Boiling can be seen without the help of a thermometer, and by this time, the water is disinfected. Though the boiling point decreases with increasing altitude, it is not enough to affect the disinfecting process. "Boiling" is the method of cooking food in boiling water or other water-based liquids such as stock or milk. Simmering is gentle boiling, while in poaching the cooking liquid moves but scarcely bubbles. The boiling point of water is typically considered to be 100 °C or 212 °F. Pressure and a change in the composition of the liquid may alter the boiling point of the liquid.
Stone boiling alleviate the pressures of increasing populations as more nutrients could be extracted from existing food sources. Bone grease, in particular, served an economic purpose on the plains as it is used in the production of pemmican. Pemmican was an important trade item and storable food source. Stone boiling was used across North America, especially among West and Northwest Coast peoples. Indigenous peoples living between 33- and 58-degrees latitude, and 100- and 130-degrees longitude are generally associated with the use of stone boiling based on Kit Nelson’s, professor of anthropology at Tulane University, model of 152 “cultural groups” drawn from three