Hot water

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 12:07:56 -0700, "RN" tripped the light fantastic, then quipped:

I use an inexpensive electric kettle (2 L capacity) made by Toastmaster. It's much faster than boiling water in the microwave. It has many of the same features of much higher-priced brands (like auto-shutoff upon boiling, etc.. I'm extremely pleased with it. I bought it nearly three years ago, and have never had a single problem with it.

Tee

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I waited years to find a decent, cheap little Krups 4-cup electric. It's perfect except for having the level-indicating tube on the wrong side - must have been designed by a lefty. It carries sound well enough that I can gauge the right temperature for greens and oolongs by the bubbling. (OK, the decavitation parasitic oscillations, but let's not split molecules.)

Re the microwave: since we tea drinkers are all sensitive as s*** (John Lennon line), people might be amused to know that a microwave is only about

40% efficient at turning electricity into hot water. A kettle's about 100%. Add in Carnot-cycle limits and distribution losses, and the coal-to-hot-water energy transfer efficiency is only about 10%. Why I like to keep a kettle on the wood stove...

-DM

I use the Bodum 5500-103USA Ibis Cordless Electric Water Kettle

a.. Holds 8-1/2 to 57-1/2 fluid ounces a.. Made of polypropelene plastic with stainless-steel heating element a.. Boils 35 fluid ounces in 4-1/2 minutes

...

I have been using these kettles for several years now with mixed results. I have one that is 3 years old and has been through hell and back. I have had 2 others where the switch failed after about 1 year of use. In any event even with the high failure rate its a hard kettle to beat when you consider you can get it for $20-$30. The Teal and Orange models are on sale at

for $19.95. At this price I consider it a disposable kettle and as long as I get a year out of it I feel I got my money's worth.

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 07:32:27 -0600, "Edward Bertsch" cast caution to the wind and posted:

Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@pu-erh.net

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A whistling kettle.