What Is a Rolling Boil?
- In simplest terms, a rolling boil is the point in boiling where stirring the pot has no calming effect on the bubbles such as you see in gentler boiling stages. The bubbles get larger and shoot very quickly to the surface from the bottom of the pot. At this stage, you want to remove the lid to prevent boil over.
- Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level. The boiling point drops by one degree for every 500 feet of elevation, according to What's Cooking America? Heat excites movement and the molecules expand, releasing energy, which becomes visible as the water begins to boil.
- NASA space shuttle astronauts experimented with low-gravity boiling during shuttle missions from 1992 to 1996. According to their results, the convection and buoyancy necessary to create a rolling boil, cannot take place when gravity is not present, causing the heated water to "coalesce into one large bubble" instead.
