Thank you for translating this adorable, charming manga and for taking the effort to write the English in such a way that reflects the setting and period. It was a delight to read.
I'm not really sure about the explanation the teacher gave but when cooking with stainless steel you do want to achieve the Leidenfrost effect in which the surface of a droplet water immediately evaporates on contact with the pan. There's some stuff about it on this page.
That said doing it...
I remember seeing a rice milling machine like that when i visited Japan, something like this. At the time I thought maybe it was for washing rice so that you wouldn't have to do it at home lol.
Interesting chapter. It's obviously a lot harder to make something accurate for ancient history. Scholars are divided on whether Habiru and Hebrews are related but it's generally agree they're not the same group.
"Hug me" isn't her being wholesome, the word she uses (抱く) is very much a euphemism for sex, about as unambiguous as "sleep with" or "make love" in English