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Placing a wooden spoon across the top of a pot of boiling starchy foods, like pasta or potatoes, prevents spills by disrupting the bubbles as they rise. The wood's lower temperature and rough surface bursts the bubbles, keeping the foam from building up and spilling over.
\nIt's pasta night. You've got a mouthwatering sauce simmering, noodles cooking in a boiling pot, glass of wine in hand. Ahh, it's the simple pleasures.
\nThen all of a sudden, disaster strikes! The pasta pot seems to erupt and spill water over the sides in a big foamy mess.
\nThe reason pasta water tends to boil over is due to surface tension. Water alone has a high surface tension which prevents bubbles from forming. But when you're boiling a starchy food like pasta or potatoes, the starch molecules reduce the surface tension and cause bubbles to be more elastic and less prone to breaking. As more of these bubbles accumulate, they create a layer that traps steam from escaping the pot, which can eventually cause the water to boil over.
\nAll of this could have been prevented with a simple kitchen trick: Place a wooden spoon on top of the pot and no water will boil over.
\nHere are the two main reasons why a wooden spoon stops water from boiling over in a pot.
\nWood doesn't conduct heat well. So when you place the spoon on top of a pot of boiling water, it'll remain cooler than the pot and the water. As a pasta water bubble hits the wooden spoon, the steam trapped in that bubble condenses back into liquid because the spoon is less than 100ยฐC (212ยฐF). This difference in temperature continues to break bubbles as they reach the spoon, helping it prevent spillage.
\nWhile your spoon feels smooth, the surface of the wood is actually quite rough when you zoom in.
\n\"Puidu pind 2\" by Kent Gregor Mahla, Maido Merisalu is licensed under CC BY 4.0. |
The roughness of wood increases its surface area, so when a pasta water bubble hits the wood, it stretches. The stretching force becomes greater than the surface tension holding the bubble together and it pops.
\nAs the wooden spoon gets hotter and wetter resting on your pot, it will become less effective at preventing a boil-over event. You're better off using a bigger pot or reducing the heat a touch, chef.
\nI wish you a peaceful pasta night in your near future. Here's your pasta gift for reaching the end of this email.
\n\n --- \nThanks for reading this week's newsletter! If you have any thoughts, questions, or favorite GIFs, my inbox is always open. Just hit reply to send me a note! :) All my best, \n
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Why do older people type with so many ...... ellipses? What purpose do ๐ emojis have in language? Why isn't there a punctuation mark to denote sarcasm?
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This book covers so many fascinating questions that I didn't realize I had until I picked it up. McCulloch not only addresses the quirks of internet speak but also covers an interesting history of the internet, detailing what kinds of people came online when and for what reasons and how these demographic shifts impacted language on the web.
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โCheck out the full list of books I've recommended here.
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โ Why does a wooden spoon stop water from boiling over in a pot?๐ The short answerPlacing a wooden spoon across the top of a pot of boiling starchy foods, like pasta or potatoes, prevents spills by disrupting the bubbles as they rise. The wood's lower temperature and rough surface bursts the bubbles, keeping the foam from building up and spilling over. ๐ The long answerIt's pasta night. You've got a mouthwatering sauce simmering, noodles cooking in a boiling pot, glass of wine in hand. Ahh, it's the simple pleasures. Then all of a sudden, disaster strikes! The pasta pot seems to erupt and spill water over the sides in a big foamy mess. The reason pasta water tends to boil over is due to surface tension. Water alone has a high surface tension which prevents bubbles from forming. But when you're boiling a starchy food like pasta or potatoes, the starch molecules reduce the surface tension and cause bubbles to be more elastic and less prone to breaking. As more of these bubbles accumulate, they create a layer that traps steam from escaping the pot, which can eventually cause the water to boil over. All of this could have been prevented with a simple kitchen trick: Place a wooden spoon on top of the pot and no water will boil over. Here are the two main reasons why a wooden spoon stops water from boiling over in a pot. Reason #1: Wood is cooler in temperature.Wood doesn't conduct heat well. So when you place the spoon on top of a pot of boiling water, it'll remain cooler than the pot and the water. As a pasta water bubble hits the wooden spoon, the steam trapped in that bubble condenses back into liquid because the spoon is less than 100ยฐC (212ยฐF). This difference in temperature continues to break bubbles as they reach the spoon, helping it prevent spillage. Reason #2: Wood has a rough surface.While your spoon feels smooth, the surface of the wood is actually quite rough when you zoom in.
The roughness of wood increases its surface area, so when a pasta water bubble hits the wood, it stretches. The stretching force becomes greater than the surface tension holding the bubble together and it pops. When does the wooden spoon trick not work?As the wooden spoon gets hotter and wetter resting on your pot, it will become less effective at preventing a boil-over event. You're better off using a bigger pot or reducing the heat a touch, chef. I wish you a peaceful pasta night in your near future. Here's your pasta gift for reaching the end of this email.
โSources for this week's newsletterโ
๐ Book of the weekโBecause Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCullochโWhy do older people type with so many ...... ellipses? What purpose do ๐ emojis have in language? Why isn't there a punctuation mark to denote sarcasm? โ ๐ Catch up on other curious questions
P.S. ๐ค Do you have a question for the newsletter? Click here to submit your question (or reply to this email!)
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Learn something new every Friday. Join 2,000+ nerds and satisfy your curiosity one question at a time with topics including science, technology, history, and more.
How do laser pointers work? This question came from a reader submission (thanks Ana for submitting this question on behalf of your German shepherd, Arlo). Has a curious question stumped you lately? Feel free to submit your own question here: Submit your question ๐ The short answer Laser pointers work by exciting atoms so their electrons release light. Mirrors inside the device amplify that light and force the waves to move together in a single direction, creating a narrow, focused beam that...
What makes you feel full when you're eating? This question came from a reader submission (thanks Rodrigo!). Has a curious question stumped you lately? Feel free to submit your own question here: Submit your question ๐ The short answer Feelings of fullness are triggered when your stomach physically stretches and hormones signal to your brain that youโve eaten enough. The food's nutritional content, your body fat and gut bacteria, as well as the variety of food on your plate all affect how...
Why does plastic turn yellow? ๐ The short answer Plastics typically turn yellow due to photo-oxidation, a process where UV light and oxygen triggers a chain reaction that breaks down the material's chemical bonds. Over time, new molecular arrangements start to absorb more blue and violet light, making the plastic appear yellow. ๐ The long answer Once upon a time, your retro gaming device, lawn chair, or other favorite older plastic object was brilliantly white. Now? It's yellow and brittle....