On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1496

sodium.Distilledwater,whichisproduced
by boiling ordinary water and collecting
the condensed steam, is fairly free of
impurities.
Liquid Water Is Slow to Heat Up Again
thankstothehydrogenbondingbetweenwater
molecules, liquid water has a highspecific
heat, the amount of energy required to raise
its temperature by a given amount. That is,
water absorbs a lot of energy before its
temperature rises. For example, it takes 10
timestheenergytoheatanounceofwater1º
as it does to heat an ounce of iron 1º. In the
timethatittakestogetanironpantoohotto
handle on the stove, water will have gotten
only tepid. Before the heat energy added to
the water can cause its molecules to move
fasteranditstemperaturetorise,someofthe
energymustfirstbreakthehydrogenbondsso
thatthemoleculesarefreetomovefaster.
Thebasicconsequenceofthis


characteristicisthatabodyofwater—our
body,orapotofwater,oranocean—can
absorbalotofheatwithoutitselfquickly
becominghot.Inthekitchen,itmeansthata
coveredpanofwaterwilltakemorethan
twiceaslongasapanofoiltoheatuptoa
giventemperature;andconversely,itwill
holdthattemperaturelongeraftertheheatis

removed.
Liquid WaterAbsorbs a Lot of Heat as It
VaporizesintoSteamHydrogenbondingalso
gives water an unusually high “latent heat of
vaporization,” or the amount of energy that
waterabsorbswithoutariseintemperatureas
itchangesfromaliquidtoagas.Thisishow
sweatingcoolsus:asthewaterontheskinof
our over-heated body evaporates, it absorbs
large amounts of energy and carries it away
into the air. Ancient cultures used the same
principle to cool their drinking water and
wine,storingtheminporousclayvesselsthat