Teakettle

[mb7o]

I don't know anything about worldwidehousewares other than the guy responded to my email (unhelpfully, but at least there's a real person there), and they are a paypal merchant with some real but small number of transactions. And they're absurdly inexpensive. Wanna be a guinea pig?

[glenn]

Jinmyo, go eat your heart out. I ordered flame, though the handle is black, really. I got it at the cheapo place, worldwidehousewares, and I'm not sure if the large kettle comes in black, but in any event they don't have it. The price was too good though to worry about the kettle matching my pants and my bird. mb7o, the $36 price is somewhat mitigated by the $10 or $11 shipping charge, but it's still a helluva deal. I emailed the guy and he seems pretty legit. Anyway, paypal now offers insurance for a few bucks (a ripoff, surely), so theoretically I have nothing to lose.

Another problem I didn't think about earlier with electirc kettles is that you can't let the water simmer, right? I'm in the habit of taking care of my morning duties (showering with my bird if you must know) and turning the flame to medium on the kettle so I can pour the coffee at my leisure. Seems to me I'd have to be more regimented with an electric kettle. I find it incredibly outrageous that the FG didn't forewarn me of this potential dilemma.

[Jinmyo]

Jinmyo, go eat your heart out.  I ordered flame, though the handle is black, really.

Your loss.

[cakewalk]

The cast iron tea kettle is very pretty. Nice lines. But really -- when that thing is filled with water, how do you lift it?

Glenn -- I miss your top fives.

[Jinmyo]

Towel and hand. It's nothing compared to a stock pot.

[Kikujiro]

This is one of those weird cultural gaps. On this side of the Atlantic, we inveterate tea-drinkers nearly all have electric kettles. They're faster, easier, safer. You know when the water's boiling properly without that horrible whistle as it just clicks off. Glenn: you can always flick the switch back on after your showering duties; bet it's just as quick. I've never understood why they haven't caught on in the US the same way. My best guess is that you have less need of kettles as y'all use dedicated coffee percolaters and don't drink much tea.

In fact, I mainly drink coffee (stovetop) and only bring the kettle out when I have people round or for some cooking purposes.

[Nick]

Here's my tea kettle. Nickle-plated solid copper Revere. In my service for twenty years and who knows how long before that. Never needs a towel and holds better than a gallon of water.

The MOMA tea kettle was obviously designed by someone unfamiliar with their daily use.

[bushey]

I swear by my Michael Graves design teakettle from Target "put your lips together and blow". I've had it for about four years and it still looks great. Every once in a while they change the whistle mechanism; mine is the shape of a coach's or referree's whistle but I've seen them with a trumpet shape as well.

Sounds like you're happy with your choice -- enjoy!

[cakewalk]

This is one of those weird cultural gaps. On this side of the Atlantic, we inveterate tea-drinkers nearly all have electric kettles. They're faster, easier, safer. You know when the water's boiling properly without that horrible whistle as it just clicks off. Glenn: you can always flick the switch back on after your showering duties; bet it's just as quick. I've never understood why they haven't caught on in the US the same way. My best guess is that you have less need of kettles as y'all use dedicated coffee percolaters and don't drink much tea.

In fact, I mainly drink coffee (stovetop) and only bring the kettle out when I have people round or for some cooking purposes.

Re: flicking the switch back on. Does anyone know anything about re-boiling water that has already boiled? It's supposed to be "bad for you." I'm not sure why. Anyone?

[Nick]

Re: flicking the switch back on. Does anyone know anything about re-boiling water that has already boiled? It's supposed to be "bad for you." I'm not sure why. Anyone?

Don't ask me why, but I think after the first boiling the water would be "dead".

One time as I was pouring water out of a sauce pan for coffee or tea, the water upon hitting the side started evaporating into steam with its characteristic hissing. An older man, a fisherman, said that I was "burning" the water. I've thought about that ever since when it happens.

[memesuze]

Actually, I have another suggestion that goes in a bit of a different direction. I'm a tea drinker, of all types, from blacks through oolongs to greens. For my work brewing, I use a ZoPot, by Zojirushi, to heat up my water and keep it at temperature all day if need be.

You can get them in oriental grocery stores, in 2 and 3 liter sizes for about $90-120. The nice thing about these is that they have two settings, 205 degrees and 140 degrees. When mine is filled up (a 3-liter model), it takes about seven minutes to come to a full boil and then stays at 205 for as long as I wish.

I've not found any problem with leaving the water in for all week - a long-time owner of a ZoPot said that he had noticed no degradation in his water. The water actually boils only briefly, each time the machine is turned on. I think the problem with "flat" water has more often come from water being overboiled - not taken off the boil as soon as the boil was reached.

And if any of you know tea fanatics, you know how important the water quality is. We even talk about how water brought to a boil and then cooled down to the proper temperature for brewing greens, 145-165 degrees, produces better tea than water that is never boiled and is merely brought up to the 145-165 degree temperature. Something about "breaking the crust" of the oxygen....

The only drawback is that, in the beginning, for about two or three weeks, the water tastes of the plastic that is used to line the ZoPot. But after that, all is fine.

Before you purchase one of these, be sure that it is the type that actually comes to a boil, and has a reboil button. IIRC, some of the Zojirushi [and other brands such as National] models aren't true reboilers. And Zojirushi may have a model that has three temp levels, 205, 195, 175. I didn't order online, but bought locally for less money....Susan

[Sandra Levine]

The MOMA tea kettle was obviously designed by someone unfamiliar with their daily use.

Could you elaborate? Have you had experience with this kettle?

[KMPickard]

I'll add my vote to the cordless kettle contingent. I've boiled my stovetop kettles dry all too often when I get engrossed in something....eGullet for instance.

I owned an earlier version of the Michael Graves kettle and hated it in spite of its' high style. The whistle was loose and kept getting lost when the cat stole it for a toy. When it was there I'd scald myself removing from the kettle. The kettle also had a disconcerting (and dangerous) habit of erupting from the spout if I happened to slightly overfill it.

I'm happier - and safer- with a cordless.

K.

[Nick]

Could you elaborate?  Have you had experience with this kettle?

No, I haven't, but I have had years of experience heating all the hot water needed for household chores (mostly on wood ranges) going back to 1968. I've used a few tea kettles over those years and the MOMA kettle just wouldn't cut it. (Even if heating small amounts of water.) It's a conversation piece.

This is nothing against MOMA. The favorite painting hanging on my wall was done by Jimmy Eng when he was at the Museum School (Boston) and I think his father held a position at MOMA then (sixties.)

[g.johnson]

This is one of those weird cultural gaps.

Another culture gap is the word 'teakettle'. It's always just 'kettle' in Britain. And yet it should be the other way round, at least if the woman in Williams-Sonoma who stared blankly at me when I asked about 'fish kettles' is the norm.

[Saffy]

NZ is another of those tea drinking countries. I would struggle to find what those of you in the US describe as a Teakettle here. Pretty much everyone here has a cordless kettle or more commonly a jug.

The one I have at the moment is a Sunbeam electric cordless jug, although we have had Russel Hobbs in the past. I would not be without an electric jug/kettle.

I had to boil water in a saucepan last time I was in the US.. not a teakettle to be seen anywhere in the place I was staying.

[maggiethecat]

Canada is also an electric kettle stronghold. People drink tea there.

The USA is basically a coffee country. Places that are (or were) pink on the map are probably electric kettle strongholds because the colonial masters were(and are) teadrinkers.

[cakewalk]

The USA is basically a coffee country.

Oh yes. And we can thank the "hosts" of the Boston Tea Party for that small favor.

BTW -- just some info on "twice boiled water."

[biology & Medical Science]

Does it make any difference to your tea if the water's been boiled twice or more, ie.should you always empty the kettle and start again, or is it OK if you just reheat the remains of water?

There seems to be some mixed information about this question. If you look at most sources, they say that a high level of dissolved oxygen gas is desirable in the water, as this produces a tea with more flavour, as it is able to extract more from the leaves. As boiled water loses most of its dissolved oxygen, using twice boiled water will result in water that is less able to extract the flavour.

However, the New Scientist debated this question in their Last Word column, and there the answers and explanations are less straightforward. The discussion can be found at: http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/answe...jsp?tp=liquids2

The consensus seems to be that there is a change in water quality which affects brewing, but that it comes from a change in the concentration and type of minerals dissolved in the water, rather than the amount of oxygen. When water is boiled, some minerals and salts can be precipitated out of solution. The longer you boil the water for, the greater the change will be. This can affect the flavour in two ways:

1) The solid salts interact with compounds in the tea, producing different flavours.

2) Tea is formulated differently for specific regions and their water quality. [imagine that]

By boiling the water for too long, the mineral composition of the water changes, and the tea formulation is no longer ideal for the water. In addition, if you keep boiling water in the kettle and just topping it up, then you will eventually concentrate certain minerals in the water, which may change the taste. So it's probably best not to keep using the same water, but doing it a couple of times shouldn't make much of a change. I suggest you try an experiment, and see if you can detect any difference to the taste. To my mind, there are far more important factors that alter the taste - using a teapot rather than brewing in the mug helps stop overbrewing that ruins the taste. Also, the water back at my mum's in the North-East seems to give a far tastier cup than London water. For a great rant by a man who thinks he knows how to brew tea best, visit this site: http://communities.msn.co.nz/ChrisSlatersW...site/theteapage

This is from another site:

Expert advice says that you should use freshly drawn water every time you make a pot of tea or coffee. Why is this? What is wrong with water that has been boiled twice? Can anyone tell the difference?

Answer

The reason that freshly boiled water is more effective for making tea than water boiled twice is that the fresh water has a higher oxygen content. This should result in a tastier cuppa because more tea will be extracted from the tea leaves.

This can be easily demonstrated by placing a measured amount of tea leaves in two glass tumblers and adding freshly boiled water to one and repeatedly boiled water to the other. Examination of both tumblers after three minutes will reveal a much stronger brew from the freshly boiled water.

[Kikujiro]

This is fascinating. One caveat: with the electric kettle the duration of the boil is very brief. My original suggestion -- that you could flick the switch back on to regain boiling temperature -- implies only two short periods of full boil, as opposed to one longer period on the stovetop. I didn't mean to suggest reusing water on a more substantial basis.

[glenn]

I received my Le Creuset from this site today (recommended by mb7o, thanks!). I just wanted to give my seal of approval to this seller -- you can't beat the price and responsiveness. $46.80 covered the whistling kettle and shipping, hard to believe. James also sells some other quality stuff, including Denby dinnerware. Only downside for some is that you can only pay by paypal.

And someone mentioned oh so subtilely that I should get black. She was right, but it was out of stock.

[memesuze]

I agree with Kikujiro regarding the reboil. As I noted previously, I'm a happy owner of a ZoPot, that is brought to a boil only once per day, for approximately 5 seconds. The temperature than drops and keeps stable at 205 degrees. And furthermore, the pot is sealed so that steam is contained, and drips back down into the pot. Therefore, there is probably little concentration of minerals to affect the taste.

[Pontormo]

This is a VERY old thread, but I don't think a simple request for help in maintenance/repair is worth a new thread.

I have the same blue enamel Chantal kettle that at least two other members own(ed). You'll find the same model in green, yellow and white on the back burner in many sitcoms such as Friends.

A recent problem:

The metal piece that contains the whistle and closes over the spout is loose. There are no visible screws where it is attached, unfortunately, just nice, clean doughnut-shaped metal circles (word? it's not a rivet, but similar to the metal holes you stick your shoelaces through) with no visible parts to tighten.

Since the kettle's metal handle is a pain and requires a towel to prevent burning, it would be nice if I didn't have to lift up the loose attachment to pour water.

Does anyone here understand what I have written? Solutions?

[twiggles]

This is a VERY old thread, but I don't  think a simple request for help in maintenance/repair is worth a new thread.

I have the same blue enamel Chantal kettle that at least two other members own(ed).  You'll find the same model in green, yellow and white on the back burner in many sitcoms such as Friends.

A recent problem:

The metal piece that contains the whistle and closes over the spout is loose.  There are no visible screws where it is attached, unfortunately, just nice, clean doughnut-shaped metal circles (word?  it's not a rivet, but similar to the metal holes you stick your shoelaces through) with no visible parts to tighten.

Since the kettle's metal handle is a pain and requires a towel to prevent burning, it would be nice if I didn't have to lift up the loose attachment to pour water.

Does anyone here understand what I have written?  Solutions?

←

my parents had a rusting problem with their Chantal kettle, and wrote to the company. they recieved a new kettle, and also a little pot holder in the shape of the handle. you should contact them and see if you can get a replacement! couldn't hurt.

[fou de Bassan]

I wonder if you could tighten the grommet with needle-nosed pliers?

If you don't get a reply from the company i think WIlliams -Sonoma sells the handle cover. Occasionally T.J. Maxx!!! will have them in the kitchen section.

[ghostrider]

I had a similar problem with a Revere kettle of similar design.

Then one day, quite by accident, I dropped the kettle on the floor, spout first, and the whistle part broke right off. Problem solved.

Of course you have to learn to listen to the kettle itself, ratther than the whistle, to know when the water has just reached a boil, but that comes with practice. It's cheaper than a new kettle.