# Condensed soup..add hot or cold water?



## drtodddds (Jan 16, 2011)

As I am making my daughter a can of condensed soup, my wife claims that you have to add COLD water and not HOT water to it, and then heat it up on the stove.  Is this correct and if so why?  If this is a legitimate thing, can you reference literature on this? Crazy question but I appreciate your response.


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

You're both wrong.
You add milk.


At least I do.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jan 16, 2011)

drtodddds said:


> As I am making my daughter a can of condensed soup, my wife claims that you have to add COLD water and not HOT water to it, and then heat it up on the stove. Is this correct and if so why? If this is a legitimate thing, can you reference literature on this? Crazy question but I appreciate your response.


 
Cold water.  The hot water heater has large deposits of minerals that are kept in solution.  By using hot water, you are adding those minerals into your food and drink.  The minerals precipitate out in cold water.  "Minerals" includes lead and any other metals that can come in contact with your water.  Using hot water and then boiling it concentrates the minerals further.

Sorry, I read about this long ago and have no citation.


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## Rocklobster (Jan 16, 2011)

If it is a cream soup. I also add milk. Otherwise, I add hot water and heat it up on the stove. I don't think it really makes a difference. Just like the" what side of the tinfoil do you place up" myth...


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## drtodddds (Jan 16, 2011)

just fyi, the hot water is out of a bottled water dispenser.

and why would you add milk instead of water?  i understand if it is a cream soup but otherwise why not water???


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## Kathleen (Jan 16, 2011)

I don't think it matters if you are using a water dispenser though I find most bottled waters to taste (for lack of a better word) stale.

Welcome to DC!


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## Rocklobster (Jan 16, 2011)

drtodddds said:


> 7and why would you add milk instead of water? i understand if it is a cream soup but otherwise why not water???


Adding milk makes a richer, tastier product IMHO. You can add water if you want.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jan 16, 2011)

drtodddds said:


> just fyi, the hot water is out of a bottled water dispenser.
> 
> and why would you add milk instead of water? i understand if it is a cream soup but otherwise why not water???


 
Ah, important info...then it doesn't matter.  Hot tap water has the properties I previously described.


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## AnnieDrews (Jan 16, 2011)

I like to use warm/hot water because it seems to help thin the soup w/o it getting clumpy. Unless you eat canned soup every day, I personally wouldn't worry about what might be coming out of the hot water tank.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jan 16, 2011)

AnnieDrews said:


> I like to use warm/hot water because it seems to help thin the soup w/o it getting clumpy. Unless you eat canned soup every day, I personally wouldn't worry about what might be coming out of the hot water tank.


 
Kidney Stones


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## Andy M. (Jan 16, 2011)

Doc, you didn't specify of your soup was a cream soup or not.  I think that may have been assumed.  Follow can directions as to which liquid is used.  The temperature of the liquid you add is unimportant to the finished product.


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## AnnieDrews (Jan 16, 2011)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Kidney Stones


 
I suppose if I had a history of kidney stones, then I would worry. But for myself...I rarely make canned soup so personally wouldn't worry about it. The minute amount of anything coming out of the water heater won't have an effect for me. Certainly if anyone has an issue with that type of thing then don't use warm/hot water.


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## drtodddds (Jan 16, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> Doc, you didn't specify of your soup was a cream soup or not.  I think that may have been assumed.  Follow can directions as to which liquid is used.  The temperature of the liquid you add is unimportant to the finished product.


The soup said 'Add Water'


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## pacanis (Jan 16, 2011)

I know it was assumed by me. I haven't boughten a condensed soup that wasn't a "Cream of..." in a while.
My vote is for whatever temperature the water comes out of the tap.


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## Barbara L (Jan 16, 2011)

There is a thread about the hot/cold water controversy somewhere here at DC.  What it boils down to is that if you have a newer house with newer pipes, you don't really need to worry about using hot tap water, but if you have an older house it might be better to use cold. As a site I was at yesterday said, it is probably good practice to use cold anyway just in case.  It doesn't take that much longer for the soup to come to a boil anyway.  Of course in this case, since it is from a dispenser, it doesn't matter.

Barbara


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## Zhizara (Jan 16, 2011)

I've always used regular tap water, tepid, I guess.  The trick is to stir it in _slowly_ or deal with lumps.


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## Claire (Jan 16, 2011)

I don't think it makes much of a difference in this application, but generally adding cold water when making a slurry gets a smoother result.  I don't think it makes any difference when reconstituting soups like this, but when making a flour or cornstarch slurry, cold is definitely the answer.


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## Kayelle (Jan 16, 2011)

drtodddds said:


> As I am making my daughter a can of condensed soup, my wife claims that you have to add COLD water and not HOT water to it, and then heat it up on the stove.  Is this correct and if so why?  If this is a legitimate thing, can you reference literature on this? Crazy question but I appreciate your response.



Stick around here, and you won't need to open a can of condensed soup. 

Seriously, welcome to Discuss Cooking.......this place can open a whole new world free of most cans, and a whole lot better tasting.


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## LindaZ (Jan 17, 2011)

drtodddds said:


> As I am making my daughter a can of condensed soup, my wife claims that you have to add COLD water and not HOT water to it, and then heat it up on the stove. Is this correct and if so why? If this is a legitimate thing, can you reference literature on this? Crazy question but I appreciate your response.


 
I do half milk and half water for my cream soups, but just water for stock soups. i sometimes add milk to tomato soup and get a nice rich soup. I always do cold water, don't have a reason - just do.


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