In March, I started a thread about electric kettles. I didn’t know what to call them at the time. Fast forward to today and I’m figuring out how it works. They’re not as common here as in some other countries. A few people I’ve asked didn’t know what they were either.
I got a new electric kettle. It took a while to calibrate how hot I wanted the water and how to have as much as I wanted on hand, but I’m close to figuring it out.
I got a glass one that switches off after boiling. I decided that boiling was too hot. That took 8 minutes. Even 3 minutes was too hot for my taste.
I decided that I could tell when it was hot enough by the sound. When it started to make a rumbling noise, it was done in 15 seconds. That’s probably in less than a minute and a half.
Wait, your kettle took 8 minutes to boil……?!, I’ve never had a kettle take that long, normally a couple of minutes ( full with cold water) is all it takes…
I’ve heard that before here too so I don’t know if it has to do with voltage. Most people say a “couple minutes” so I was surprised how long it took.
My kettle holds 1.7 liters. I filled it about half full. It was rolling boil about 5 minutes but didn’t shut down until 8 minutes. For me, it’s hot enough to drink after a minute or so. After 2 minutes it’s a small boil with tiny bubbles rolling.
WHAT! Water boils at 100’C It’s temperature doesn’t change whether it is simmering or boiling furiously! All you are doing is adding latent heat to convert the water to steam.
There is something wrong with your kettle if it doesn’t shut off almost immediately the water boils (or you didn’t put the lid on)
I bought a new kettle recently, nothing top of the range, no flashing lights but I fancied a glass kettle so that I could leisurely watch the water boil during idle moments.
Two months later there’s a white deposit creeping up the base of the kettle and loads of flakey white bits dancing around as it boils. It’s down to living in a hard water area.
Still… I’m still alive to tell the tale.
They do, I make a kind of vinegar/powder paste and smear it over baking trays pans etc.
I’d be very wary of using it on anything with a delicate protective coating, air fryer baskets spring to mind.
The fastest boiling kettle I have ever seen did the job in about five seconds, but you took your life in your hands if you used it.
It was made from black iron and had a brass trivet riveted inside into which would be placed a hot, heavy block of metal. This was normally kept in the firebox of the farmhouse range where I was staying at the time.
When a brew was required, the block, often glowing dull red, would be withdrawn from the range with a pair of bespoke tongs and dropped into the trivet, the kettle already having been filled with water.
As soon as it was in, the lid was banged on the kettle whilst rapid heat transfer took place, with gouts of steam coming from the spout and gaps round the lid.
