Anyone know about Boiling Beads or Boiling Stones?

[SugarMama]

Does anyone use Boiling beads or boiling stones, the kind you would use in a chemsitry beaker, they are suppose to break the surface tension so you boil at a faster rater. Has anyone used them??

[chevypower]

I am far from being an expert but I would think the stones might create too much of a hot spot which could warp the pans... Hopefully someone with more knowledge of the topic will chime in!

[happy thoughts]

No expert here either. I just vaguely remember using them in organic chem lab. I don't see them creating hot spots. Their purpose is to give an even boil and prevent boiling flash over. That said, it would seem keeping your foam skimmed or even using a bit of defoamer would accomplish the same purpose at less cost and with less cleanup.

[MapleME]

Someone on here last year was talking about using stainless steel ball bearings in the pan...like mini raised flues.....dunno if they ever actually tried it or not

[KenWP]

Pat tried them last year and all they did was make a god awful noise and never did much else. You have such a hard boil that surface tension dosn't really exsist.