In one of my cooking classes, the other day, a couple of my students commented on my putting hot tap water in a pot to boil, assuring me that if I put cold water in the pot, it would reach a boil faster. I remember someone telling me this a few years ago, and I had a good laugh at the time. This made no sense to me at all!
So this time, I decided to research this, because maybe my little brain didn’t know better? So, folks, here is your answer. It’s a myth!!
Reproduced from the New York Times:
“The claim is repeated so often that many people accept it as fact. But according to scientists, the notion that a body of cold water will reach boiling temperature more quickly than an identical body of hot water under the same parameters is simply false.
This kitchen myth may have started as a way to encourage people to cook with cold water, not hot, which can contain more impurities. It may also have its origins in the fact that cold water generally gains heat more rapidly than water that is already hot, though it will not boil faster.
But under the right circumstances, the reverse phenomenon can occur, and hot water can freeze more quickly than cool water.” Read the full story