Do you use an electric kettle?

I read somewhere or heard it on TV that Americans do not use electric kettles, they use the ones that sit on the burner of a stove. My husband says I am crazy when I told him that.
Our electric kettle died yesterday and we went to Walmart to buy another - Walmart only had two electric kettles but they had about 10 that were for the burner of the stove (What did I expect as Walmart is and American company!)

Do you have an electric kettle?

I use the Stove kind. Gotta love
"Hot Tea".

Honeybee

I use the stove kind too. I'm not sure I even know what an electric kettle is. I have a crock-pot though.

Sorry, I don't own a kettle. When I did, it was the stove top kind. I've never seen an electric kettle.

Cheri'

gardendragon, although I DO know what electric kettles are, they are not much in evidence here except in the "gourmet" cooking catalogs, where they are pricey. 'Course, you know we don't do tea like you do, either... it's mostly brewed coffee which doesn't use a kettle.

I use a stove-top (whistling, because I tend to forget it) teakettle, and also have one that sits atop my wood-burning stove to add humidity to the house in the winter.

Duh! I finally caught on that you were talking about a tea kettle. I'm a little dense today I guess. I was thinking a cooking kettle.

I don't own a tea kettle of any sort. I heat water in the microwave to make tea. We do have an electric tea kettle at the office though. I'll try to remember to ask my co-worker where she bought it.

I have an on the stove teakettle with a whistle - a necessary addition as I'm prone to wander off and leave it. My grandmother always called them teakittles. I've seen electric kettles in stores, but have never owned one. My roommate for my two miserable weeks in a college dorm had one that someone stole even before I moved out.

It's nice, by the way, to see you Helen!!!

I do but then I'm a born and bred tea drinker ;) It's quite hard to find the old whistle kekkles (dialect for kettle;) here now but they occasionally become fashionable every now and then.

Water heated in a microwave to make TEA??? oh my poor heart! Mrs Beaton would turn over three times *G* J/K

I use an electric kettle.

I thought whistling cooker kettles went out of fashion in the stone age LOL. I would guess that elecric kettles are more economic to use.

Must admit, I had an electric kettle years ago, but in our kitchen, (not too large) took up too much space so have since gone with the stovetop and no it doesn't whistle, who here could hear it LOL!

Hee Hee Baa! You are probably right.

I use a stove top whistling tea kettle. I have never known anyone who uses an electric one. It indeed may be that we are not as a rule serious tea drinkers. So see, you are not crazy after all LOL

Baa... I agree wholeheartedly with this statement: Water heated in a microwave to make TEA??? oh my poor heart! Mrs Beaton would turn over three times *G* J/K

Somehow, anything heated (or re-heated) in the microwave leaves me cold.

So that's why Margaret wouldn't let me heat my water in the microwave...LOL It's a Great Britian..errr, Asheville thing LOL

vic... there is an entire school of thought that using a microwave denudes water of it's best properties. Don't know if I said that right.... maybe Margaret can help explain it.

"there is an entire school of thought that using a microwave denudes water of it's best properties."

Hmmm..maybe that's why I use the microwave. Our tap water is nasty stuff and the microwave might get rid of some of it? :) Actually, I've never really thought about it before. The microwave is so handy and fast, so I guess that's the real reason I use it.

We don't drink our water because it's got so much sodium and iron in it. We buy bottled water to drink. But we do use our tap water for coffee, tea, and cooking. Moot point, huh?!

There are a few of us Yanks who know how to do a cuppa. Heat the pot, add the tea leaves, give it 5 minutes or so and strain as you pour, but only after you've put the milk in the cup! I don't actually add milk unless I have a nasty cold or flu, but I'm afraid I use a spoon full of sugar in my 20 oz. mugs. And, I have been known to reheat it in the microwave, but I usually forget that it's there and discover the cup at a later date!

I sometimes use a wonderful hot pot that heats water in a jiffy. I also use the microwave whenever the notion strikes me. I have one of the quart pyrex measuring cups I sometimes use when I am making iced tea using the microwave. If I am making lots of iced tea for a gathering, I use a pot on the stove and bring it to a boil, turn the heat off, put in the tea bags, let it steep and then pour it while warm on top of the sugar in the pitcher. I can't tell any difference in the taste no matter what method I use.

I have a little whistling tea kettle, something quite homey about it. :) Elena, weren't you able to make soup or heat soup and other things in those Hot Pots, as well as heat water? Seems like most offices had them when I "had bosses"...:), worked for years as executive secretary. Other than that I don't know anyone that has an electric kettle. I think I have seen them in those expensive kitchen stores, but aren't they rather bulky on the bottom, a bit heavy?

:) Kathy

Misty, I guess you could make soup or other things in them although I never have. For the convenience of not having to wash it, I have always just used it for water. When we are rustic camping, I even use it to get hot water for washing dishes. Too lazy to boil it on the fire. LOL! I take a lot of lazy short cuts when it comes to work. Ha!

The reason most of us don't heat the water in the microwave is simply because it must be boiling to make that perfect cuppa. The microwave never seems to heat it to the right temperature. I have been know to nuke a cold cuppa though.

Kathleen

You might enjoy this ... I was watching a programme about the industrial revolution the other day and they were saying that in the 18th century when tea was becoming popular, one of the big problems was that the boiling water cracked the cups. That's why the milk was put in first, to prevent the cracking! The race was then on to find a process to make a fine cup that didn't crack and quite possibly why milk is now part of the GB tea ceremony *G*

Funny how these topics seem to pop up just at the right time, I'd always wondered why.

And here I always thought that it was so the milk didn't curdle.

My Scottish great grandma taught my dad how to do it "right" and he taught me. It was my mother's father, though, who always insisted on tea time at 4 - a bit to eat before chores, usually cheese and rolls with tea and a cookie (bisquit), and then dinner after.

I'd always thought it was to prevent the milk from curdling and scalding. They put the cup cracking forth as part of the reason the industrial revolution took off so quickly. It did start in the potteries region (Staffordshire and part of Derbyshire).

I put the milk in after, only because I can never judge how much milk to use.

A nuked cuppa never tastes the same. Since I started drinking Earl Grey and Lady Grey I cant drink normal tea it is sooo bitter. ummm must go and make a cup of Lady Grey.

I've not put milk in tea for years so drink herbal of various kinds and Earl and Lady Grey.

I don't know anyone here who doesn't have an electric kettle and mostly these days (including mine) they are the kind that have a separate base so you can pick the kettle up with no cord attached
Mine's a very cheerful number in happy yellow :)

Microwaves are strictly for heating baked beans or cooking frozen peas LOL

I see there are a lot of purest here. LOL! How ever I can get it to the table or gathering works for me. Truly though, I never boil my tea and am pretty picky about how it is done. Guess it is my British and Scottish heritage showing up, huh?

By the way, I am going to England and Scotland again in the spring with one of the family clan organizations here in the states. This one is the Lindsey Clan but I am also a McCleod (1780), Finley (1689), Beatey, Baird, Day (1736) Scottish descendant.

On one side of my Dad's family,the Franklins (I was a Franklin before I married.), we have them back to 1659) the people were all from England. We have our Wyvills back to 1614. Lots of time and energy have gone into the searches for our ancestors but it has been a lot of fun. I didn't do the much of it because other more dedicated family researchers preceeded me and I just reaped the harvest of their long and often expensive searches. (Many traveled a lot to find all they did but now we are fortunate and can do our research so much easier with all of the modern technology and all of the records kept by those who came before us in the searches.)

I can't wait to go back to England and Scotland. I have been to England 4 times and this will be my 3rd trip to Scotland. We have always gone on our own before but this time the Scotland part will be a tour.

I have a whistling tea kettle and I use it mostly to boil water for my plants. Of course, I let it cool down and put it into plastic jugs to store it for watering. Without the whistle my pot would probably melt. lol

I seem to rememer seeing the electric tea kettles but have never had one. The cheerful yellow one that has "a separate base so you can pick the kettle up with no cord attached" and mentioned earlier sounded like it could be very useful and practical at times.

I do boil water in my Microwave and use it to make my green tea which I drink with a little honey.

My microwave is used for cooking many things but especially in warm weather to keep from heating up the kitchen and appartment.

I understand that regular black tea is green tea that has been fermented.

Many things do taste better cooked the old-fashioned way but there are things like tea that I can't tell the difference with. Sometimes I'm also just plain lazy. lol

The only time I ever used an electric tea kettle was when I was in England where they use 220 volts as opposed to 110 used here in the states. Maybe it is more efficient?

BIRD

My microwave boils (and I do mean boil as in bubbles) 2 cups of water in 2 minutes. I've never noticed the difference between using the microwave and a pot on the stove. I have a beautiful copper bottom tea kettle but I don't use it. When we lived in OH I had a tea kettle but it was always getting so nasty on the inside on the bottom and I was always having to do the vinegar thing. We have very soft water here so the tea kettle might stay cleaner. I use the microwave for speed. Besides, sometimes I turn on the wrong burner and then I melt my burner covers and the house smells nasty. Margaret can attest to this. LOL

I'm probably at the wrong end of the country, but if you're coming to Kent in the SE of England do call in for a cuppa (or more) Elena :)

My little yellow smiley certainly is useful for all sorts of things as well as making tea Rett. It's the most efficient and easiest way of boiling any quantity of water that I know of, as it is a tall jug shape with measurements visible up the side. This means you can accurately fill from between one cup and a litre, switch it on and it automatically switches itself off as soon as it boils, so you can walk away to do someting else knowing that it won't melt/waste electricity while you're gone.
......and after all, a watched pot never boils LOL

I didn't realise that they're not so common in the US!

When I was in England, I orderd a cup of tea with my lunch just to be rather "English." I was told that "tea time" was later in the day, so I had my usual cup of coffee.

BIRD

I think someone was having a bad day. Some people like me do call a meal around 5 or 6 pm tea. eg what's for tea?

and now for some very alarming and disturbing news for people who ding/nuke water in their micro wave.

micro waved water can explode all over you!! Because micro wave ovens dont heat liquids evenly this can lead to pockets of unstable super heated liquid at 100C/212F. Any disturbance even just lifting the cup out can release the super heated liquid into a vapour which can explode over your hands and face. Dozens of people a year are hospitalised this way. To minimise the risk never heat a liquid for more than a couple of minutes and let it sit in the micro wave for about 30 secs before lifting it out.

All this came, by coicidence, from this months 'Focus' magazine which arrived in the post today.

That is true. And when you nuke a cup of cold coffee or hot chocolate, it can make a heck of a mess in the Microwave Oven if you cook it to long.

BIRD

Accidents happen when people use tools without being properly instructed or without reading the manual. The microwave is a power tool and should be operated with the same care and respect that you would expect someone to us before operating a table saw or a heavy duty electric mixer.

I just bought a new 1100 watt Whirlpool microwave and I have to be very cautious with it because my old one was only 750 watts. My old one took 3 minutes to boil a cup of water but this one takes aprroximately 80 seconds.

People assume that the microwave is so simple to operate that they don't need to bother with instructions and that is the real cause of the microwave accisdents.

Water heated in the microwave for tea...YUCK!!

I bought my electric tea kettle at Wal Mart...a West Bend...but when I wanted to get one for the place I work they only sell the Rival....(no thanks) and a nice little one made by GE...Mine I love as it is the only thing that still whistles at me!! The GE doesn't whistle....but I like it too. Jo

Birdsall

I don't know where you went but in all my life I have been able to order a cuppa at any time of the day. I agree with Mark, someone was having a bad day! I wonder if that was some fancy London place you went to? Coffee here is for after dinner, if we're going to be traditional about it of course.

No restraunt makes tea like it's made at home though, there's something warming about coming in and having a cup of tea in your own house, lovingly made with a big splash of milk and two teaspoons of refined sugar *G* Ahhh gimme a home made brew up in me own gaff anyday!

I was glad to get home after a three week vacation in Europe last summer.

I am used to having a glass of ice water when I go to a restaurant without having to beg or pay for it. Also, it is nice to get a "cuppa" coffee, with free refills, regular of decafeinated. We US'ers are spoiled I guess

BIRD

My 2 100% English grandmothers always put the milk in first and then the tea. Why? I am not sure.

I bought a tea kettle (very crude, and very cheap) at K Mart the other day. The instructions said, no guarantee if the 'kettle' is not wiped dry after use because it might rust. Did you ever hear of anything like this?LOL

Never golddog!! but at least you shouldn't suffer from anaemia if you use it LOL