Boiling water the right way

February 4, 2023 by
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Everyone’s an expert on social media. At least that’s what it seems like when you read the comments section on almost any post about politics, warfare, climate, constitutional law, or even food. I can’t tell you how many posts I’ve seen that claim “you are cooking xxx wrong.” This goes from complex dishes all the way to the simplest: boiling water.

There’s controversy swirling around the (apparently uniquely American) habit of boiling water in the microwave to make tea. Brits are aghast at this concept, and they have a modicum of science to bake up their ire about the subject. Since a microwave heats water from all angles, “the electric field that acts as a warming source in the appliance causes the water to end up at different temperatures at the top and bottom of your mug.” At first I was skeptical of this, because I’ve boiled water in a microwave many times and boiling water is boiling water, right?

Wrong. I did an experiment where I boiled a cup of water in the microwave and sure enough, it was well over 200 degrees Fahrenheit at the top of the mug and only about 180 degrees at the bottom. So it’s a bad way to make tea, except for one small thing that all of the ‘experts’ ignored: a spoon. One quick stir eliminated the temperature variation in two seconds, creating a uniform 195 degree temperature, perfect for brewing a robust black tea. If I wanted to make a more delicate tea, a (very) brief rest reduced the temperature appropriately. So I’ll continue to make tea using the microwave because it’s faster than using an electric kettle or the stovetop (yes, I’ve timed it) and more convenient.

Tea aficionados may scoff at my laissez-faire attitude about brewing their favorite beverage – I’ve seen other arguments about problems with using a microwave to boil water, ranging from a claim that it depletes nutrients (???) to that it creates a loss of oxygen in the water, which is nonsense because you can’t split a water molecule merely by heating it in a household appliance. The only actual problem with using a microwave to heat water is that you can superheat it, which can be dangerous. However, if you use cup or mug that has surface imperfections or water that isn’t 100% pure, this isn’t an issue.

Category: Antipasto

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8 Comments

  • Indio32  on  February 5, 2023

    Boiling water in a microwave is or can be dangerous. When at uni I boiled a mug of water in the microwave. Taking it out to give it a stir the water almost exploded when i put the teaspoon in the mug. Luckily no injuries but…

  • Zephyrness  on  February 5, 2023

    Hmm, speed may depend on the appliance. My electric kettle is startlingly fast-much faster than the one it replaced. I don’t have a microwave at home (no space, no use for it), but I do have one at my office. It takes forever to heat up a cup of water for tea. Now, we don’t have a modern or fancy microwave, since it’s used heat up lunch leftovers and my kettle is fairly new and rather high tech. I would point out to the microwave water naysayers that anyone who uses a microwave learns that nothing comes out “finished” It needs to sit and distribute the heat or be stirred. It’s not like water is somehow different. So it’s not wrong-it’s what works for you and fills your desire.

  • shawsc  on  February 5, 2023

    I’m not an expert on boiling water, but yes, it’s still hot water, be cautious folks. Love your well reasoned thoughts on this. Each will have their own favorite way to do this seemingly simple task.

  • Jane  on  February 5, 2023

    As a Brit I will confirm I am aghast at the idea of heating water for tea in a microwave. I think it’s because my view of the “correct” water for tea is the traditional British method – fresh water in kettle, heat until boiling (as in furious rolling boil) and immediately pour onto tea (I will admit to now being a bag user rather than loose tea). I probably couldn’t tell the difference in a taste test but it doesn’t feel right to dunk a bag in sub-boiling water. Also, pouring very hot water from a kettle into a mug that then sits for a while as the tea steeps feels safer than removing a hot mug and contents from the microwave. I find some some mug handles heat up a lot when heating a liquid – I’ll admit to using the microwave to reheat cooled coffee.

  • tmjellicoe  on  February 5, 2023

    While I don’t heat my tea water in the microwave, I do the other “sin” of making tea. Me, and the rest of my family, will reboil water and top off the kettle as necessary.

  • KarenGlad  on  February 7, 2023

    Agreed…you have to pour boiling water over the tea. It just doesn’t steep right or taste the same otherwise. Reheating…that’s ok. Now melting butter in the microwave…there’s another conversation lol.

  • FuzzyChef  on  February 7, 2023

    I’d be worried about two things: (1) not being able to figure out the exact temperature and (2) microwave boiling water explosion.

  • antimony  on  February 11, 2023

    Dissolved oxygen in water is not the same as the oxygen in the h2o water molecule, and the amount can affect the taste. (Though I’m not sure microwaving it will remove any more than boiling it in a kettle will; as far as I can remember it’s mostly just heating it up that removes it.) Mostly if you see stuff about dissolved oxygen in water it’s more likely talking about the health of a local lake or river/pollution issues/fishing stocks, not human consumption.

    I prefer a kettle because I like the taste when I start the brewing with water at a full rolling boil, but will happily microwave my tea back to warm when I forget about it for an hour and notice no change in flavor from that.

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