Bring something to <a><the> boil

[Anushka Athukorala]

Hello Members
I would like to know which is more common and natural phrase?
It takes about 15 minutes for vegetables to come to a boil. Or
It takes about 15 minutes for vegetables to come to the boil.

 

[suzi br]

Are you cooking over a candle? 15 minutes is a long time to get a pan of water boiling.
There’s part of your problem. It’s the water that boils. Then the vegetables take 15 minutes to cook.

A more usual phrase in a cookery book is:
Bring the water to a boil.

So I think “a” boil is most common.

However “bring a pan of water to the boil” sounds fine too.

Maybe we just mix it up so as not to have the same article twice?

 

[Anushka Athukorala]

Hello suzi br

Thank you very much for your answer and explantation. This is what I found in Cambridge Dictionary.

the act of washing or cookingsomething in very hot water

a/the boil
the state of boiling:

uk Bring the water to the boil, then add the pasta.
us Bring the water to a boil, then add the pasta.
Let the liquid come to a/the boil and then reduce the heat.

So I guess using "a" or "the" has something to do with BE and AE. What do you think?

 

[DonnyB]

Not necessarily, in fact.

The 'More example sentences' attached to the Oxford Dictionaries (BE) definition appear to show that you can use either.

 

[suzi br]

I don’t think it’s an AE/BE difference because I know I would use either myself.

 

[RM1(SS)]

I've seen both used in American cookbooks.

 

[Anushka Athukorala]

Hello Everyone
Thank you very much for confirming that the both can be used in both AE and BE with the same meaning.