On Jul 11, 4:04 pm, "James Silverton" >
wrote:
> Phil wrote on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:01:14 -0500:
>
> PE> Chefs add quite a bit of salt to the water to achieve this.
>
> PE> The food being cooked does not take on a lot of this salt
> PE> during the cooking process.
> PE> Boiling Points of Water
> PE> From the book Kitchen Science by Howard Hillman
> PE> Salt: Salt, sugar, and practically any other substance
> elevates
> PE> the boiling point and therefore shortens cooking time. The
> PE> difference in temperature between unsalted and salted water
> PE> (one teaspoon of salt per quart of water) is about 1° to 2°
> PE> F, a difference that can be critical in cooking situations
> PE> demanding exactness.
>
> I haven't got time today to calculate it but either you or
> Howard Hillman are way out!

I wonder if he's misrembering teaspoons where it should have been
tablespoons. Doing a VERY back of the envelope calculation
(1qt~1L~1kg water, 1tbs table salt~18g~.65mol NaCL, Kb~.5 for water)
would give about a degree Fahrenheit difference. Of course, who cooks
using only a quart of water?

--
Ernest