This paper presents a non-heating experimental method that simulates the critical heat flux (CHF) phenomenon in pool boiling. In the experiments, with providing controlled air flow through the holes on a plate submerged in a pool of water, the liquid sublayer (macrolayer) thickness and bubble departure frequency have been successfully measured by a conductance probe. The CHF is reasonably predicted by applying the measured parameters to a liquid macrolayer dryout model. The measured trends of the macrolayer thickness and bubble departure frequency with air mass flux are also consistent with the present understanding. As a result of this experimental study, it is expected that the non-heating method would be useful to investigate the various parametric effects on pool and flow boiling CHF. with avoiding the difficulty in heating and large electric power requirement even for complex geometries.