I'm thinking of purchasing one specifically for tea since sometimes I don't like to heat water on my stove in a tea kettle. I hear that electric kettles heat water very quickly.
A few questions.
Do they really heat water faster?
How would you regulate how hot the water gets, either boiling or on the brink of boiling? (usually I let the water rest for a few minutes before steeping senchas, whites, and other delicate teas)
As a side question, do you measure how hot the water gets before steeping your high quality loose leaf teas.
Than what, precisely? No household electric kettle is likely to heat faster than a good metal one on a gas stove, which can deliver of the order of 10 kW. Normal home wiring limits electric kettles to 1-2 kW. If the comparison is an electric stove, a high-power electric kettle will be faster. The power is almost as high as a range element, and thermal contact is better.
The first part gets complicated. Some of us stop heating when the kettle makes a certain noise, when the bubbles are a particular size, when we feel like it... A few even use thermometers. Others just buy thermostatted kettles, which vary widely in temperature accuracy and stability.
On the latter point: water cools very slowly when enclosed to prevent evaporation. People often confuse the step-change from heating the walls of a pot or cup with progressive cooling. It's unlikely that a rest as you describe will drop the temperature by more than a few degrees, certainly not enough to drop from boiling to sencha temperature. A more effective method is to dilute boiling water with a known quantity of room-temperature water. (The sharing pitcher/ fair pot is a handy vessel for this.) Personally, I almost always have a creamer of tap water ready for tempering kettle water before adding to the teapot or gaiwan.
Some do. Some of us find it more enjoyable to stay with intuition and experience. As the saying goes, it is only through wisdom that we avoid error - but it is only through error that we acquire wisdom.
I'd say in general yes because an electric stove most likely has to heat an oversize inefficient element first depending on age. Buy one with at least a 1500W rating. I'd recommend the SS over the Plastic. Some come with thermostats which are accurate enough. You'll never have to worry about boil down. My electric kettle is closer to the faucet than the stove. I fill mine through the spout. I like the 1L size. Be sure you can devote a plug and space to it. The electric kettle will be a tad heavier because of the heating element. I marred a new ceramic stovepot with a stove kettle after a couple of uses which had a steel plate and stainless steel casting because of the dielectric. I did a remodel and I like the electric kettle on granite countertop. I'd never got back to the stove.
One advantage of electric kettles over stove top is that they can be easily brought elsewhere to heat water out of your kitchen. This may be good for gongfu brewing, where you use small amounts of water frequently but don't want to stand at your kitchen counter. I also use one I bought from adagio in my office at work and it functions very well. It has an adjustable thermostat and I can set it up so that it either shuts off right after boiling or something relatively far below that. I have one at home that boils for ten or so seconds before shutting off. That one is harder to cool down, but you can always stop the process before the boiling occurs if you are paying attetion. The other good thing about electic kettles is that they generally automatically turn off, so if you put the water on and forget about it for some reason, you don't have to worry about burning your house (or office) down. I remember a time when I put a stovetop kettle on and then forgot about it and left my home. Luckily, it was a high end calphalon pot that was sturdy enough to withstand (somewhat) being heated empty on the stove for several hours. Otherwise, I could have easily burned my house down. Regarding speed of heating, mine are faster than my electric stove, but I'm not sure how they would compare to a gas stove. But I'd say there are many other reasons to buy such a kettle other than speed.
A solid investment, and well worth it. I started with a 2L cheap one from Proctor/Silex that only cost about $15 and it still gets used to this day. I also bought a much nicer stainless steel/black one (can't remember the brand) from an Asian market that has a temp. setting. Honestly, I can always stop the cheap one at the right time and be ~5-10 degrees of my target just from sound/time, but the thermostat eliminates the need to have that proficiency. I like the challenge.
Someone else mentioned it already but the number of thermal transfers involved is less with an electric kettle, and outside of a gas stove probably the best bet for efficient, quick water.
I find them slower than my gas stove, for the most part. But if I had an electric stove, I might find them faster.
In general, the power input rating will tell you. If you have a unit rated for 1500 watts, it will generally heat water faster than a 1500 watt electric range top, because there is less heat lost around the sides and more going directly into the water. But if you have a unit rated for 500 watts, it isn't going to heat as quickly as a 1500 watt electric range.
Most of them boil the water, then cut off. Some fancier ones can be set to shut off at a preset temperature lower than boiling as they are designed for just that application.
I don't. I tend to estimate it by ear. But then, I mostly drink black teas.
I got a Kamjove that I brought home from China last Christmas. Unfortunately, they lied that it could convert the voltage. I had to get a step-down transformer, a huge thing of about 20 pounds, just to drink tea.
But, yes, it does make things convenient; especially if you are doing Gongfu Cha and you need water with a constant rolling boil.
Going the other way will usually lead to smoke and perhaps fire. But running a 220V passive heater (no control electronics) on 110V should be fine. It would nominally deliver 1/4 of the rated power. Since heating elements run so far above 100C, the water would still boil; it would just take about four times as long. Actually, the situation is better than that: the resistance of heating elements goes up at operating temperature. So at half-voltage, resistance is lower, current higher, and power not as much diminished.
I wouldn't bother with a transformer; just change the plug if needed.
Yes, but if it takes four times as long (and it actually is about that because the increased heat loss during the longer warming time more than makes up for the added heat due to the lower element resistance), that sort of defeats the whole POINT of having an electric kettle, doesn't it?
Problem is that a 1500W transformer is _big_ and _expensive_. It would be easier and cheaper just to extend a 15A 220V line to your kitchen and install a Europlug.
I have a Kamjove from China that I use daily. It has an automatic switch that reheats the water periodically which I appreciate. I use the "cloud" signals to let me know when the temperature is appropriate for whatever I am brewing: leaving the lid open - soft, lazy low steamy clouds for greens and yellows, higher steadier vertical steamy clouds for oolongs; and straight up steamy steams of smoke for pu-erhs and blacks. I also use room temperature water for most of my better greens. I love this Kamjove and the convenience of reheated water at my command. Shen
i love m electric kettle, i put in one piece of bamboo charcoal in them to remove metal taste and make my water sweeter. i just use my own judgement on the water temperature. Once you are used to the kettle you kinda know it by hearing the sound and duration :)
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