occur, you need very pure water in a smooth container with no imperfections. Tap water in most places cannot be superheated because it contains too many minerals, and most ceramic cups aren't smooth enough to prevent boiling. If you're making tea, an easy way to prevent superheating is to drop the bag in…
edit: as far as 'nobody' using Pyrex, my preferred container for heating water is a big Pyrex measuring cup.
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Actually reverse cycle air conditioners are said to have a heating efficiency of over 100%, but what they really do is to move the heat from one point to another. It's all about definitions; if you define the system as your room, it will be more than 100% efficient. If your system is the universe, then it's always 100%. By the same logic, yes, your hypothetical statement can be rephrased as "if you already have boili…
But the whole point is that Barilla's definition is ludicrous. The only definition that really makes sense is how much energy did it take to get the pasta from the box to my plate, and Barilla is excluding the vast majority of that energy in their 80% number for the sole purpose of inflating it to make it look better.
> The only definition that really makes sense is how much energy did it take to get the pasta from the box to my plate
Including the energy required (and the carbon footprint) to manufacture the pasta in the first place, yes? Or no?
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I know it's heresy to the British, but you can heat water for tea in the microwave just fine. And at least in my European imagination, every American has a microwave in their home.
You can end up superheating the water that way and scalding yourself. I also prefer to control the temperature of my water which you cannot do in a microwave. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/boil-on-troubled-waters/
For a fixed amount of water, you can learn the time and not have to pull out your instant-read thermometer.
The claim: reduces CO₂e emissions by up to 80%* The asterisk: water boiling phase excluded When I boil pasta, I use full heat to get the water boiling, drop in the pasta, then let it come back up to a boil, then drop the temperature as low as possible to keep a slow boil going--about medium-low. Guesstimating that the boil takes about as long as the time to cook the pasta, I'd say that the pasta cooking portion only…
A better way to save energy is to use an electric kettle to get the water up to boiling. This is about three times as energy-efficient as a gas hob. Combined with passive cooking it could save real money… Technology Connections on YouTube has a good video about how electric kettles are the superior way to boil water: https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c
Induction hobs are about as good as a kettle (and you lose less energy because you're not heating up the glass/plastic/metal of the kettle).
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I have a gas stove in my studio apartment. I still use an electric kettle to get water boiling before dumping it into a preheated pan to cook noodles/whatever. Highly recommend this approach if you are stuck with gas.
> Highly recommend this approach if you are stuck with gas. My partner, who cooks more, bemoans that our new apartment has electric. Grew up using gas and claims that it’s better for cooking. I prefer not to intentionally dump gas into our house and welcome the minor benefit of energy efficiency. Funny how different people see the world (and technology).
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I've tested this a bunch and you can reliably get nice al dente pasta using a low volume of water. If you boil a small amount and add the pasta, then bring it back to a boil the whole process is faster. Kenji has a good article about it, and I assure you that it always works for me.
Interesting, I’ll check it out. I guess returning to a boil really only has to do with the thermal mass of the pasta itself. I’m also thinking in terms of spaghetti or noodles like that since that’s what I cook most and you couldn’t submerge them in a small pot.
You could probably do some quick math and experimentation to determine ratios of water volume and temp to weight of pasta and not even bring the water all the way to a boil and still get an al dents noodle.