It boils water. And it looks red. Yay
Update: the tea filter broke and thus the auto shutoff as well (fix this with a towel on the top of the kettle). There’s a fragile plastic rod that attaches to either a string or a spring that controls the tea filter’s mounting. It broke for me and just flopped downwards instead of shutting the kettle. Managed to get a replacement, but I wouldn’t get this exact model.
What advantage does this have over boiling water in the microwave?
More energy efficient and sometimes faster, quieter (or at least a more pleasant sound imo), and just feels nicer to pour. I have a gooseneck one that can target a specific temperature that is an absolute treat to use. It’s by far our most used kitchen gadget. It’s one of those “little things” that make life better in not entirely tangible ways.
For anyone that eats instant noodles regularly, or drinks coffee made using an Aeropress or a pour-over, or making Jello, or any other application where the water must already be boiling hot before adding, the electric kettle is king.
It also avoids the quandary with having to carefully move a potentially-open top cup full of boiling water from the microwave to wherever it is needed. Some Japanese electric kettles are even fully thermally insulated and proofed against tip-over. These units require a positive actuation of a trigger in order to dispense; tilting the kettle isn’t enough.
And finally, using an electric kettle does not temporarily cause radio interference in the 2.4 GHz spectrum, with attendant WiFi and Bluetooth signal reductions.
Although it’s perhaps a little slower and energy inefficient, I can’t see spending money on a fragile-seeming electric kettle. With little kitchen space and disliking having something else to clean I am happy to continue using my 2 quart Revereware stainless steel pot. It’s been boiling water as well as cooking meals on one electric range top or another without fail for almost 40 years, a tiny fraction of it’s expected working life.
I can’t remember ever cleaning an electric kettle, other than maybe wiping the outside if I spilled something on it or if I left the apartment for two months. The kettle has the notable property of regularly being full of boiling water, which kills any germs and washes what little dust might’ve gotten into it in the meantime. And I’m regularly grabbing the handle, which is the outside part of which I could be vaguely concerned.
If you have 230v power like a vast majority of the world, it’s faster. Especially if heating over a couple of cups.
Ah, fair. I’m not plugging it into the same plug as my dryer or whatever, my home’s norm is 110-120v @ 60Hz on AC. I do have the 230-240v @ 60Hz option, but, honestly? I’m mostly on 5v/1-2A DC (I run a lot off of USB batteries).
Boiling it in a kettle or even a pot doesn’t have that weird metallic-ish taste that it gets if you microwave it.
I don’t have a microwave, and my kettle has different modes
I thought you weren’t supposed to microwave water because it can superheat or something
It’s possible but iirc any imperfection in the surface will prevent this.
So would always be moot with a tea bag I guess?
It seems so
I always give it a stir with a long spoon before and after putting it in the microwave, when it won’t be in contact with my skin.
I love that mine has a grid of different temperatures that I can chose with a single button press. 70 for the kid’s cocoa, 80 for green tea, 95 for my French press and boiling for black tea.