@Chrishallbeck If any of the Brits think it tastes different in the microwave, maybe they need to RINSE their tea mugs before merely drying the Fairy on for, y'know, flavour, every now & then, too. Or wash the kettle to deflavorify it. The horror stories of the way the country does the dishes are many & horrid to people who RINSE things after washing as well. 🙀 🙈
@Chrishallbeck Years ago, when I moved from Canada to California for grad school, I tried to buy an electric kettle. I searched high and low. Impossible. I finally found one you could put on the stove. Then I tried to find a teapot. And a tea cosy. I think the store clerks thought I was trying to buy imaginary things. Trying to explain a tea cosy to a Californian was a true challenge.
A mug of water heated in a #microwave won't convect during heating, so you'll get a blob of superheated water on top of a blob of cooler water. You'll be lucky if the average temperature gets anywhere near boiling point which is VITAL for brewing black #teas.
@sarajw@Chrishallbeck We only have 120v power outlets in the US so electric kettles take longer to boil. They are available but still not that common for people to have.
@williamgunn@m_brady@Chrishallbeck I think kettles are often 3kW nowadays, nearly topping out a UK plug's 13A limit, which makes them boil pretty fast. Microwaves usually top out at 1kW? Ah maybe 1450W for $$$.
US plugs and sockets are apparently rated at 15A, so would give a maximum kettle power of 15A x 120V = 1800W.
So ... I guess they're around the same ballpark. And heating just the mugful of water you want is arguably less wasteful.
@williamgunn@m_brady@Chrishallbeck as for which is more efficient and doing the heating thing itself... Depends how well insulated the kettle is I guess?
@sarajw@m_brady@Chrishallbeck Yeah, they probably draw a similar amount of power, but the thing you put in the microwave usually isn't lidded & insulated, so the advantage must go to the kettle here.
Microwaved water is a bit strange, it's either not boiled enough, or some super-boiled-volcanic state and both make tea taste strange. The noble electric kettle auto-stops when it needs to. Also, and it could be placebo/nocebo, you have to add water to tea, not tea to the water !
@m_brady@sarajw@Chrishallbeck I just bought an electric kettle in the US and timed it. Pan on stove took 7 minutes, my Mr coffee coffee maker took 6.25 minutes, and my new kettle took 4 minutes. Not a mind blowing change, but I also appreciate it's keep warm feature and delayed start. Microwave takes about 2 minutes but that's just for a single cup of water. Have to repeat for further cups.
I'm also in San Diego so at sea level.
@sarajw@m_brady My partner definitely likes her tea but also just hot water. With the water boiler it's trivial for me to heat water for her as soon as I get up so it's ready by the time she gets up.
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