UK kettle callout :)

August 29, 2006 2:17 PM

TeaFilter: should I buy a kettle for my cooker (hob/stove/whatever you call it), or a regular electric one? [UK resident]

My wonderful automatic kettle containing a Brita filter just stopped working. In the 3 or so years we had it, I guess it saw a lot of use: on average, I put it to use about 5-10 times a day, making tea. I reckon I may have worn it out.

Is there any cost or ecological argument to persuade me to get a kettle that is heated by gas, on my cooker? Assume I'll filter the water by a Brita jug thingummy. I don't know how to work out the costings, nor the eco-footprint of either option. I just know I need a fast replacement.

posted by dash_slot- to Grab Bag (23 answers total)

As an American who endured 20-odd years of life without an electric kettle before finally breaking down and buying one, let me just say to those of you in the UK... You don't know how lucky you are.
posted by idontlikewords at 2:27 PM on August 29, 2006

And also... Now that you have an excuse to, why not go all next-gen and get one of these Japanese dealies that keep your water at the perfect temperature *all the time* with no waiting?!?

http://www.zojirushi.com/ourproducts/elepots/electricpots.html
posted by idontlikewords at 2:29 PM on August 29, 2006

I imagine a gas heated kettle is more energy effcient, as electricty has already been generated from gas/coal/whatever so energy has been lost. However an electric kettle might be quicker to heat water - think how long it takes to boil a pan of water.
posted by Orange Goblin at 2:50 PM on August 29, 2006

I can't imagine using a stovetop kettle now that I've got my electric one. I got hooked on the convenience in Australia and wouldn't be without it now. Especially if I lived in the land of manly 220 (230?) voltage and 3000 watt electric kettles!
posted by bink at 3:00 PM on August 29, 2006

My housemate had one of the Japanese always-on kettles idontlikewords linked to and I didn't care for it. It's BIG and makes the water taste flat, like it's been boiled over and over. Otherwise I would agree with him, electric kettles are far superior.

Your old kettle sounds perfect, can you get another? That would be my recommendation.
posted by cali at 3:00 PM on August 29, 2006

I imagine a gas heated kettle is more energy effcient, as electricty has already been generated from gas/coal/whatever so energy has been lost.

What? An electric kettle most of it's energy into heating the water. A gas ring will heat the air as around the kettle as much as the kettle and the water. And what if the electricity that powers the kettle comes from renewable sources?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:05 PM on August 29, 2006

Frankly, I would worry more about the ecological footprint of Brita'ing. (This is without knowing a great deal about the manufacture of water filters admittedly).
posted by edd at 3:33 PM on August 29, 2006

For convenience I love my electric kettle (a traditional Russell Hobbs model). But I always think you get a better boil from a kettle boiled on a gas flame, especially for making tea. I can't explain why, it just seems to me that a rolling boil on a stove produces a better flavour in the tea. For coffee, the electric kettle gives a better boil. I'm talking real coffee, not instant.
posted by essexjan at 4:01 PM on August 29, 2006

Best answer: As mentioned, electric kettles, while vastly expensive in terms of energy when boiling full loads, are generally much more conservative than stove tops. There are several models available at the moment lauding how little energy they consume, I suspect two or three of them will be available in Argos, although I cannot bring myself to check.
Electric kettles are designed to insulate for safety, stove top kettles are designed to conduct for practicality.

"[it] makes the water taste flat, like it's been boiled over and over"
That's pretty much what's happening, really. After the initial boil, little by little the remaining air in the water is being driven out of solution by the continual heating. If you're using your kettle in the main to make tea then this is a non-starter.
Even the most dimwitted supermarket branded teabags will suggest on the back of the packet "boil freshly drawn water" because fresh water contains far more air than pre-boiled and that air helps to carry the taste of the tea. (If you use an old kettle, boiling water once also helps to prevent your tea tasting of said kettle).

Milder white and green teas don't call for boiling water at all in order to avoid scalding the leaves/flowers and making the brew bitter. However, even black tea (including the soldiers' favourite English Breakfast tea) benefits from using water just as it begins to boil rather than allowing it the automated 5 seconds at maximum roll that modern kettles have adopted as standard ("ARE YOU BOILING ENOUGH YET? WHAT ABOUT NOW?"). A slightly lower initial temperature when you pour allows more time for steeping without the brew becoming bitter, so you get a better flavour at a drinkable temperature, sooner - Holy Grail!
posted by NinjaTadpole at 4:03 PM on August 29, 2006 [1 favorite]

And, for the record, ground coffee reacts in the same way: boiling creates bitterness. If you stop the kettle a little early, or even leave it to cool after boiling for 4-5 minutes, the flavour is smoother.

Instant coffee is a just bad impersonation anyway, so you can do what you want with that muck. Quite good as a watercolour wash, I hear.
posted by NinjaTadpole at 4:08 PM on August 29, 2006

Response by poster: why not go all next-gen and get one of these Japanese dealies that keep your water at the perfect temperature *all the time* with no waiting?!?
Basically, I won't be buying that because convenience is killing the planet, and that's not what I asked for. Plus, I can taste the difference between tea made at c.97C or 98C, or with stale water. Tea *must* be made with fresh water heated to boiling point.

I am on a so-called eco-tarriff for my electricity (beneficiary - the RSPB, as I recall), so that may assuage the gods of climate change (by the taddiest of tads, I s'pose).

If anyone has more exact info on the comparatives for boiling - please do tell.
posted by dash_slot- at 4:10 PM on August 29, 2006

get another electric kettle. i drink pots and pots of tea every day here in the usa, and the day i discovered the electric kettle changed my life. my old teakettle now gathers dust.

and if you can post a link to your old one, i'd definitely get one myself! it sounds great.
posted by sdn at 5:15 PM on August 29, 2006

Electrics are at least twice as energy efficient as gas ones in terms of joules (or btu) used. Gas can be quicker, but it's massively inefficient---lots of heat ends up on the ceiling. An electric kettle is better than 95% efficient.

Regarding taste, don't boil water more than once. The flat taste is caused by lack of dissolved air in the water. Changing the water for fresh every time fixes this.

If you get scale from hard water, boil some vinegar every now and then. Scale doesn't affect taste much but it does reduce efficiency.
posted by bonehead at 6:05 PM on August 29, 2006

Response by poster: Brita Acclario. I would concur with the reviews saying the spout design is sub-par, otherwise I'm happy with it.
posted by dash_slot- at 6:09 PM on August 29, 2006

I love my Russell Hobbs Cordless Jug Kettle. Following a tip from Alton Brown, I made sure I got one with a hinged flip-top lid, so I can even use it to boil eggs, make/reheat soup, and heat up leftovers I've sealed and frozen. Highly recommended.
posted by trip and a half at 7:39 PM on August 29, 2006

I thought you weren't ever suppose to heat water in plastic. I was surprised on my last visit to the UK that most tea kettles are plastic.
posted by kgn2507 at 8:58 PM on August 29, 2006

From reading the comments here, are electric kettles rare in the USA? And what are they made of, if not plastic? Metal?
posted by salmacis at 2:40 AM on August 30, 2006

Salmac: if you don't want to spend a fortune, you can buy plastic electric kettles in the US at CVS, Walgreens et al. Their major drawback is a lack of automatic switch-off when the water boils.

AFAIK there are no problems with heating water in the sort of plastic used for kettles (IANA-polymer chemist, but am sitting next to one).
posted by methylsalicylate at 4:39 AM on August 30, 2006

salmacis, electric kettles are becoming less rare in the USA now. Used to be you could buy a Hot Pot if you really wanted something to boil water in (or, in college, we cooked Spaghettios and ramen in ours), and now you can find at least one good cordless kettle (right next to the Hot Pot) in stores that carry small appliances. All the ones I've seen are plastic. Probably not coincidentally, you can also now choose from many different kinds of actual tea in most grocery stores, not just bags of Lipton for iced tea.

You still can't get proper tea or tea water in most restaurants, though.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:43 AM on August 30, 2006

One other point that I have not seen mentioned: electric kettles turn themselves off when they are done: Useful if you have to go to the bathroom/answer the phone/answer the door/forget/etc (and saves energy if you leave the water boiling for a few mins!)
(I have boiled a few pans dry in my time at Uni, they are never the same again!)
posted by nielm at 9:17 AM on August 30, 2006

Response by poster: electric kettles turn themselves off when they are done

This made me chuckle. For a Brit, that's like saying 'central heating turns itself off when your room is warm. Useful ...'

I know we could find a non-automatic kettle if we wanted to, but when an automatic costs 5 quid in Tesco's, why bother?

Also - what do north americans boil the water to make their coffee in - a saucepan?
posted by dash_slot- at 5:30 PM on August 30, 2006

what do north americans boil the water to make their coffee in - a saucepan?

people use coffeemakers. or teakettles!
posted by sdn at 6:42 PM on August 30, 2006

I think the most common way Americans make coffee is in a drip coffee maker, at least from my experiences. It will always smell of oily coffee though, and I would never make tea in it. Believe me I have tried to clean them. While in the UK, I was offered some coffee made American! style from a French press. I don't drink it so I couldn't tell you how it tasted. My host was very excited about it. I guess instant is the norm there?

I make tea by boiling water in the microwave in a pyrex measuring cup. I can see the moment it boils that way. Tea bags go in for 1-3 minutes. I really miss British dairy though. My concern for heating water in plastic is not the possibility of melting, but that the chemicals are leaching into the water. Microwaves may be even worse. I would love to know what consequences the method/vessel has on the liquid if anyone knows.
posted by kgn2507 at 7:40 PM on August 30, 2006