Thursday July 24th, 2008
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How To Boil Water
Posted by Su Avasthi on September 21, 2006 - 7:26pm.
After burning my hand on my tea kettle for the umpteenth time yesterday, I decided enough was enough.
Six years ago, I made the mistake of buying a steel-and-enamel kettle for its looks, rather than functionality. Colorful, yes. Expensive, definitely. But my pretty, costly kettle turned out to have a sadistic side. I have burned myself almost daily on that thing, and I guess I've finally reached the breaking point. I'm ready to throw it out. Ideally, under a steamroller, where I hope that it will die a slow, painful death.
I use a kettle daily (twice a day, really, because I use a French press to make my morning cuppa joe and usually drink tea in the evening.) The primary reasons that I hate my kettle are the poorly-designed handle, (which gets awfully hot and requires an oven mitt to remove it from the stove), and the unpredictable ways that boiling water leaks and spurts out everywhere.
Worse, the kettle has one serious flaw: No whistle. I never realized how handy they are until I forgot I'd left it on the stove. Forgetting a kettle on full boil, I've learned, can quickly turn into a fire hazard.
So, to spare myself (and home), I decided to select my new kettle based on functionality rather than aesthetics. The customer reviews on Amazon.com immediately steered me away from several chic, but problematic kettles.
As I poked around, a few commenters noted that electric kettles are far more energy efficient than their stove top cousins. A little more surfing revealed that a regular kettle on a stove — whether its gas or electric — is a really wasteful way to boil water.
Maybe everyone already knows this, but I had no idea; I'd never thought about it before. But it turns out that a stove top kettle is a bad idea because:
- Most of us boil far more water than we need for a mug of tea or whatever, which means we waste energy (and water).
- A stove top kettle heats the shell and — as I know all too well — the handle.
- Energy is also lost via the heating elements.
- An electric kettle, it seems, uses 35-40 percent less energy.
In fact, energy experts say that the best way to heat water is in a microwave. For me, the ritual of making tea is nearly as important as the tea itself, so the idea of using a microwave doesn't appeal to me.
But I am willing to convert to an electric kettle. It has tons of advantages, and I'm glad that using it will save more than my fingers.
I was surprised the the first time I heard about this too, and then I read this piece on electric kettle cooking.
I got a Bodum electric kettle for my wedding and was unhappy with it from day one-- you had to fill it up through the spout, which was cumbersome, it didn't have the all-important whistle you mentioned, and, worse, it would leak boiling water onto the countertop as I poured. I ended up throwing it out.
So I'm on the lookout for a replacement-- I'm heating my tea water in the microwave for now, which, as you mentioned, is a little unromantic, even if it is energy-efficient.
Thank you for the update. I, too, thought the electric kettle would use more energy, but it makes sense. I became a hot tea addict while living in Russia back in 92. Instead of the traditional samovar, which was not used by anyone I knew in St. Petersburg, the electric pot was the most popular way to heat water. (Tea bags were nonexistent in the former ussr at the time.) Loose tea was usually placed in a small pot and covered w/ boiling water to make a concentrate. A small amount of the concentrate was poured into your tea cup, then hot water from an electric kettle was added to the strength of tea preferred.
Ceylon tea was cheap, plentiful and delicious. In fact, most of the visitors to my home or office, preferred coffee, which was only obtainable at the time as instant (Nestle made the brand I recall). Anything with an American label was the preferred brand, to my Russian friends. :-)
Here in the U.S. I still drink my tea russian style and my coffee by french press. Bodum makes a stainless steel pot that I love after breaking my second glass beaker and realizing they will not ship replacements to Alaska by US priority mail. (UPS rates are outrageous and more than the cost of the item.)
Re: gas vs electric. I used to prefer to cook w/ gas where available, however electric does not leave a black film on everything (including the air I breathe) and new appliances are being made very energy efficient these days. It's not just the end product use, but also the energy used to get it to the point of use that needs to be considered as well. It makes electricity a preferred choice for me these days.
When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be.
~Lao Tzu
I drink tea all day and this is great for making tea -- we have one at work and I have one at home. It saves time and boils the water really quick.
Marianne Scott
it sounds like electric kettles can be hit & miss too...
thanks!
r=8-1/qid=1158964193/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-4741775-4717645?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden...
Just like the writer I make FP in the AM and Tea in the evening.
I've been using an electric kettle for about 8 years and I love it. I'm on my second one. My first one lasted about 5 years which is pretty good I think, considering it was used several times per day.Electric kettles are so easy to use. Put in the water, push the button and it automaticly cuts off. I did not know that they used less electricity. In fact,I didn't even know it was called an electric kettle.
I would reccomend an electric kettle to anyone because it boils water super fast, and it is so easy to use. That was a good article.Thanks!