Hi Sandy, I was glad to read your comment here as I am essentially a "lazy" cook and don't believe in doing complex (or scary) processes that aren't necessary. I no longer soak dried beans, wash potatoes (that are going to be boiled anyway), incessantly stir risotto or stand over a pot of caramelized onions for an hour. I have been researching this subject for a few weeks and while I love to read a variety of opinions on the subject, after seeing other sites that did comparisons and looking at a lot of photos and reading a lot of comments, I have concluded that it is indeed an "old wives' tale" that it is necessary to pre-heat the pot. It's not like your browning a chicken or otherwise searing the outside of a flesh, so I don't see any scientific reason why the pot would need to be hot first, if the crust is not the result of "searing" or "frying" but actually because of the steaming. The steam is still going to generate as the pot warms so....the only difference I could see in pictures of cold pot vs. hot pot was that the hot was indeed slightly higher. I don't know if that extra 1/4" is really worth risking getting scalded with splatter burns. So I was glad to hear of your empirical research into this enduring enigma ;-) I will be trying it your way this week. But I do love this blog and Kye thanks for so much great info.

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