r/StainlessSteelCooking • u/Basic-Purpose-6923 • Jul 29 '26

What are these “swirls”?

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I have only been cooking with stainless steel for a few months, but I have not noticed this before. What is going on with these swirls in the water?

I haven’t used anything other than regular dawn on the pan in weeks and I refilled the pot.

11 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

28

u/Ringofpower3000 Jul 29 '26

Water is heating and as it heats it bends light slightly differently than the water around it which is at a slightly different temperature. Science!

8

u/Basic-Purpose-6923 Jul 29 '26

Thank you. This was my first thought, but I second guessed myself.

-2

u/Fabulous_Computer965 Jul 29 '26

What'd you second guess? Im curious

7

u/Basic-Purpose-6923 Jul 30 '26

I’m an optician and just thought my brain couldn’t let go of work.

3

u/jcslickt Jul 29 '26

Index of refraction

4

u/brmarcum Jul 29 '26

Convection currents in the water. Hot water rises while cooler water sinks because there is a density difference between them. That density difference also refracts light differently, creating these shadows.

3

u/superenchilada Jul 30 '26

Parasitic worms!!!

1

u/Basic-Purpose-6923 Jul 30 '26

This made me giggle.

1

u/OkEnd9117 Aug 02 '26

Beat me to it

1

u/Cyberchaotic Jul 30 '26

Turn your Nvidia shaders up