How Do Bamboo Spoons Prevent Boil Overs??

[peichef]

I've been searching online for a while to find the answer to my question, but haven't had any luck. Hoping one of you might know...

If you place a bamboo spoon across your pot (ie:when boing rice, pasta, etc), your pot will not boil over. WHY????? how does this work. (And it does work. I haven't had a boil over in almost 2 yrs. )

Customers always buy the bamboo spoon set when I tell them they mean "the end of the boil over". But, they always want to know how they work!?!

Answers (or best guesses)

 

[vwpamperedchef]

good to know, but i have no idea. interested in hearing the replies.

 

[mpkegley]

I didn't know that, now I am curious!

 

[Geekgirl69]

All I could find using google on a candy making page:A wooden spoon or dowel rod placed across the top of the pan will help to prevent boil over. The spoon handle or rod will break bubbles as they rise to the top of the pan.

 

[peichef]

I've even asked my physicist BIL and my Bio-Chem prof cousin -- no one knows why it works. Maybe I need a botanist

 

[missydivine]

I've never tried that. Well, next time I will.

 

[KellyTheChef]

Hmmm....never heard of that!

Good thing to know- I will have to try that! Plus, now when we have people looking for that boil-over-lid thing that we used to sell, we can sell them a set of spoons instead!

 

[Christ Follower]

It is NOT 100% though. It HELPS but doesn't mean never. I had a customer get upset when she did get a boil over.

 

[ginamkiely]

I had a customer get upset when she did get a boil over.

are you serious? that's crazy!! thanks for the tip i'm going to have to try it out!

 

[chefann]

All I could find using google on a candy making page:

A wooden spoon or dowel rod placed across the top of the pan will help to prevent boil over. The spoon handle or rod will break bubbles as they rise to the top of the pan.

That makes sense to me. Same reason putting a little oil on top of the water will reduce boil-over.

 

[peichef]

It is NOT 100% though. It HELPS but doesn't mean never. I had a customer get upset when she did get a boil over.

Really?!?! I've been doing this since i got my spoons (before I started selling PC) and I have NOT had a single boil over since. I boil my pasta in a barely-big enough pot, leave the burner set on 8 or 9 (out of 10) and haven't had a problem yet. If your water level is too high, you might get some splattering (!?!) but not a boil over.

 

[ParishKitchen]

I'm not sure about the pot thing, but here's what Alton Brown had to say about boiling liquids in the microwave on the Good Eats episode entitled "True Brew II."

The microwave is a good choice, too. Just be sure to use a microwave-safe measuring cup, bowl, vessel of some type with a wooden skewer or chopstick placed inside. See, in order for water to actually boil, there's got to be a niche, a scratch, an imperfection, somewhere on the inner surface of the container so the bubbles can form. If the container is super-smooth and the microwave super-strong, the water could super-heat without actually boiling. Then you reach in for the container, you give it a jiggle, and ka-boosh, it boils explosively ... as in all over you. The skewer or chop stick gives the bubbles a place to grow thus diffusing the situation.

I would assume keeping a wooden spoon in a boiling pot would serve the same purpose. But preventing boil-overs by simply laying a spoon on top of the pot is a different story. Here's Alton Brown's explanation of of boil-overs, from the Good Eats episode "Pantry Raid I: Use Your Noodle."

Now, the reason that boil-overs happen is that, you see, when the pasta goes into the water, starch just floats off, and starch allows the water to make and hold on to bigger bubbles. The bubbles stack up and, bingo, boil-over. It's just another in a long list of reasons to use a big pot and a lot of water.

So, my guess, then, is that a spoon across the top of the pot breaks up those big bubbles so they don't continue to climb and spill. Any kind of spoon, spatula, or other long utensil would probably work, but wood makes the most sense because it won't melt like plastic and won't get hot like metal.HTH!ETA: Oops! I didn't see the previous response about breaking up bubbles at the top of the pot. Sorry!!!

 

[jenniferknapp]

I got a "Boiling Minder" as a test product from Cooking Club of America....and it is this little time machine looking gadget, and simpy blows out air (throught a bendable hose) and breaks the bubbles to "prevent" boil-overs. It works really well, but it is sorta big, and is annoying to listen to unless you have the vent fan on!...I like the spoon idea better!

 

[peichef]

I'm not sure about the pot thing, but here's what Alton Brown had to say about boiling liquids in the microwave on the Good Eats episode entitled "True Brew II."



I would assume keeping a wooden spoon in a boiling pot would serve the same purpose. But preventing boil-overs by simply laying a spoon on top of the pot is a different story. Here's Alton Brown's explanation of of boil-overs, from the Good Eats episode "Pantry Raid I: Use Your Noodle."



So, my guess, then, is that a spoon across the top of the pot breaks up those big bubbles so they don't continue to climb and spill. Any kind of spoon, spatula, or other long utensil would probably work, but wood makes the most sense because it won't melt like plastic and won't get hot like metal.

HTH!

ETA: Oops! I didn't see the previous response about breaking up bubbles at the top of the pot. Sorry!!!

Good theory -- but...

If you try this out (I have -- my own personal test) let the water come to a rolling boil -- alomst to a boil over, but not qutie to the surface of the pot. Place the spoon across the top -- the water level drops IMMEDIATELY. No bubbles even touch the spoon. So.... it's not breaking the bubbles.

Sorry to burst your bubble (Couldn't resist)

 

[chefann]

Good theory -- but...

If you try this out (I have -- my own personal test) let the water come to a rolling boil -- alomst to a boil over, but not qutie to the surface of the pot. Place the spoon across the top -- the water level drops IMMEDIATELY. No bubbles even touch the spoon. So.... it's not breaking the bubbles.

Sorry to burst your bubble (Couldn't resist)

Maybe the spoon affects the steam currents, forcing some back down toward the surface, which affects the surface tension.

 

[ahammons]

Never heard this before...I'm going to have to give it a try!

 

[ParishKitchen]

Maybe the spoon affects the steam currents, forcing some back down toward the surface, which affects the surface tension.

Hmm, your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[chefann]

Hmm, your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

OMG! Another Simpsons nut! I recognized that one right off.

 

[Carissidy]

I have never heard of this either but I love to be able to express different uses for our products!

 

[Kodeysmom]

I sold a set at my show tonight after i brought out one of my new sets and told them about the whole boiling over trick. Awesome!!!

 

[micocina]

Very interesting. That's why I love this place... there is never a dull moment.

 

[Chocolatejunkie]

Scientific Explanation: Boiling point is the temperature at which a liquid bubbles and changes into vapor. At this temperature, the vapor pressure (the pressure exerted by the vapor) equals the atmospheric pressure. The motion of vapor molecules produces the vapor pressure, which rises as the temperature of the liquid rises. The lower the atmospheric pressure is, the lower is the temperature needed to produce a vapor pressure equal to the atmospheric pressure. So the boiling point of any substance depends on the atmospheric pressure.
And if you introduce a foreign body into the mix then some of the energy that would be used to help something boil faster is then diverted to heating up the foreign body to help it gain the same temperature as the rest of the mixture.

:cry:

Basically it takes a certain amount of energy for something to boil. When you put the bamboo spoon in, then part of the energy is used to try to heat the bamboo spoon up to the same temperature as everything else. Since the energy is reduced it will then take longer to reach the point where it would boil over. Also because wood is a very poor conductor of electricity it can take a very long while before it will reach the boiling over point. The reason you can still have boil over is you have the oven too HOT or your have cooked it too long and it finally gains enough energy to spill a gooey mess all over your clean stove.

 

[Carissidy]

I tried tonight at supper and it didn't boil over, but that doesn't mean it won't ever! With my luck any ways!

 

[cathyskitchen]

Scientific Explanation: Boiling point is the temperature at which a liquid bubbles and changes into vapor. At this temperature, the vapor pressure (the pressure exerted by the vapor) equals the atmospheric pressure. The motion of vapor molecules produces the vapor pressure, which rises as the temperature of the liquid rises. The lower the atmospheric pressure is, the lower is the temperature needed to produce a vapor pressure equal to the atmospheric pressure. So the boiling point of any substance depends on the atmospheric pressure.
And if you introduce a foreign body into the mix then some of the energy that would be used to help something boil faster is then diverted to heating up the foreign body to help it gain the same temperature as the rest of the mixture.

:cry:

Basically it takes a certain amount of energy for something to boil. When you put the bamboo spoon in, then part of the energy is used to try to heat the bamboo spoon up to the same temperature as everything else. Since the energy is reduced it will then take longer to reach the point where it would boil over. Also because wood is a very poor conductor of electricity it can take a very long while before it will reach the boiling over point. The reason you can still have boil over is you have the oven too HOT or your have cooked it too long and it finally gains enough energy to spill a gooey mess all over your clean stove.

OMG, that sounds just like something my chemical engineer brother would say! ROFL!

 

[sfdavis918]

Scientific Explanation: Boiling point is the temperature at which a liquid bubbles and changes into vapor. At this temperature, the vapor pressure (the pressure exerted by the vapor) equals the atmospheric pressure. The motion of vapor molecules produces the vapor pressure, which rises as the temperature of the liquid rises. The lower the atmospheric pressure is, the lower is the temperature needed to produce a vapor pressure equal to the atmospheric pressure. So the boiling point of any substance depends on the atmospheric pressure.
And if you introduce a foreign body into the mix then some of the energy that would be used to help something boil faster is then diverted to heating up the foreign body to help it gain the same temperature as the rest of the mixture.

:cry:

Basically it takes a certain amount of energy for something to boil. When you put the bamboo spoon in, then part of the energy is used to try to heat the bamboo spoon up to the same temperature as everything else. Since the energy is reduced it will then take longer to reach the point where it would boil over. Also because wood is a very poor conductor of electricity it can take a very long while before it will reach the boiling over point. The reason you can still have boil over is you have the oven too HOT or your have cooked it too long and it finally gains enough energy to spill a gooey mess all over your clean stove.

But wait...that is if you put the spoon in the pot, right? The original question was why does it work to put the spoon across the top. Would it be the same thing, but the pot is heating the spoon as opposed to the water heating it?

 

[DebbieSAChef]

Read on the internetI just read on the internet that wooden spoons across the top of a pot prevent spill overs because it seperates the steam and prevents the boil over!

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=1454387

http://www.alicorne.com/information.htm

Debbie

 

[Christ Follower]

I just read on the internet that wooden spoons across the top of a pot prevent spill overs because it seperates the steam and prevents the boil over!

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=1454387

http://www.alicorne.com/information.htm

Debbie

Okay, now that's something my guests (as well as myself) could understand!

 

[MicheleC]

Thanks Debbie! There are several other great tips on that site as well.

 

[missydivine]

Thanks Debbie

 

[ginamkiely]

thanks, my husband said i was nuts when i told him about this, at least now i can say "See i told you so!!"