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Why do people think we don’t use these? Almost everyone I know has one.
No you don’t, the justice department found no evidence of kettle use
I have an induction Cook top just seems to be a waste.
I do. I have a nice temperature control pouring kettle. But I imagine that unless a person is into tea or a coffee enthusiast, most Americans are probably fine with a drip coffee machine and a microwave is fairly fast at boiling a mug too.
I do. So convenient and low maintenance.
We…do.
I have one, I make drip coffee. Used them on a trip to Australia and got one soon after.
Too much clutter on my counters already. I can just leave the kettle on the oven.
I do. And my kettle boils water faster than the electric stove.
So when I boil larger quantities of water I prefer to boil ~2/3 in the kettle and 1/3 on the stove with a lid on for max speed; my time rarely feels more wasted than when I’m waiting for water to boil.
I also use the kettle for hot drinks, of course. I’ve kept one since I lived in the UK.
The thing we use hot water for the most is coffee, which has its own device. For the few times we would need it for something else we either use the stove top kettle we inherited from grandma or the microwave.
Having said that, it’s not like electric kettles don’t exist here. They seem to be becoming more popular.
I bought an electric kettle as soon as I left home. I had one in college. I never had a coffee maker though. I’m happy with instant coffee.
I…what? I do, most of my friends do. They’re amazing.
120V vs 240V.
One has much more power available to achieve the same in a different time.
For example: I can easily boil 0.5L to 100°C of water in about 2-3min.
And the kettle is rated for 2kW.That’s very true. With that said, I still find 110v kettles to be pretty fast for my needs. Especially if just making a single cup.
actually that the why they are slower. most plug in devices in the usa are limited to 1.5 Kw. weather you used a 120v or 240v current it would just change how many amps it draws
2 kW @ 120 V is 16.7 A, which exceeds the 15 A limit on most household wiring in North America. To be able to achieve that you’d need to get a 20 A rated circuit installed by an electrician which means pulling out and replacing the wiring with a heavier gauge.
The advantage of 240 V rating in the UK is that you can draw more power with less current, so you don’t need the wiring to be so heavy for a high power appliance like a kettle.
Well yeah.
But if both are rated for 6 or 8 Amps and can only supply 240 or 120V, you are bound to that.
Thus the volts are important as well.Something rated for so few wouldn’t be a good heater. At 1.5 kw that typical cut off for small devices in USA. You draw 12 amp. Plug it into a larger 240 vlot circuit and it draws amps but you still only get 1.5 kw of heating. Same time to boil water
110v power takes forever. 240v in europe is much quicker.
Does nobody just microwave water?
I have a nice electric kettle that I use for pour over coffee, but my morning tea, I just nuke a tea bag in water for a minute and a half, and move on with my morning.
I’m great in the AM. I just want caffeine.
You microwave the water with the tea bag already in it? At least drop the bag in after microwaving… The superheated instant boiling thing can be mitigated with basically anything in the water. Hell, my local water is hard enough to avoid it straight from the tap.
I microwave with the bag in. You want nucleation sites during heating so bubbles can form. If you ge over 100c with water in a smooth container, then add tea, that’s how you instantly boil over.
That said, I’m in the camp that wants their black tea just under the boiling point. It’s less bitter and doesn’t need cream or sugar. I know that a certain time, cup size, and power level usually sticks the landing between 95c and 100c.
The superheated instant boiling thing can be mitigated with basically anything in the water.
A teabag, for example.
My wife does. I have a thing for using a kettle on the oven.
I have a small cast iron kettle that I usually microwave.
it makes spicy water.
Jokes aside, you can microwave small smooth metal vessels. Like mixing bowls and such.
Do so at your own risk, if it doesn’t specify that it’s microwave safe.
But you can buy ones that specifically say they are microwave safe. It just means they’re extra smooth, nowhere for charges to accumulate or concentrate. Might have something to do with it’s size too, not being resonant at 2.4ghz, but don’t quote me on that part.
Useful if you don’t want to take leftovers out of the plastic container first, and if you’ve had glass explode on you before.
I would but I have a rather small one. I used to at my old house microwave the tea water.
I’d rather not because of the obvious dangers
The conditions for that to happen are quite rare. Not worth worrying about.
Uh we do.
Yep. I’ve got 2. One in the house for hot chocolate, and one in my woodshop for um, woodshop things.
I’m also a woodworker. What do you use a kettle for out there? Mixing your own shellac or wax or something?
I mainly use it in the winter as a source of hot water when I’m working with 2 part epoxy to warm up the bottles so it isn’t as thick and mixes easier.
Shellac dissolves quite readily in alcohol at room temperature.
Some do, but because of the prevalence of automatic coffee machines and microwaves there isn’t as much of a need outside specialty coffee drinkers.
The argument about speed and convenience doesn’t work in the US because of the outlet voltage as well. The 110-120v outlets don’t provide the same level of power to kettles so they can’t heat up as quickly. If you have a microwave it’s just as fast or faster.
He addresses this some. 120v is still a lot faster than boiling water on the stove. Coffee makers are significant, but boiling water in a microwave is generally a bad idea, given the risk of superheating (not that people don’t do it.)
I have never once (unintentionally) superheated water in a microwave, and I’ve been using them since about 1980 (and God knows we were idiots with them back then).
It just doesn’t happen - there are too many imperfections in our containers, and too many minerals for it to happen much.
I’ve experimented many times, and the reality is you have to work at superheating water in a microwave.
For me, it’s taken things like a brand new Pyrex measuring cup (glass), and filtered water. I can do it with other stuff, but I’ve had to boil/cool it multiple times, something that isn’t really going to happen.
Huh. I have. Didn’t know what it was, but heated the water, dropped in a spoon and it boiled over aggressively even though it didn’t look like it was boiling.
We do use a kettle, this happened at work - the microwave there was a lot stronger than mine, and I couldn’t get the water to look like it was boiling.
Same here, happened when I was young. Thankfully I wasn’t holding it in my hand, it was on the counter. I didn’t get burned
He goes into it in another video on the channel. Almost everyone I know uses a microwave for water.
Voltage isn’t equal to the level of power though, a 110v can provide the same power as 240v. I think tea drinking just isn’t as popular in the US.
It’s not, but you need over twice the current to supply the same power, and since many safety measures and physical constraints limit the current, it effectively means the power limit is more strict.
This is assuming the same cables and breakers etc being used for both voltage ratings. I know there are specific wiring and connection systems for high amperage stuff in 110v places (probably for some 220-240v places too, but I’m in a place with notoriously bad electrical everything, fuck if I know)
Makes sense, I think you’re right and that the wattage still ends up being lower overall in the US.
