How hot is 'piping hot'?

haaammit · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:05

I often see cooking heating instructions that say to ensure the food is served piping hot. How hot is piping hot? What specific temperature are we talking here?

arctine · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:06

Barry McFungus Pants said:
I often see cooking heating instructions that say to ensure the food is served piping hot. How hot is piping hot? What specific temperature are we talking here?

I am genuinely interested in why you didn't just google this?

Atlas23 · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:07

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=piping+hot

Judgeneo · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:09

Hot enough to see water vapour rising

Mrs Seabiscuit · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:09

Burnsy2023 · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:09

Blazin23 said:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=piping+hot

The answer isn't on the first page of Google. You fail.

Atlas23 · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:10

Burnsy2023 said:
The answer isn't on the first page of Google. You fail.

4th result: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2012/11/10_food_idioms.php

1. Piping Hot -- This expression was used as early as late medieval times, referring to the steam that shot out of a spouted tea kettle, a device in use at least since ancient Mesopotamia. In other words, "piping hot" means "boiling hot." Chaucer used the expression in 1386, as quoted by wiki.answers: "Wafres pipyng hoot out of the gleede" ("Waffles piping hot out of the fire"). On the other hand, when Shakespeare used the word "piping" two centuries later as an adjective, he was referring to bagpiping.

Cosimo · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:12

Food Standards Agency:

Making sure food is hot enough

To test if food has been properly cooked, check that it is 'piping hot' all the way through. This means that it is hot enough for steam to come out.

Some foods change colour when they are cooked. Looking at colour is especially useful for checking meat.

haaammit · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:12

So how hot does, say, a sausage roll have to be to be considered 'boiling hot' then?

/edit - the temp that steam comes out is subjective to the room's temperature too isn't it?

Burnsy2023 · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:12

Blazin23 said:
4th result: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2012/11/10_food_idioms.php

That doesn't state a specific temperature which is what the question was.

The Dread Pirate · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:13

Could Jesus Microwave a Burrito so Hot that he himself could not eat it?

Atlas23 · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:15

Burnsy2023 said:
That doesn't state a specific temperature which is what the question was.

Okay. As it refers to boiling, it does not take much work to then get to:

The boiling point of water is 100°C or 212° F at 1 atmosphere of pressure (sea level).

Better Answer: The boiling point of water depends on the atmospheric pressure, which changes according to elevation. The boiling point of water is 100°C or 212° F at 1 atmosphere of pressure (sea level), but water boils at a lower temperature as you gain altitude (e.g., on a mountain) and boils at a higher temperature if you increase atmospheric pressure (lived below sea level).

The boiling point of water also depends on the purity of the water. Water which contains impurities (such as salted water) boils at a higher temperature than pure water. This phenomenon is called boiling point elevation, which is one of the colligative properties of matter.

AJK · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:15

Barry McFungus Pants said:
So how hot does, say, a sausage roll have to be to be considered 'boiling hot' then?

Since sausage rolls do not, as far as I'm aware, have a boiling point, I suggest that's a meaningless question.

Do you really not know how hot to make your food, or is this just a question about where the term "piping hot" comes from?

D.P. · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:16

Barry McFungus Pants said:
So how hot does, say, a sausage roll have to be to be considered 'boiling hot' then?

/edit - the temp that steam comes out is subjective to the room's temperature too isn't it?

The boiling point of water is 100*C, thus it is easy to check that a food item is boiling hot!

arctine · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:18

Barry McFungus Pants said:
So how hot does, say, a sausage roll have to be to be considered 'boiling hot' then?

/edit - the temp that steam comes out is subjective to the room's temperature too isn't it?

Do you know the temperature at which water boils?

That aside, it should be fairly obvious to anyone with half a brain in their nut that the term 'piping hot' is not any specific temperature. If what you doing does require a specific temperature, usually it will be stated.

haaammit · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:20

D.P. said:
The boiling point of water is 100*C, thus it is easy to check that a food item is boiling hot!

But a sausage roll isn't water though, is it? Like the boiling point of lead is lower than that of steel then the 'boiling' point of a sausage roll is different to that of water.

I'm well aware of the saying's origins, I just wanted to know if piping hot also refers to a specific temperature, otherwise it's a fairly arbitrary instruction

anything I don't mind · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:20

46.7 degrees

The Dread Pirate · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:22

You could go touch your central heating pipes when it's turned on that'll give you an idea of "Piping" Hot!

Deewon · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:22

Piping hot to me is too hot to touch. Obviously sticking your finger into a piping hot soup to check the temp isn't great practice though.

D.P. · 18 Mar 2014 at 15:23

Barry McFungus Pants said:
But a sausage roll isn't water though, is it? Like the boiling point of lead is lower than that of steel then the 'boiling' point of a sausage roll is different to that of water.

I'm well aware of the saying's origins, I just wanted to know if piping hot also refers to a specific temperature, otherwise it's a fairly arbitrary instruction

It doesn't matter that it is not water, boiling hot refers to boiling water which is 100*C, to check food is piping hot you check it is the boiling point of water, which can be done using a thermometer or looking at the steam.