When cooking dishes like bone broth, soup, boiled vegetables, or porridge, even a small distraction can cause the water in the pot to overflow. This phenomenon occurs because the water in the pot holds a certain amount of dissolved air. When it reaches the boiling point, the amount of dissolved air in the water decreases, and the hot water undergoes a phase change from liquid to gas. The higher the temperature, the lower the solubility of air in the water, resulting in more gas being released and rising to the surface of the water. With prolonged boiling, more foam forms on the water’s surface. If you’re not careful, the water can easily spill over. However, if you place a wooden spoon horizontally over the mouth of the pot, the water will not overflow.
Why can a wooden spoon prevent the boiling water from spilling over?
The bubbles that rise when the water boils are inherently unstable. When they encounter an object that does not absorb water and punctures the surface, the bubbles in the boiling water will collapse.
The wooden spoon is an object that does not absorb water. When placed horizontally over the mouth of the pot, the bubbles in contact with the surface of the spoon lose their stability and burst.
In addition, the bubbles and foam generated by boiling water also contain a lot of water vapor. When the bubbles come into contact with an object with a lower temperature than the boiling point of water, the water vapor quickly condenses and returns to a liquid state. At this point, the bubbles burst. A wooden spoon with a temperature lower than 100 degrees Celsius (the boiling point of water) will cause the bubbles to burst, and the water vapor will condense into a liquid.
Note that if you use a metal spoon instead of a wooden spoon, the result will be completely different. Metals conduct heat better than wood, so if you place a metal spoon horizontally, it will quickly heat up, even faster than the water in the pot. Therefore, the bubbles rising in contact with the hot and smooth surface of the metal spoon will quickly overflow.
Therefore, if you want to prevent water from overflowing from the pot while cooking, you should use a wooden spoon. However, keep in mind that the wooden spoon will gradually increase in temperature and eventually reach the same temperature as the pot. At that point, it will no longer prevent water from overflowing. Therefore, you still need to pay attention to the pot of food you’re cooking.
Other methods to prevent water from overflowing in the pot
In addition to placing a wooden spoon on the pot’s mouth, there are other methods that can help prevent water from overflowing in the pot.
You can blow on the surface of the boiling water to burst the bubbles in the pot (as our breath has a lower temperature than the boiling point of water).
You can also use less water to easily determine the boiling speed of the water and adjust the heat in a timely manner. Then, if necessary, you can add water to the pot as needed.
Apart from the above methods, you can add a small amount of salt to the water, especially when boiling pasta. Salt changes the boiling point of water. Adding more salt will reduce the amount of foam produced.
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