How to simmer without boiling over or burning ... guaranteed!!!

This is going to be a very short and simple post of a quick tip which works for me every single time!!

A lot of recipes will ask that you simmer something for 20 minutes on low heat or medium heat.

Very often, I'm pretty sure most of the time, actually, you will simmer the pot of whatever is cooking, be it soup, stew or sauce on the stove top. This can lead to the pot boiling over if it's too hot or burning if you forget to watch the pot.

What I do is I simmer in the oven.

Yes, you heard me right, I said simmer in the oven. :-)

Water boils at 100°C or 212°F, so I set my oven to between 100°C and 120°C or 212°F and 248°F to simmer whatever I am needing to simmer.

I heat up the oven to the correct temperature, and while that is happening, I get my pot of whatever I'm cooking on the stove and bring it to a boil on the stove.

Then, when it is boiling, I transfer the entire pot, covered with a lid, into the oven, and set the timer for it to simmer in the oven for whatever the duration is needed. Just remember to set your timer and get it out of the oven at the appropriate time. It's okay if you run over a little, it won't boil dry in the oven for a very long time.

A word of caution though - make sure that your pot is oven proof. Stainless steel pots are best for this, or cast iron. If you have a pot that has plastic or plastic like material parts, make sure that it can withstand the temperatures that you have set the oven to. I know that Scanpan can withstand up to 160°C or 320°F. You do not want your pot melting in the oven because it cannot withstand the heat.

I promise that this method of simmering is pretty foolproof. No need to check it and constantly watch it, just set the timer and let it go. No boiling over. No burning unless you forget about it and leave it for a long time, and even then, it would take hours and hours before all the liquid would evaporate.

The only caveat I make to that is the fact that if you are slow cooking something over 5 or 6 or more hours, then it will dry down a bit. Check it periodically (every 2 or 3 hours) just to make sure you still have enough moisture in it, and if not, just add a little more boiling water.

I hope you try this out and if you do, let me know how it works for you. :-)


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Boiling vegetables ... hot water? cold water?

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming after the trip ... (there will be more US eating experience posts coming, I promise!)

For a cooking neophyte like me it is always exciting and amazing the things that I used to do, take for granted and now learn.

Take boiling vegetables, for example. I have always been of the mind that vegetables need to be plonked into hot boiling water and then boiled a certain period of time, and removed from the boiling water. The amount of time it spends in the hot water determines if it's cooked, crisp or mushy.

What I have recently learned was how WRONG I was. I mean - seriously! I was wrong. And I'm big enough a person (okay so I'm tiny, coming in at 5'2" but anyway ....) to admit that I was previously incorrect in my knowledge.

Depending on the vegetable, you either boil in hot or cold water. Huh? Say what?

Here's what I learned:

If it grows above the ground, you heat the water until it's boiling and then plonk the vegetables in and boil away - timing depends on the vegetable and the quantity. Examples include broccoli, beans, asparagus and other vegetables that grow above ground.

If it grows below the ground, you fill a pot with cold water, plonk the vegetables into the pot of water and then bring the water to a boil while the vegetables are in the water. Then boil for however long till the vegetable is cooked. Examples include potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes and anything else that grows below ground.

Interesting, eh? Well, I certainly thought so.

Why, you ask? I do not know. Not because I was not told, but because I forget the reason. If you really want to know, ask me and I'll find out for you. If not, just take it from me - above ground = hot, below ground = cold.

Now, being the contrary person that I am, I don't like boiling my vegetables. I prefer to steam them. Does not make a lick of difference whether you boil or steam them, so long as you don't over do them. My usual mix for dinner is carrots, broccoli and if in season, snow peas and asparagus. Since the carrots are below ground veggies and the other stuff are above ground veggies, what I do it this:

• I assemble my steamer and put the pot with cold water in it on the stove.
• Then I put the carrots into the steamer section, while the water is still cold.
• I put the water to heat and bring it to the boil.
• Once the water has boiled, I let it steam for about 2 or 3 minutes (since carrots take longer than other veggies anyway).
• After that, when the steam is nice and hot and going strong, I plonk in all the other veggies and give it another 2 or 3 minutes, maybe 4 if there are a lot of them.
• At the end of that, all my veggies are ready and cooked the way they were supposed to have been cooked.

My favorite way to serve steamed veggies is with a dash of Chinese sesame oil and soy sauce. Yum!

What's your favorite way of cooking vegetables? Do you prefer them one way over another? 

© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd