uppkokning

Uppkokning is a Swedish noun formed from "koka upp" (to bring to a boil) and generally denotes the act of heating a liquid until it boils. The term is used in culinary, domestic and technical contexts to describe bringing soups, broths, milk or other liquids to a vigorous or sustained boil for a specific purpose.

In cooking, uppkokning can be part of preparation or preservation: it concentrates liquids by evaporation, extracts flavors from ingredients, or kills microorganisms on the surface of foods such as raw milk. In traditional household practice, milk was often subjected to uppkokning to extend shelf life before widespread refrigeration and industrial pasteurization. In recipes, a brief uppkokning may be used to thicken sauces or to finish a dish.

Outside the kitchen, uppkokning describes boiling as a unit operation in laboratories and small-scale industry, for example for concentrating aqueous solutions or removing volatile contaminants. The technique involves controlled heating and may be followed by cooling, filtering or reduction steps depending on the goal.

Safety considerations include the risk of scalding, boil-over and loss of volatile solvents; appropriate cookware, heat control and ventilation are recommended. Modern food-safety standards often prefer regulated pasteurization or sterilization methods over household uppkokning for consistent microbial control. The term remains common in Swedish language and everyday speech to denote the basic thermal process of bringing a liquid to a boil.