Food - Drink
What Actually Happens To Soup If You Boil It
By STEPHANIE FRIEDMAN
Every recipe comes with its own cooking time and temperature, but soups can be boiled for as long as you like, or so you would think. You might be tempted to boil your soup instead of simmering to cut down on time, or you figure that there's not much of a difference between boiling and simmering for hours, but this isn't true.
Boiling your soup can overcook your meat and make your vegetables fall apart. When liquid boils, it creates rapid movement in the pot that makes ingredients bump into each other and fall apart, but a simmer creates enough just movement to release all the ingredients' flavors while gently and evenly cooking them for an ideal texture.
Your broth can also evaporate if you boil it for too long, and for all these reasons, you should bring your soup to boil and then immediately turn it down to a simmer for the rest of the cooking time, as many recipes advise. This way, the meat and vegetables have time to tenderize, but not turn mushy, while the flavors mix together perfectly.