Thermal impulse from quenching red hot steel rod in water

Yes, by considering heat as a substance that may have mass, inertia and kinetic energy due to its motion.

Sure, try it. I do think though that one would need some sort of temperature recording device that recorded temperatures on a very frequent basis though. Say micro seconds :-)

On the other hand physics says that "A measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample of matter, expressed in terms of units or degrees designated on a standard scale."

If they are correct then in layman's terms, if the energy of the particles that make up a fry pan, for example are at "X" there is no way that they would move to a larger, call it "Y" amount, unless additional energy is input in some manner. The O.P. was saying that when he decreased the energy in one portion of the pan it forced additional energy to move to other particles....

One might ask where the additional energy came from.

In 1798 Count Rumford first showed that heat was not a physical substance, "phlogiston" or "caloric", that could be shifted like ketchup in a packet.

-jsw

The FLIR camera is a good choice for speed, except that it may not detect dry steam in the air:

Figure 2-b shows the hot surfaces around a steam leak but NOT the steam plume itself, or the surrounding heated air. Gases that don't absorb radiation also don't emit it.

-jsw