- cross-posted to:
- mealtimevideos@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- mealtimevideos@lemmy.world
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We…do.
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
Case closed! Wrap it up everyone. Pay no attention to the single missing page in the Walmart catalogue submitted as evidence.
I have a kettle sitting on my counter right now for use, along with my coffee maker and the MLK files.
We do? I have one. Know lots of people that have them. They sell them at Walmart for like 20 bucks.
I think certain regions of the US do have them and others do not at all.
For example, where I am at, I have only met one other person in real life that has one. But I do hear about a lot of my friends on the east coast having them. Dunno.
I’m east cost as well. So you might be on to something there.
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.
He goes into it in another video on the channel. Almost everyone I know uses a microwave for water.
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
I’m in US. It takes roughly 2.5 minutes to reach 200F (coffee), and roughly 3 minutes to reach 213F (tea) and I’m talking 1 liter of water.
Also, good luck fitting 1 liter in most microwaves.
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.
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.
Voltage is only half of the equation. It’s wattage that determines how fast a kettle can boil water, but the UK does generally have higher wattage kettles than the USA. Most are 1800 here in the us, while they can be up to 3000 in the UK.
That’s exactly the point. Home connections are limited to a specific amperage (15 or 16) pretty much all across the world - certainly not beyond that anywhere. Voltage remains the only difference: 120 vs 240. With 120V at 15A you can only go up to 1800W which does take a long time to boil water.
Yes, you could have multiple phases to get to 240V in 120V countries to boil water faster but these would be special outlets and not meant for a kettle that you could buy from a Walmart.
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.
yes. a 1.5 kw heater at 120 and a 1.5 kw heater on 240v would draw different amps but they would heat water at the same rate.
It was mentioned above that British kettles are 2 kW, not 1.5.
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
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.
Yeah even with our slow, low wall-voltage, having a dedicated boiler is fucking nice. Takes up some counter space, but it’s worth it.
Cocoa, tea, coffee, whatever - it’s nice. And the vibe is nice.
I thought for a second that you said you boiled coca cola
Agreed, works well for serving dried oatmeal to a table as well - the bottom doesn’t get quite as hot as a stove kettle or microwaved container.
Most of my friends have electric kettles. I like a nice pot of tea or french press of coffee / yerba mate yet I still have an auto espresso machine.
Cocoa? In a kettle?
Lol not IN the kettle, but made with the hot water you get from the kettle.
Also I’m talking hot cocoa, not hot chocolate. Two different things, one is with water, one is with milk, at least in my casually defined book.
I only know both in the form of milky chocolate.
And some are intended to be stirred into water because it contains powdered milk.
Do you know the brand Swiss Miss? https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0610/5464/8564/products/image_86ef1f17-7772-48b2-a5a5-248a650eff8d.jpg?v=1677099961
Very cheap. Very nostalgic. Very shelf stable hahaha
Edit: also this stuff https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81YpaO6M8QL._SL1500_.jpg
Insanely nostalgic for long roadtrips where you’d stop at a rest stop in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and stretch, and there’d be people with hot water, styrofoam cups, and packets of tea, coffee, cocoa, and cider for free. Core memory, right there.
Not really.
But understandable.I had some Lindt hot choco packets and at first also used hot water.
But the result was so thin I quickly switched to milk (as it should be).
Probably needed some more milk powder to compensate for the water.Oooo, I haven’t had the Lindt ones. Nicest packet ones I’ve had are the Ghirardelli ones that come in different flavors. Those are always delicious. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled at the store for the Lindt ones though.
What’s the best hot chocolate/cocoa you’ve ever had?
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.
Too much clutter on my counters already. I can just leave the kettle on the oven.
I think the better question is; why is there a weird stereotype in Europe that Americans don’t use these? We have one and just about everyone I know who regularly drinks tea does as well. It might not have been as prevalent a decade ago, but these are extremely common now.
120v vs 220v
Also tea, as in tea time. Americans don’t have this custom, so it’s not a big driver.
I’d love it if someone would market a 240V kettle for the US. I’d install the 240 line for it. I mean I use the damn thing multiple times per day, more than my stove, and that has a 240 line.
Still. I’m not convinced it would make a major difference. Like I said I have a 240V induction stove and I have experimented with how fast I can boil water on that thing in a suitable pot or kettle, versus the 120V electric kettle. It is not a big difference. We’re taking a few seconds.
In the winter months when we’re drinking lots and lots of warm beverages we plug in the Zojirushi hot water carafe and have hot water all the time, instantly. It does consume some energy to keep it hot all the time, but it’s well insulated and we use a timer to turn it off at night and then on again in time for morning wake-up. Eliminates the wait entirely.
You should look into getting a hot/cold water dispenser for your sink. Easy to DIY install.
They consume ~40w per hour. Where I live it is 15 cents per kwh. That’s .006 per hour, .15 per day, or 55 dollars per year.
Instant hot/cold water whenever you want it is nice.
Starting from room temperature water to near boiling takes a ton of energy. I don’t know if keeping it hot for 8 hours takes more electricity than starting it back up in the morning.
But you’re probably paying half the $55 in electricity right now for the Zojirushi.
Id pay $25 dollars a year to have instant hot and cold water (even filtered if you wanted) on tap 24/7. Especially if I were like you and used it multiple times a day.
You only need a 120v outlet.
I get hot water instantly for most of the year thanks to 110F outside temp.
I’m talking about an instant hot water dispenser which can put out 210°F or 99°C almost instantly.
You have three main ways to heat water for something like tea.
1 Boil on stove top
2 Electric Kettle
2.5 Electric Kettle with larger tank and dispenser (Zojirushi)
3 Instant hot water faucet with heater tank under cabinet
*Microwaving water can be very dangerous
My opinion is while opinion 3 is the most costly, it is super nice and convenient if you use it often.
Anything that boils water can have that dangerous over boil.
Honestly a faucets that puts ot water that close to boiling would More likely to burn me then any microwave.
You make an interesting case. I haven’t seen one of those that I liked. Just the nasty ones from the 80s that were always crusted over with scale. We do have to descale the Zojirushi often.
Starting from room temperature water to near boiling takes a ton of energy. I don’t know if keeping it hot for 8 hours takes more electricity than starting it back up in the morning.
This made me think.
It seems like it would be a wash in the end. The Zojirushi is insulated, so it stays pretty hot even in the 8 hours it’s turned off overnight. But let’s imagine it is losing a certain amount of heat called “x” per hour.
In the morning I’d have to spend 8x to get it back up to temperature. But it still loses heat even when it’s turned on. So I’m already spending the same x every hour just to keep it on.
Now let’s imagine that the insulation loses x per hour but 4 hours is enough to leak all the heat out. Okay, I’ve lost 4x. But I would have spent 8x to keep it on all night.
So it seems like it can only be a gain to turn it off for certain spells. And that is intuitively obvious, too: turning something off should save energy.
Thought of something else. Your water heater stays on 24/7.
The only hot water I use in the morning before I go to work is to wash my hands.
If I don’t get home until let’s say 5. I’d need to wash my hands some more but I don’t need hot water until I take my shower at 9.
So really I would be keeping 80 gallons of water hot for 23.5 hrs so I can use ~30 gallons in 15 minutes.
It’s only keeping it at ~120°-140°F (~50°C) compared to 210° (99°C) of the instant hot water tank.
I have a tankless water heater so that’s not a problem for me, but seems crazy thinking about it now.
Which leads me to my next thought. I wonder if they make tankless under sink hot water dispensers?
The niche coffee scene in the US uses them, they are excellent for pour overs, French press, etc. But they are not widely popular since dedicated coffee machines are most commonly used.
Does nobody just microwave water?
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 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.
I’d rather not because of the obvious dangers
The conditions for that to happen are quite rare. Not worth worrying about.
I have an induction Cook top just seems to be a waste.
I switched to induction and could not be happier. Love that thing. So much power, instant temp control like gas, low fire risk. I recommend induction to everyone.
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.
Three reasons I can think of.
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Americans don’t drink much tea. And soo…
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Not many stores carry electric kettles.
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Microwave tea.
yeah most homes in the usa have a coffee maker, microwave but no need for a kettle
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