Oh God what have I been drinking?
October 11, 2014 10:10 PM   Subscribe

I just looked inside my electric tea kettle for the first time in months and saw three large-ish blobs that look sort of like the kind of bamboo shoots you get in Chinese food.

Well, two look like bamboo shoots in texture, size and shape. The other is made of the same stuff but looks more like a mango pit (but only 1/3 that size). Oval, and thin, with fibers.

I have never put anything inside the kettle but water. I usually replace the water daily. One of the blobs fell out when I turned the kettle over, the other two seem to be attached to the bottom. There are also what appear to be rust spots on the bottom.

It's possible that a recent housesitter put something in the kettle and forgot to take it out, but I don't know what that would be.

It really seems to be organic, but whatever it is is something that survives fairly regularly boiling. I've been drinking blob-infused tea and coffee for at least 2 weeks (since the last house sitter) and haven't been deathly ill yet, though it would be great if all my minor nagging health issues disappear when I get a new kettle.
posted by pocketfullofrye to Food & Drink (24 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Did you feel the one that fell out? What's its firmness like (or did you include that in "texture" of bamboo shoots)?

Pictures of the one that fell out and, if possible, the two still attached inside, would be especially helpful.
posted by WasabiFlux at 10:17 PM on October 11, 2014 [2 favorites]


The first thing I thought of was boiled cinnamon sticks, but I really don't know what they would look like after repeated boilings.
posted by Woodroar at 10:19 PM on October 11, 2014


Response by poster: Ok, I'll figure out how to upload a picture. The texture is about that of a bamboo shoot, though. Dense, but easily pierced with a fork. Beigey brown. More to come.
posted by pocketfullofrye at 10:21 PM on October 11, 2014


Other relevant questions:
  1. Did you empty out the kettle before you left, before the housesitter showed up?
  2. When you returned, had the housesitter left water in the kettle? Did you change it out before using it?
  3. Were there any leftovers in the fridge from the housesitter that might help explain? If your housesitter cooked something with bamboo shoots, they might have boiled them in the kettle ahead of further cooking with them.
I've hard-boiled eggs in an electric kettle. I don't know what they'd look like after 2+ weeks, but I suspect you'd have noticed them.
posted by WasabiFlux at 10:23 PM on October 11, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Ok, here's hoping this link works.

horrible thing in my kettle

First 2 images are of the same thing, front and back. Soda can for scale. Mark on the first pic is where I pierced it with a steak knife. Last pic is of the things still stuck in the bottom of the kettle.

I've emailed the housesitter, though it's possible it was some other housesitter in the past 9 months.
posted by pocketfullofrye at 10:46 PM on October 11, 2014


Best answer: I'm guessing ginger slices?
posted by oneear at 10:47 PM on October 11, 2014 [15 favorites]


Best answer: Looks like ginger slices to me too
posted by raw sugar at 10:50 PM on October 11, 2014


Do they crumble? It could be interesting limescale.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:51 PM on October 11, 2014


Best answer: Seconding (thirding) ginger slices. Sometimes I'll make ginger "tea" by boiling ginger slices in a pot of water. Never used the kettle but I suppose one could. I bet your house sitter did this and forgot.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:52 PM on October 11, 2014


Best answer: nthing ginger slices.
posted by holyrood at 11:15 PM on October 11, 2014


Do they crumble? It could be interesting limescale.

That was my thought as well.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:28 PM on October 11, 2014


Best answer: It's a slice of ginger root.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:30 PM on October 11, 2014


Hopefully it's ginger slices.

But I learned to wash my kettle and use fresh water every time when I neglected to do so and discovered moths had made their way into the kettle. They can through impossibly small crevices and actively seek them out. So, yeah, yuck.

It's so easy to leave water in a kettle and reheat it until you've used it all, but don't.
posted by The Deej at 11:32 PM on October 11, 2014 [2 favorites]


Ginger or some kind of pip/seed?

If your housemate put those in the kettle deliberately to make tea, she's Doing It Wrong. Kettles are for water only! Yuck.
posted by Salamander at 11:32 PM on October 11, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Looks like a well-boiled peach or plum pit to me, but ginger makes sense too.
posted by kythuen at 12:10 AM on October 12, 2014


Best answer: To be slightly reassuring, at least it bears no resemblance to anything that might spontaneously generate in a dark wet place. Worst case, you've been drinking slightly random-plant-infused tea for two weeks. If you brought the water to a full boil each time, I declare you probably safe.
posted by kythuen at 12:15 AM on October 12, 2014 [9 favorites]


Best answer: Looks like ginger slices to me.

Source: person who boils ginger slices in a small pot and not in an electric kettle.

Enforce a water-only-in-the-electric-kettle policy.
posted by Hawk V at 12:37 AM on October 12, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Yep, I agree. Ginger. Possibly for ginger tea, but also possibly just to make the house smell nice, which would explain why they were forgotten.
posted by WasabiFlux at 1:30 AM on October 12, 2014


Best answer: Another vote for ginger slices.
posted by Occam's Aftershave at 7:12 AM on October 12, 2014


Can you slice it and sniff it? Ginger smell?
posted by fivesavagepalms at 8:25 AM on October 12, 2014


Best answer: Sure looks like ginger to me.
posted by cooker girl at 9:14 AM on October 12, 2014


Response by poster: Ah, you guys are so good.

Last night I decided to believe that it was ginger, just to help me stop caring, and the housesitter confirmed today that it is. Thanks all!
posted by pocketfullofrye at 9:23 AM on October 12, 2014 [12 favorites]


Looks like ginger.

Please enforce a water-in-the-kettle-only policy unless you tend towards pouring the hot water from the spout directly into the mouths of your guests and loved ones in the absence of cups.
posted by oceanjesse at 10:47 AM on October 12, 2014 [3 favorites]


or just boil water in an open pot from now on. grosssssssss.
posted by cristinacristinacristina at 10:56 AM on October 12, 2014


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