EdwardTeach
Member
We have a kettle like every household in the uk, but I don't really drink much tea. My kettle is most mostly used to make coffee aeropress or cafetiere.
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do you own an electric kettle?
- Thread starter jerry113
- Start date
ResidentDante
Member
Elitist!
Hambulance
Member
It's a glass one too, so you get the whole "holy shit how is this not exploding"
ChubbyHuggs
Member
For some reason I liked my old stovetop kettle a lot more, but I have an electric one. It's not the best, but it's glass and has a blue led ring in the bottom, so when the water is raging it has a nice little light show.
AgentLampshade
Member
I couldn't live without mine. I've never heard of microwaving cups of water. It sounds...Backwards.
SuperEpicMan
Banned
This is my go to coffee as well.
marimorimo
Member
My mom gifted us stainless steel electric kettle when we moved and though I have previously never seen a use for it (I just boiled water on the stove), hubby and I were immediately hooked. It's much faster and more convenient to use it over a regular kettle. If it ever breaks down I'm definitely buying another one.
Aquavelvaman
Banned
I have one, but my water filter dispenses near-boiling water instantly so I use that most of the time.
Skellig Gra
Member
Yes definitely. Incredibly convenient. No wifi though.
Cannon Goose
Member
Yep, and it gets used multiple times daily for tea and coffee.
Microwaving water sounds barbaric.
Microwaving water sounds barbaric.
OneEightZero
aka ThreeOneFour
I do! I mostly use it to make instant potatoes. ^_^
bootsthecat
Banned
Why? I already have things that perform the function just fine. If it takes 1 minute longer...oh the horror. luckily I manage my time well enough.
I really like how the daily US haters have issues comprehending microwave technology. And they call us barbarians!
I really like how the daily US haters have issues comprehending microwave technology. And they call us barbarians!
It's as common as breathing more like lol.
yes these things are great, no more boiling water and waiting for it to cool I wouldn't live without one.
Mammoth Jones
Member
This is what I've always done. I just don't see anything else being needed.
Charles Brandon
Member
Not this house*. We have a boiling water tap instead. Welcome to the future, my friend.
*obviously we do have one but it's in the loft.
You don't always want to boil water. Different teas require different temperature. The easiest way to ruin (most) green teas for example is to brew the leaves in boiling water.
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
I'm English so yes, it's the law.
I'm British, so it's a bit like asking 'does your house have a door/windows/toilet etc'. Couldn't live without it. Brew up when making my wife and I a cuppa in the morning in those precious few minutes before the baby wakes up, brew up when making my daughter's breakfast, boil water to add a flask of coffee to my rucksack to avoid buying coffee during the day, brew up when getting home, brew up a nice sleepy tea before bed. It's pretty much the next switch that gets pressed after turning the lights on when waking up or arriving home. I make hot chocolate in a pan with milk though.
I suspect the attach rate of electric kettles to houses in the U.K. is far >1 due to the amount of unneeded wedding gifts and duplicate kettles from adults moving in together. They are pretty simple so don't fail often. We've got at least another one in the loft, 'just in case'
I suspect it's also partly down to a lot of older UK housing stock being tiny. My first house, a typical two-up, two-down Victorian terrace, had a kitchen bolted on the back that you could stand in and reach the sink, oven, fridge, freezer and the cupboards without moving, and a kettle takes up less space on a work surface than a bulky microwave. Even new build houses in relatively affluent areas are far smaller than the typical US equivalents aimed at the same bracket. On top of that when you do leave your parents house here you're quite likely to inherit their old kettle as they take the opportunity for a luxurious upgrade to 'old reliable'
Even when I was eating crap microwave dinners as a student I still used a kettle for water.UnluckyKate
Member
French and yes of course
Between different blends of black tea, no, but green tea usually should be brewed around 80 °C. White and oolong teas also have ideal brewing temperatures below 100 °C.
sixteen-bit
Member
Same here.
plagiarize
Banned
My wife is the tea drinker (we live in the US, but I'm from England). We have a rapid boiling kettle that she uses multiple times a day. I can't even imagine living in a house without one.
XOMTOR
Member
Same. Prefer the look of a traditional kettle plus it's one less appliance on the counter and one less cord to deal with.
openrob
Member
Same. I hardly drink tea or coffee, but I wouldn't think of not having a kettle. In the UK must have kitchen appliances are the Cooker, Fridge, kettle, toaster, microwave.
If you don't own one of these you have issues.
ClosingADoor
Member
Yes, since I am not a caveman.
autumnleaf
Member
While we're at it the washing machine belongs in the kitchen as well.
The Albatross
Member
When I was in college and didn't have a kitchen in my dorm room sure. We used to call it a hot pot though back then.
But I've had a normal, stove top kettle since then... 15 years ago. I live in New England though where having traditional kettles is more common. I also use it for making coffee, pour over or french press.
Mine is similar to this model, but older and not as cool looking. But it has a plastic handle and a button on top for the ... lever?
I didn't know that they weren't common in parts of the US until like 2 or 3 years ago on NeoGaf. I didn't know that people microwaved water until I came to work where I am, a company that has a lot of employees on H1B visas. Even though we have a hot water dispenser/spigot on the coffee maker, which is great for tea and any other hot drinks, a lot of the Indian and Chinese folks here boil water in the microwave. I once asked a friend of mine why he does it and he said the hot water from the spigot is too hot, and microwaving it for however many seconds is the right temperature. Interestingly, a lot of the Indian and Chinese folks also add hot water from the spigot to the cold water from our dispenser, and similarly, a friend said it's because the cold water is too cold. Some of my coworkers think I'm weird for filling a bottle (nalgene, etc) with ice and then adding water from the cold water dispenser thing.
This is what I want a home though:
When I redo my kitchen I think I'll add one. Just need to make sure to mark it so that my nieces and nephews don't accidentally scald themselves. With a filter I think this would be perfect for french press.
But I've had a normal, stove top kettle since then... 15 years ago. I live in New England though where having traditional kettles is more common. I also use it for making coffee, pour over or french press.
Mine is similar to this model, but older and not as cool looking. But it has a plastic handle and a button on top for the ... lever?
I didn't know that they weren't common in parts of the US until like 2 or 3 years ago on NeoGaf. I didn't know that people microwaved water until I came to work where I am, a company that has a lot of employees on H1B visas. Even though we have a hot water dispenser/spigot on the coffee maker, which is great for tea and any other hot drinks, a lot of the Indian and Chinese folks here boil water in the microwave. I once asked a friend of mine why he does it and he said the hot water from the spigot is too hot, and microwaving it for however many seconds is the right temperature. Interestingly, a lot of the Indian and Chinese folks also add hot water from the spigot to the cold water from our dispenser, and similarly, a friend said it's because the cold water is too cold. Some of my coworkers think I'm weird for filling a bottle (nalgene, etc) with ice and then adding water from the cold water dispenser thing.
This is what I want a home though:
When I redo my kitchen I think I'll add one. Just need to make sure to mark it so that my nieces and nephews don't accidentally scald themselves. With a filter I think this would be perfect for french press.
I live in Canada and everyone I know has a(n electric) kettle. I've lived abroad quite a bit and I think that's true pretty much everywhere.
This just seems like a dumb internet thing. Don't believe everything that you read, folks, especially if the thing you read is a blanket judgement covering 300 million plus people.
wandering goat
Member
I've been using an electric kettle for as long as I can remember (Canadian). I'm considering getting a stovetop kettle for use with my induction cook top though - I think it may boil faster and still be energy efficient, but I haven't done the research yet.
From what I understand, British electric kettles boil faster because of the difference in electricity delivery there, which must be nice.
From what I understand, British electric kettles boil faster because of the difference in electricity delivery there, which must be nice.
For a second there I was like.... why wouldn't you own one? Literally every house comes with one anyway. Then I realised this thread must be towards non-brits.
If you don't boil the water to make coffee...how do you make coffee?