Boiling, braising and steaming: Tips and recipes to help you harness the power of water

These wet cooking methods rely on convection as heat travels in currents throughout the liquid (though the heat is initially transferred from the heat source via the pot by conduction). At sea level, the liquid temperature cannot get above the boiling point, or 212 degrees Fahrenheit/100 degrees Celsius (it’s lower at higher altitudes). Still, in “On Food and Cooking,” Harold McGee says, “Boiling is a very efficient process. The entire surface of the food is in contact with the cooking medium,” and the density of water molecules means they’re always knocking into the food molecules to transfer energy. What you give up in browning potential by cooking in water or another liquid (unless you sear ingredients first, such as in a braise), you gain in even cooking. It is possible, however, to overcook ingredients (tough meat, limp vegetables) at a certain point.