Boil vs. simmer
Water boils at 100°C with big, rolling bubbles. A simmer is about 85 to 95°C, with small bubbles that break the surface now and then. Most soups, stews and braises cook at a simmer.
Clear broth versus cloudy broth
A gentle simmer lets fat float and proteins clump into scum you can skim off. A hard boil whips the fat into tiny droplets and breaks proteins into fine specks, which clouds the broth. Skim early.
Why tough cuts need a simmer
Tough cuts like beef chuck are full of collagen. At 70 to 90°C, collagen slowly melts into gelatin, which makes meat soft and silky. That takes hours. Boiling harder just dries out the fibers faster.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
A beef stew is boiled hard for an hour. How does the meat turn out?
Tight and dry as the fibers squeeze out moisture. Hard boiling tightens the muscle fibers and pushes moisture out.
What went wrong? You want clear stock, but you keep it at a rolling boil the whole time. The stock turns cloudy.
It boiled instead of simmering. A simmer keeps fat and particles from being churned into the stock.
True or false: A hard rolling boil gives juicier meat than a gentle simmer does.
False. Hard boiling tightens fibers and squeezes out moisture, so the meat comes out drier.
Fill the blank: A pot with small, gentle bubbles is at a ___, the right setting for stock.
A pot with small, gentle bubbles is at a simmer, the right setting for stock. Small, gentle bubbles mean a simmer, about 85 to 95°C.
At about what temperature does a gentle simmer sit?
About 90 °C. A simmer is about 85 to 95°C (185 to 200°F), just under boiling.
Boiled vs simmered eggs
Same eggs, different bubbles.
Do the 20-minute experiment
