Since working from home, I make tea and coffee many times a day. I’ve been using a small saucepan and the stove to boil water for these drinks. Now many of you know that I already have a hot water dispenser and you might wonder why I don’t use that for tea and coffee. The hot water dispenser holds about 4L of water, at a temperature below boiling. It’s very slow to reboil that amount of water, taking at least ten minutes, if not more. It would also be a waste of energy to reboil 4L of water when I only need a cup or so of boiling water for tea or coffee.
So, I’ve been using a saucepan and the stove. It works but it’s inconvenient. There have been times when I’ve been distracted by work and the water boils for over a minute before I remember to run to the stove to turn it off. Pouring boiling water from a saucepan is also a bit awkward. There’s no lip or anything, so I usually try to use a wide-mouthed mug so there’s less chance of slippage.
Last week, I got tired of all of this and I purchased an electric kettle from Amazon. I knew these new modern kettles boiled water incredibly fast and they are smart enough to turn off by themselves and have boil-dry protection. I chose a smaller kettle with a 1L capacity, perfect for making tea and coffee for one or two people. I was surprised at how fast it boils water. It feels like I could boil 500mL in less than two minutes. This is very useful for the mornings when I’m in need of that first cup of caffeine to get me going. It’s also great that I don’t have to worry about running to the kitchen to turn off the stove. The kettle shuts off by itself, so I can worry about making that cup of tea on my time.
I know this probably sounds a bit silly for some of you, who have had such kettles for years but this is one of those times when an appliance really does make your life a tad easier.