Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1882 — Boiling Broth in the Higher Andes. [ARTICLE]

Boiling Broth in the Higher Andes.

In Byam’s “ Wanderings in Bhili and Peru,” we find the following remarkable illustration of one of the well-known laws of heat: “Feeling very cold, we determined to have some soup to warm us, and as we had plenty of meat and onions, we cut them up, put them into a saucepan with salt and Cayenne pepper, and set them on to boil. I only relate this for the information of those who have not been to great heights, those who wish to go there, and also of those who, perchance, may believe that boiling must be the same thing all over the world. After our soup had bubbled away in the most orthodox style for more than two hours, we naturally concluded that our 1 bouillon ’ was ready and the meat perfectly done, especially as the last had been cut into rather small pieces; but, to our great surprise, we found the water almost colorless, and the meat almost as raw as when it was first put into the pot. One of the miners told us that it was no use trying to boil anything, as nothing could be cooked by water on the top of (hat mountain; for, although the water bubbled away very fast, the heat was not great enough to boil a potato. At great altitudes the water begins to boil long before it arrives at the heat of 212 degrees of Fahrenheit, and as water cannot get hotter than boiling-point, except by the compression of the steam, nothing can be cookkd unless some safe means of confining the steam be adopted. I saw directly how matters lay, arid, sticking the lid tight on the pan, made it fast with heavy lumps of silver that were lying about, attaching them to the handle, and putting others on the top of all. In a very short time the steam got up, and, though it made the lid jump a little, I managed to get a broth, to the great surprise of the miners, who could not conceive what I was about. ”