Boiling

• 1). Fill a large pot with water. This will be used for boiling, the most common method of cooking with water. The pot containing the water will be heated until the water reaches the boiling point of 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
  
• 2). Add 1 tsp.of salt for every two cups of water in the pot. The salt will raise the maximum temperature of the water and add flavor to the food you're boiling.
  
  
• 3). Heat the pot of water on a stove over high heat until large bubbles start forming in the water and rising to the surface. At this point, the water is boiling and can be used for cooking.
  
  
• 4). Immerse your food in the boiling water. The amount of time it needs to cook depends on the food.
  
  
• 5). Remove the food from the water once it is fully cooked and drain the excess water.
  
  

Pressure Cooking

• 1). Repeat Steps 1-2 in the section on boiling to cook food in a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers boil foods, but they have high pressure and allow the water inside to be heated to a much higher temperature. Pressure cooking is one of the fastest ways to cook and soften foods.
  
  
• 2). Place the food in the pressure cooker and seal the cap before cooking. Because opening the pressure cooker would release all the pressure inside, you must immerse the food in the water before the water reaches a high temperature.
  
  
• 3). Release the steam slowly by using the pressure release on the pressure cooker after the food is cooked.
  
  
• 4). Allow the food to cool until it is no longer steaming. Steam heated in pressure cookers can be much hotter than steam from water heated in an open room.
  
  
• 5). Remove the food from the water and drain.
  
  

Steaming

• 1). Fill a pot with a small layer of water--at most an inch. You don't need much because the food is not immersed in the water during steaming. Rather, the water is heated until it becomes steam, which is then used to heat the food.
  
  
• 2). Place a steaming rack inside the pot so its surface is above the surface of the water.
  
  
• 3). Heat the water until it begins to boil.
  
  
• 4). Place your food on top of the steaming rack so that it is immersed in steam.
  
  
• 5). Remove the food from the steamer once it is fully cooked. There is no need to drain steamed foods.