Hot or cold water from pot filler?

[Bethy41]

My recent kitchen renovation included a pot filler over the stove. Although I specified cold water, the contractor mistakenly connected it to hot water. Correcting to cold water now requires removing tile, opening the wall, running new pipes, etc. The contractor says it doesn't matter and that traditional advice about cooking with cold water reflects old restaurant boilers that may have been rusty. Obviously he doesn't want to fix the problem, but frankly I'm dreading the intrusion as well. How important is it to start with cold water in cooking?

[Suzanne]

It's not so much a question of potentially rusty water; it really depends on what you're cooking. If it's pasta it doesn't make all that much difference; you won't be adding the food to the water until the water has reached a boil. If it's potatoes, and you prefer to start them in cold water, it could make a difference. (There are different schools of thought about the right water temp. for starting potatoes.) And if you're making stock, the water temperature matters a lot. You never want to cover your bones with hot water; starting them in cold allows the loose proteins and impurities to rise to the top gently and be removed easily, while starting them in hot can make the loose proteins much more likely to glom up and cloud your stock. So take all that into consideration to help you decide whether or not to have the contractor fix what he messed up.

(I have to deal with contractors for my apartment building, and I would never, ever let them just walk away from a mistake like that. They messed it up, they should fix it as fast as possible -- ALL of the necessary work.)

[scott123]

Rust has nothing to do with it. The safety issue is that hot water leaches more lead/contaminants from the pipes and the solder used to weld the pipes together. By law, new houses (built post 1986) can't have lead in the pipes/solder, but they may have other nasty stuff. I would cook with cold water.

From the Minnesota Department of Health Website:

Use cold tap water and heat it on the stove if you need hot water for food preparation. Hot tap water absorbs more lead from pipes and pipe solder. Let tap water run for at least two minutes if the water has been standing in the pipes for 6 hours or more. This flushes out the water that might have absorbed lead from the pipes or the solder that joins the pipes together.

Here is the link:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/h.../npa/lead.html

[panini]

I'm not a plumber by any means. I thinking that there is a location somewhere where those two line are close and accessable where the hot can be capped and the cold can be tapped.

[scott123]

Originally Posted by panini

I'm not a plumber by any means. I thinking that there is a location somewhere where those two line are close and accessable where the hot can be capped and the cold can be tapped.

I was thinking the same thing. Moving the tile?!

[kuan]

It doesn't matter what the contractor told you about cooking with hot water. It's not what you wanted, have him fix it.

The cold water is nice to have because you can knock down a boiling over pot real quick. You could do it with hot too I guess since it's not boiling. But it's quicker with cold.

But the thing about the stock... yeah, you never wanna start your stock with hot water.

But nevermind all of that. Just tell the contractor to fix it. Plain and simple.

[Geebs]

Hi Everyone. This is my first post here so be gentle

If the contractor did not do what you requested then you should make his do what he promised to do. It sounds to me like he is just trying to get out of doing work.

Personally I would prefer the hot water. It is true that you do not always want to start with hot (potatoes and stock are two good ones as others have already mentioned), but for me I find that more often then not, I start with hot.

[panini]

OK, I'm grabbing my tool belt. I carry everything I need, a small hammer for the little problems and a large one for the bigger problems,with my special little string holder for my duck tape, Tell me where to go

You really need cold, right? what about boiled eggs and thing like that.
I'm editing myself because it's not really funny for you. I'm really sure if you look hard enough there is some way to get cold water to that installed pipe without ripping out tile. If you have to do major thigs then ,oh well. He or she will just have3 to do it

[tuboe]

Having cold water out weights the hot water for cooking in the long run. I would force the contractor to do the job right. I'm in a new home, myself and I'm after them to fix the small things that they missed, they finally painted my atrium door after 5 months. Keep on them.

[scott123]

Originally Posted by Geebs

Hi Everyone. This is my first post here so be gentle

Welcome to the forum Geebs. That's some impressive photography you have on your web page.

[Geebs]

Thanks for the welcome Scott123 and thank you also for checking out my photos!

[Headless Chicken]

Dispite the fact that cold water is better to use then hot, the contractor still made a big booboo and should be held accountable. Bethy41, if you've got a written contract that clearly states that hot water was requested and that the contractor refuses to fix or reinburse you for their mistakes, you've got legal grounds. Nasty idea but they made a mistake and aren't willing to fix it, I wouldn't stand for it even if it was for a greater good.

You ask for oranges and get apples, I'd be complaining!

[Benjasmin]

I know the original post on this was quite some time ago so I hope someone is reading this and can help. My question may seem dumb, but my wife and I are in the process of remodeling our kitchen and want to make sure we don't make any mistakes. So here it is: when putting in the pot filler the contractor asked us if we wanted hot or cold. We did not know the difference so we said hot. Come to find out hot pot fillers in the style and price range we want are few and far between. We dabble in cooking every now and then nothing big. Would putting in the cold pot filler on the hot water outlet have any adverse effects?

Thanks in Advance

[kuan]

Cold. Definitely cold.

[OregonYeti]

Hot water brought to boil doesn't taste as fresh as cold water brought to boil. This might not matter as much in some things, but for others it would.

I'm thinking that the reasons for the taste differences are 1) leached substances due to temperature 2) leached substances due to longer time sitting in the pipes and 3) much lower dissolved oxygen in the hot water. I don't have a reference for my suggestions, but I definitely notice a difference in taste.