时差N小时 高压烹饪食物的原理(上)

Cooking Under Pressure

高压烹饪

When you boil potatoes on the stove top, it can take half an hour to cook them ’til tender¹.

如果你用炉子烹煮土豆，那么需要半小时才能煮熟。

But, when you boil them in a pressure cooker, instead presto², they’re ready in about five minutes.

可是如果用高压锅的话，只需短短5分钟就煮熟了。

What’s the difference? What makes pressure cookers cook so quickly?

他们的区别在哪里？为何高压锅烹饪如此迅速？

Let’s start with the potatoes boiling on the stove top.

咱们从用炉子煮土豆开始分析。

The temperature of the boiling water won’t go above 212 degrees Fahrenheit³, no matter how high you turn up the burner or how long you leave the pot on the stove.

无论你将煤气灶火力调多高，或是烹饪时间多长，水的沸点都不会超过华氏212度。

That’s because, at normal air pressure, water boils at 212 degrees and escapes as steam.

由于在标准大气压下，水达到华氏212度就会沸腾并以蒸气形式挥发。

In a pressure cooker, on the other hand, the steam can’t make such an easy getaway.

而对于高压锅来说，水蒸气并不会轻易挥发掉。

1 tender   

adj.嫩的，柔软的；脆弱的，纤细的；温柔的

参考例句：

• At the tender age of seventeen I left home.早在十七岁的小小年纪，我就离开了家。
• We were sent to boarding school at a tender age.很小的时候我们就被送到了寄宿学校。

2 presto   

adv.急速地；n.急板乐段；adj.急板的

参考例句：

• With something so important,you can't just wave a wand and presto!在这么重大的问题上，你想挥动一下指挥棒，转眼就变过来,办不到！
• I just turned the piece of wire in the lock and hey presto,the door opened.我把金属丝伸到锁孔里一拧，嘿，那门就开了。

3 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。