Simmering is a cooking method that uses moderate heat to gently soften foods while slowly combining seasonings and ingredients. It is often used for soups, stews, and slow-cooking meat, especially in a cast-iron Dutch oven on the stovetop. The temperature required to simmer a dish is between 185°F and 205°F, which is slightly below the boiling point of 212°F. The perfect simmer produces more steam than a low simmer but less steam than boiling. Simmering refers to small bubbles that take between 1 and 3 seconds to form and float to the surface before ultimately popping.

The temperature range for simmering is not exact and can vary depending on the stove, cookware, ingredients, and recipe of choice. Some stoves come with knobs that range between 1-6, some between 1-9, and others between 1-10. One thing we can all agree on is that 1 is the lowest heat setting on all knobs and is best for dishes that require poaching. On an electric stove with six heat settings, the simmer setting will be somewhere between 2 and 3. If the electric stove has 9 or 10 heat settings, then levels 3 and 4 should be used. Sometimes, pushing it to 5 will produce vigorous simmering.

To maintain a simmer, it is important to adjust the temperature if needed. A steady simmer can quickly develop into a boil if it gets too hot. Watching the bubbles to gauge a simmer or using a thermometer to measure the temperature of the liquid can help maintain the simmer.