When a hot steel work-piece is quenched, the area in contact with the water immediately cools and its temperature equilibrates with the quenching medium. The inner depths of the material however, do not cool so rapidly, and in work-pieces that are large, the cooling rate may be slow enough to allow the austenite to transform fully into a structure other than martensite or bainite. This results in a work-piece that does not have the same crystal structure throughout its entire depth; with a softer core and harder "shell".  The softer core is some combination of ferrite and cementite, such as pearlite.
The hardenability of ferrous alloys, i.e. steels, is a function of the carbon content and other alloying elements and the grain size of the austenite. The relative importance of the various alloying elements is calculated by finding the equivalent carbon content of the material.
The fluid used for quenching the material influences the cooling rate due to varying thermal conductivities and specific heats.  Substances like brine and water cool the steel much more quickly than oil or air.  If the fluid is agitated cooling occurs even more quickly.  The geometry of the part also affects the cooling rate: of two samples of equal volume, the one with higher surface area will cool faster.