I’ve owned an electric kettle for over a decade.
They aren’t ubiquitous here, but go into any Walmart or Target and you’ll find them there.
The real reason they aren’t ubiquitous in America is the majority of Americans aren’t daily tea drinkers and most (notice pedants I said most and not all) American coffee drinker use drip coffee machines or Keurigs instead of a French press, so for most Americans there simply isn’t a regularly enough need for hot water so as to justify an electric kettle.
That’s it. That’s the whole reason.
Yep, I’m a tea drinker and even take my kettle when I travel. But we also use it to boil water that will go on the stove because it gets it to boiling so much faster when making pasta or something. My son also drinks French press so it gets a lot of use
True. I’m American, but I lived a couple years in the UK and got into drinking (hot) tea while I lived there. I’d never seen an electric kettle before, but I’m back in the US now and you bet I have one!
I can buy some special widget that takes up counter space, or I can keep a kettle on the stove.
If I had 240 or 480 to rapid boil maybe it would be a perk, but stovetop is fast enough for my needs.
What I’ve learnt from different youtube videos, seems like Americans are almost allergic to hot drinks (except hot chocolate). It’s quite funny watching them approach very cautiously, almost like a cat sniffing liquid before they drink 🤣
What? Many many people drink hot coffee, but drip coffee makers do their own heating. And one sips it carefully because…it’s hot.
…that’s because they’re hot.
You can’t always tell how hot something is when handed it, so you carefully sip toale sure it’s not scalding
You can dip your finger in, too, but gross
Americans drink a ton of hot coffee, it’s just typically drip.
Personally I can’t stand coffee, but I’m a hot tea drinker. While I doubt we can stand up to the likes of places like the UK or China in terms of hot beverage consumption, I’d bet we’re solidly middle-of-the-road globally on that metric.
That being said, what America does have is an uncommonly strong taste for cold drinks. Most Americans drink almost nothing at or around room temperature, so anything that isn’t specifically a “hot drink” like tea or coffee is probably going to be served here very cold or on ice (excluding alcohol; most of us aren’t drinking our Bordeaux with ice cubes, I promise). So yeah I guess our “average drink temp” is probably much lower due to that cold preference, if that’s the kind of thing you think is worth measuring, but that cold preference doesn’t mean hot drinks aren’t still extremely common in America. They are.
Edit: I see somebody down voted you and wanted to state that it was not me. I don’t think you said anything dismissive, or offensive, or off-topic, so I do not believe your comment deserves to be down voted. I know others don’t care about this, but i do, so pardon this quick explainer
Or just heat the mug off water in the microwave like a normal person if you’re gonna leaf soup.
Wait, you microwave your tea?
just the water, and then you put the bag in after you take it out. Ceramic mug of hot water.
but i joined modern life and last year we bought an electric kettle.
Might as well just turn on the warm tap water at that point and put the tea bag in it.
If your tap water gets that hot, you should probably turn down your water heater for safety.
Does your microwave not get water hot? Am I missing something?
Your sink tap shouldn’t get hot enough to steep tea in.
Or boil a small pot? When I’m somewhere away from my electric kettle, I boil a pot instead of microwave. I’m sure I’m not alone. But yeah, either way the point remains that an electric kettle is only a convenience for people who are regularly using hot water far beyond the typical American’s custom.
Thanks for restating the video??
I didn’t watch the video. The entire point of my comment was you don’t need a 20+ minute video to learn this, you just need a paragraph.
How do you know that there is nothing else in that video of note if you didn’t even gave it a chance?
It might. But the title didn’t give that impression, so it failed in its job at enticing me to click. No content is entitled to my viewership.
So like, what point do you think you’re actually making here?
edit: its not it’s
Technology Connections has a knack for making topics interesting. It’s been a while since I watched this one, but I believe it breaks down the timing of kettles vs gas range vs electric resistance range vs electric induction. It also dispels a myth that it’s because kettles on 120v plugs aren’t good (they’re slower than 240v, but still faster than stoves).
That’s fine and good, and I might even watch the video based on your recommendation, but none of that refutes or deflates anything I’ve said thus far on the topic.
But I do appreciate the extra contextual information and recommendation, sincerely 👍
Spoiler, its because we dont drink as much tea. Tea drinkers do own kettles in the US.
It’s true. I drink a lot of tea, and I’ve owned an electric kettle for the last 20 years. I like the ones that allow me to select the temperature depending on what I’m making.
I think more, though, is that people don’t really know they exist. Maybe you see it on the shelf at a supermarket and don’t notice it–it’s not in the US psyche. If you start to think about it a bit, an electric kettle makes more sense, but we’re not used to it.
If you start to think about it a bit, an electric kettle makes more sense
Not when everyone’s got a microwave already, likely doesn’t have the counter space for another gadget that they don’t use very often.
If you regularly make 1-3 mugs worth of hot water a kettle makes sense. If you regularly boil larger amounts, or don’t regularly boil water, the microwave you already own is only slightly slower, so why spend the money?
Most tea drinkers I know use a microwave, a Keurig, or a stove kettle, not an electric kettle.
I only know one tea drinker with an electric kettle and they normally use their microwave.
Teas are best at a specific temperature, depending on the type. Same with coffee brewing methods and different types of beans. Microwaves can’t do that.
Also, a microwave will boil water just as quickly without having another appliance taking up space.
Except the typical microwave is 1000 or maybe 1200 watts, while an electric kettle is usually 1500 watts, so even if all the energy the microwave used went into the water it’s still up to 50% less than what a kettle will put into the water.
I don’t know why you’re being downvoted without anyone actually debunking what you’ve said, so I’ll try. You’re right about not having another appliance being convenient, but I doubt a microwave is just as effective. If you’re just heating a cup of water, then yes. But boiling even a liter of water would take about 5 minutes in a microwave on the highest setting, which would take about 2 mins in a kettle. Not even taking into account that actually boiling water in a microwave is near impossible, because it would spill everywhere
Boiling water in a microwave can actually be dangerous, and cause super-heating.
Why bother when I have a coffee machine for coffee, a microwave for everything else, and a nearby harbor for tea?
What is a nearby harbour? I googled it but nothing came up.
joke/reference to boston tea party?
Bingo.
It is right next to freedom, egalitarianism, and just beside american exeptionalism. If you have hit monarchy, you have gone too far.
Mostly i just hate tea and taxes tbh.
And Red Coats, don’t forget them
Yes but that tea is extra salty…like the people who made it.
Regular tea drinkers do. Otherwise, they aren’t useful.
Light tea drinkers don’t have a use for them because for single cups now and then, you’re better off nuking the water to temp.
Hell, I have a cup almost every day, and that’s still not worth having another thing on the counter for.
The U.S. is more into coffee than tea overall. But I know plenty of people that drink tea often enough to merit having one and using it.
It’s also faster than boiling a pot of water on the stove so you can save time if you run it through the kettle and then poor it into a pot on the stove to boil whatever you were making.
Which can also be done with the microwave without having to get an extra device
Microwave can heat MORE water than a kettle, too. Unless your microwave is oddly small or your kettle freakishly huge, that is
Or you don’t own a microwave.
Microwaving water is exceedingly dangerous and should never be done.
No, it’s not, and you shouldn’t spread old wives tales as though they’re truth
Please educate yourself. Your dig on me at the end is unironically complete projection as you are spreading dangerous information.
Please educate yourself
Ironic considering I already knew you were talking about superheating, which requires an incredibly smooth container and multiple microwaving attempts to pull off
You can prevent such dangers by: not double-microwaving your water (even then it’s a low chance), using a rougher cup, or sticking anything (like a spoon) in there while you heat it
But sure, keep acting like a rare occurrence under incredibly specific circumstances is something to be deathly afraid of. Whatever floats your boat. Just stop spreading it around.
It’s really shocking the degree of condescension that exudes from you. It’s like you’re trying to cover up your own insecurities or something. Hmm…
We have one because of the tea drinkers in the house. But I use it a lot more than I would have imagined. Oatmeal, making stock from soup base, etc. I have an induction stove, but the kettle is easier to pour than a pot.
They’re great for everything from tea to coffee, instant ramen, boiling water faster on the stove. Not having a kettle and having to boil/microwave water would be a pain imo.
I drink tea a couple times a week. These are way way better than microwaving a cup of water and nearly as quick. The biggest thing for me is getting the water temp right where I want it for whatever I’m drinking. Also, they don’t take up much space, and you can put them in a cabinet when you aren’t using them.
You’re assuming there’s cabinet space after having a mixer, a crock pot, stock pots, a pressure cooker, an air fryer…
Kettles are fucking tiny tho compared to the average appliance
I had a kettle for over a decade before I moved to the UK and got a fancier one. It might be faster here, but I never timed it and it wasn’t a big factor for me.
I use one to make coffee in my French press.
Because our power is 110 volts and it takes forever.
You didn’t watch the video, did you?
Not even a little bit
I didn’t either, but this is the real answer
He commented without even watching the 25 minute long video? The nerve of this guy.
Honestly, that’s a short video for this guy.
Faster than a gas stove.
This is the primary reason. The microwave is faster.
Think about this: your microwave and a kettle can pull the same 1500 watts from the outlet. A kettle can nearly directly put that energy into the water with its heating element, heating it. The microwave turns that energy into microwaves via a magnetron that then heats the water. The microwave also has a fan to cool its electronics, lest it overheats. That’s energy that isn’t going in the water, but is enough to damage things.
Now, why do you think a similarly powered microwave could beat an electric kettle?
Also temperature is a state function. It doesn’t matter how you get it.
Been using mine every day lately for my Aeropress.
I have an hotwater dispenser for tea, it always heats up the exact amount of water, cup of tea in less than 30 sec.
Hot water dispenser is very useful. I also use it to fill up the rice cooker, and it cuts the cooking time from from 30 to 20 minutes. And it’s great for instant noodles.
I use mine to pre boil water sometimes. It’s also great for making coffee as well as tea.
We do, though. Every morning.
I’m a tea drinker and have been looking for a good pot that’s easy to clean for ages. I have hard water, which leaves a lot of residue behind. And I would like to avoid chinese manufacturing. Currently I just boil water in a small sauce pot on the stove, which doesn’t have the ability to stop heating at certain temps needed for certain loose leaf teas.
Am using a Philips kettle for over a decade and have no plans is stopping. Of course that means nobody will ever buy another so the model is not available anymore. I would still suggest, though.
Hard water is easy enough to deal with. Just use a Britta filter, I live in London and our water is very hard. I’ve only had to descale my kettle once in the last 4 years since I bought it, which was a mystery until I realized my girlfriend was making tea using tap water.
My kettle is just a 0-100 kind, so in order to do 80-85C for my morning coffee, I use my meat thermometer with the alarm set on 76C. By the time I flick the kettle off and the energy finishes dissipating into the water, it’ll be ~82C. YMMV
I have hard water as well and like this one: https://a.co/d/7C7OYlR which I’ve used for last 10 months so far; fairly easy to clean the bottom where residue tries to build up
I only use it for boiling though; I use this pot for brewing: https://a.co/d/fTXsavt
Although i like things that are simple and just work, dont fix it if it aint broken, and hate over-engineered technology… It still is funny to me that if we want to heat things up, we do it by running current through a piece of metal. Isnt there a more efficient way? I guess not or we would be using it.
Excluding heat pumps, that’s as efficient as it gets physically.
Every other method is too unreliable. Sure, heating water by letting it sit in sunny weather is technically infinite efficiency, but the weather doesn’t care about your tea.
Induction stoves and microwaves are improvements for certain scenarios.
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Try buying one in the US that isn’t made in China.
Is that a problem… for a kettle?
It’s a problem for US manufacturing. Not everything needs to be built in another country and then put on a boat. You also don’t know if your kettle has been built by Uyghur slave labor.
I don’t disagree with you. But also US made doesn’t ensure it wasn’t built with slave labor. Prison labor includes manufacturing these days
Seems strange though to worry about a kettle when half the things in your house are made in China. Laptop, iPhone, clothes, curtain rails, toys… sure there are also lots of these not made in China, but I’d take a guess a substantial proportion of them in a substantial proportion of homes are made in China. At least a kettle isn’t spying on you (yet), isn’t made of cotton (often particular associations with Uyghurs), isn’t educational material, food, or medical product. I suppose it could have a lead element, or asbestos in the handle, but that seems unlikely.
