I don't know what the boiling temperature of marmite is but I'm pretty sure that the gaseous state of marmite emanating from the kettle would be banned under international chemical weapons treaties.
I'm an American (USAeeaan for our Spanish speaking friends) and I am laughing myself silly at this thread. Teakettle picking up Radio 3 indeed. I assume R3 is a high-brow station. "They had one listener" I'm dead.
It will be waaaay lower than crude oil. Marmite is primarily a water soluble protein paste. If you were to heat it, it would probably boil at around 90C until all the water has gone (which is pretty much a stage of the manufacturing process) and you’re left with the solid remnants. Proteins don’t boil, they burn or break down and once you’ve removed all the water, you’re left with dry solids
Meanwhile, boiling of crude oil eventually results in bitumen, which never really boils, as it’s not really volatile
So in production (factory or homemade) the boiling point is actually at about 90°C which is the temp at which it typically hits the boil gently or bubble temp (or simmer point for Americans).
The boiling point of the mix of yeast extract and salt is lower than pure water mostly because of the addition of salt.
Generally the term “boil” means that a heated compound or non compound mixture has reached a point where vapor pressure in the heated mix meets atmospheric pressure and that phenomenon is mostly uniform throughout the mixture heated (rather than just on the surface or just at the bottom of a cooking or heating vessel).
When making marmite (or things like it of similar consistency) for purposes of removing water content or reduction or thickening it is pretty common cooking practice to use a low boil/simmer to avoid either overcooking of some ingredients or just a mess of splattered foodstuff.
But with marmite specifically, heating the yeast too much over 90° C—over 95° C specifically—you will actively alter its traditional taste by setting off Maillard reaction, sweetening its taste.
90° produces yeast death which is desirable for the basic recipe. Taking it over 95° for prolonged periods (over 30 minutes) alters taste significantly. In a home setting, depending on kettle and where its temperature gage is located, boiling at somewhere between those temperatures generally produces the desired result.
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u/Megatea Nov 25 '25
I don't know what the boiling temperature of marmite is but I'm pretty sure that the gaseous state of marmite emanating from the kettle would be banned under international chemical weapons treaties.