CONTROLLING HEAT ON THE STOVETOP

To control cooking, we must control how heat is transferred. The kitchen contains dozens of kinds of heat sources as well as a great array of pots, pans, and other cooking tools. Controlling cooking with so many options is a skill a cook gains with experience, by performing cooking tasks over and over.

It’s a common joke that boiling water is a cooking skill many noncooks have never learned. However, boiling water is a little more complex than such quips suggest. There is more to boiling water than just putting a pot on the stove.