A kettle can keep water contained even when it's reaching a full energetic rolling boil—for most containers you might put in a microwave, water at that kind of energetic boiling temperature would "boil over" and spill out.
The steam coming out of a kettle will dissipate easily into the room, whereas steam rising from a container in a microwave will be stuck inside a small box and leave condensation around the inside of the microwave.
The kettle brings water up to exactly boiling before turning itself off—with a microwave you're guessing at the necessary duration, and might either not get it fully up to temperature or overshoot and waste energy.
Water heated in a microwave in a sufficiently smooth container can end up superheated, then flash boil suddenly when you disturb it or drop in something that acts as a nucleation point. Some risk of that being hazardous.
On a UK power supply a kettle might run at 2000–3000 watts, with all of that energy being dumped straight into the water by a simple heating element. A microwave is probably more like 800–1000 watts (so will take much longer to heat up the water) and spends some energy on the extra complexity of generating microwaves.
I can't see there being a major difference in the "quality" of the hot water itself, except to the extent that being more exactly the right temperature might make it better at extracting flavour from tea/coffee. But the kettle is a better appliance for the task.
Also, a kettle can provide multiple servings of hot water at the same time. Making tea in the UK is making tea for everyone present, it’d take forever to boil 4 separate cups of water in the microwave
I use a kettle myself, but if I did want to make tea for four in the microwave, I would either fill four cups with water and put them all in the microwave at the same time, or fill a small jug (4 cups worth) and heat that.
Yeah, the argument makes no sense. I also only use the kettle and soley use the microwave on vacation if there is no kettle. (Put a spoon or something (without sharp edges - sparks) in the water to prevent superboiling)
But if I would... Why not place 4 mugs in at once? I am pretty sure almost all microwaves can handle that, lol.
To be fair, microwaves have hot zones and having four cups would mean you had four unevenly heated cups. Much better to use a Pyrex measuring jug, or better yet… A kettle…
Hey. I'm an American with a kettle. They do exist. But then again, I'm also a tea drinker. Herbal teas mostly, but I love a good cup.
If I ever visit Europe I'm looking forward to the tea.
I don't know how large your microwave is but I would absolutely burn my hand on a hot mug or knock one over, trying to get them out one by one. Just so impractical. I'm neither American nor British but I've always been thrown off by my parents heating up their water in the microwave and getting a kettle was one of my first purchases when I moved out lol.
What? Boil water in pot/sauce pan, drop in 4 or so tea bags when boil, stir in sugar. Then double sugar. Keep stirring, double again. Serve
/S just in case lmao
Mythbusters did a great episode on this and when a sugar cube was dropped into a microwaved, super heated cup of water it did indeed explode up a molten mess of fury nightmare fuel.
Kettle turns itself off when its boiled, just about the fastest and most efficient way to get the exact same temperature every time.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1\_OXM4mr\_i0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_OXM4mr_i0)
When I was in the US I did once have some superheated microwave water 'explode' when I put a teabag in. I guess it must have been unusually pure water plus a smooth cup to prevent bubbles from forming.
>On a UK power supply
Theres a guy on youtube whose name escapes me but is recommended to me every so often that did a video an this exact subject. The biggest takeaway was the difference in power supplies and the length of time a kettle would take to boil in the US vs UK.
Important thing I'd like to add:
Heating water in the microwave means your entire cup gets hot too. So the handle might be too hot to hold (or handle, lol). While pouring hot water in cup means that, while it does heat up, the handle typically doesn't, by design.
There is a taste component that I can't describe well. The microwaved water makes whatever it is taste flat. I spent one winter complaining about microwaved water (good-natured). My family got tired of it, and they began fixing my hot chocolate/tea. Sometimes, they used the microwave, sometimes the stove. I could tell which every time. They even tried microwaving water that had been boiled on the stove and boiling water on the stove that had been microwaved. (They both taste microwaved) There's no real reason to taste different, but it does.
Heating releases dissolved gasses. Containers might influence taste. Additives used to treat water might behave differently with different heating methods.
Tea and coffee are temperature sensitive. Tea requires fresh boiling water (not reboiled) in a pre-warmed pot for best results. Coffee goes bitter above 90-something degrees (adding milk or a dash of cold water first can make freeze dried instant taste better). Steam extracted coffee is very hot but maybe it works because the exposure to the extra heat is brief?
Quality of water supply is very significant. The difference in tea quality using same ingredients between cities is really noticeable (rain catchment, river, bore, water hardness, etc).
I suspect my grandmother's teapot had some magic as well due to decades of tannin buildup inside it (thick black layer).
It does taste different. My grandma would boil water in the microwave for tea and I stopped having tea at her house. It was even worse when she would put the teabag in the cup in the microwave
Good answer, but one more point - a kettle heats from the bottom, making a lovely convection surface the water will 'rotate' round, hot rising, cold falling, thereby speeding up the entire process.
A microwave is heating 'all at once' but actually the top is likely to get hot before the bottom, so there's no convection to heat the water at the bottom properly.
The kettle boils from the bottom thus aerating the water because the steam stirs the water while a microwave it’s heated evenly throughout meaning no aeration
A modern electric kettle is just a purpose-designed device that has advantages over any other non-specialized way of heating water.
Sometimes I can unscrew a screw with a key, but a screwdriver is going to do it better.
Another analogy that comes to mind is when you put bread on a dry pan with a low flame to make toasts on the stove. It does the intended purpose but there's a lot more efficient ways.
I have no toaster in my apartment and electronics are expensive here. I’ve been making toast on a dry pan for 6 months and it’s actually not so bad. Would still prefer a toaster though.
The heat prevents bacterial and and fungal growth. It's actually a pretty ingenious setup if you know that you will likely want hot toast within the next six months, but you're not exactly sure just when that craving will hit. This method ensures instant satisfaction at any time. Pretty big-brained move, IMO
You just have to be well organised. Get your New Year’s Eve breakfast started today. New Year’s Day toast starts tomorrow. Buy 182 pans and hobs. It’s really not that hard if you plan it in advance
Best comment, a kettle you fill up with water press a button and it’ll heat to boiling point. A microwave you fill up a cup/jug place it in the microwave set a random time you think will be best then wait for it to cool or touch the piping hot cup/jug handle - a few extra steps with a worse outcome.
An electric water kettle is made to stop at 100 degrees celsius (boiling water), or less if you have a water kettle that's able to do so. It's simply safer and easier to use.
Yup, it's faster, easier and purpose made. The end product is still hot water, but getting there is better with a kettle than basically any other method.
I do at work, but the break rooms don’t have stovetops so it’s easier to just heat up water in a microwave and pour it over my tea in a mug. I have a whole routine for it and preferred microwave so I know what times get me which temperatures. o7
As an American abroad, I’ve been converted. Kettles 100%.
Also, most of this discussion is around tea which Americans don’t take seriously as a beverages. No one in America is making coffee by microwaving water first.
Sweet tea is different than just iced tea and it’s a southern variety. Correctly made iced tea with just a little sugar, not too strong or weak, is excellent. I’m a lifelong fan of Earl Grey, but also love espresso, americanos, etc.
How do Americans make coffee at home? Presumably they need boiling water for that, too?
If I can’t be arsed with the espresso machine I (New Zealand) boil the kettle for either instant coffee or plunger (maybe what’s called “French press” over there?) coffee.
Most Americans who drink coffee at home have a drip coffee maker. Those either brew a pot of coffee or they could be a Keurig or Nespresso machine that brews individual cups.
Of course Americans use kettles. Look in any American store that sells kitchenware and you will see a selection of kettles. Just not every one of us does . Many use kettles of some sort. I do. Some use the hot water function of the coffee maker. Some do use the microwave. There is just no consensus.
I'm in 230V land, but my kettle 'only' has 1400W, something that would be doable in the USA without problems. I got this one so I can run it at the same time as the toaster.
I’m not British but an electric kettle is the best way to heat water.
It’s fast, no guessing, you can heat multiple cups worth.
Some people claim microwaved water tastes ick.
I’m not that subtle. I’m guessing you might get aromas from food cooked in there perhaps.
American here. I use a teapot on a stove. I don't own an electric kettle. My SO uses an electric teapot. I'm guessing the people that use a microwave don't have patience to heat water in a teapot or kettle and the microwave takes about 80 seconds. I imagine somebody at work that wants a cup of tea but their breakroom does not have a kettle would need to microwave their water.
You should never microwave water to boil it. It can superheat and explode, it's really dangerous. If you microwave water you should put in a wooden stick or spoon inside the glass as well so that bubbles can form and so it won't superheat. Alternatively put in salt or something else. The water should not be pure/distilled because then bubbles can't form. Even regular tap water has a (low) chance of superheating. I'm surprised this isn't common knowledge.
Well up until purifiers it wouldn’t need to be because who the hell is boiling distilled water? Maybe you are boiling water to make distilled water but what purpose would anyone in a home environment have for hot distilled water? I could see someone filling a container from a purifier and then trying to microwave it however because our society is overly worried about everything.
God damn no wonder your entire nation is a nanny state lol
42 years of heating up water in a microwave and it has never been a problem.
It's just bonkers that y'all have an issue with something so simple.
For black tea, you ideally want the water just brought to boiling or perhaps a bit lower before pouring it over the tea. It’s very difficult to do that with a microwave unless it has a temperature probe. So you risk boiling it too long (which removes some of the dissolved air). In some cases, it can be superheated, so it starts to boil over when poured.
Its even harder to get proper temps for greens or different kinds of oolongs. Even 5 celcious makes a difference and 10 might just ruin delicate greens.
In my own opinion a microwave has the general reputation of being the inferior way to heat things. If something says oven cook or microwave then use the oven. Use the microwave if you're in a hurry but oven cooked will taste better if you have time.
I think this stems from a childhood of eating terrible microwave meals. It's a perfectly adequate way to heat many things but my brain is trained to think to think otherwise. I'd imagine it's the same for many people who own a kettle.
Microwaving water may be chemically identical to boiling it in a kettle but my brain wants me to think it's wrong.
It’s also not safe. It can become super heated (above boiling temp without actually boiling), as soon as you put something in the cup. It can spray all over the play. My brother got some bad burns from microwaved water.
Nobody thinks microwaving water is “smarter” than heating it using other methods. I use a kettle, but there is nothing wrong with using the microwave if that’s what you have access to. The final result (i.e. boiling water) is identical.
Kettle is just easier imo, add water, press switch, walk away.
Don't have to worry about figuring out the right length of time between different powered microwaves, don't need to keep an eye on it in case it overflows, kettle holds plenty of water for multiple cups and easy to pour from, the list goes on.
Vaguely interesting fact: in 1980 the [British Standards Institution](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BSI_Group&diffonly=true)
wrote a British Standard for brewing tea (BS6008:1980). Then in 2003, the Royal Society of Chemistry (British scientific institution) published a press release entitled "How to make a Perfect Cup of Tea" in direct competition. The British Standard was used as the basis for the International Standard (ISO3103), but drew criticism from Ireland because the methodology omitted to mention prewarming the teapot.
Because with 230-240 volt power it's faster, it can't become superheated with a kettle, and modern kettles even allow temperature setting
>Either way it's warmed up water
Some Brits are very fussy about the temperature of their tea water, to the degree fussy.
Indeed it’s not just British, but rather everyone except Americans. It’s just weird, plus if you’re making tea for more than one person it’s super weird.
Irish here, ideally you use the kettle to scald the teapot with boiling water then pour that water away then put the tea into the scalded teapot and pour new boiling water in from the kettle and leave it to stew. A full teapot is 4-5 cups of tea.
If just making tea in a single cup, you scald the cup first, then the pouring of the water over the tea helps it to stew better.
You want to heat the inside of the teapot with boiling water, slosh it around the insides then empty the water. I prefer a tin teapot had it for generations it builds up a residue of thousands of pots of tea brewed that works best if it's primed before you add in fresh tea. You dont want any other reactions from a sudden change in temperature affecting the tea stewing process People do the same with ceramic teapots too. The kettle is used because there is a lot of pouring of boiling water to be done.
Kettles only heat to 100 degrees. Microwaves run the risk of superheating water without boiling it. Generally, microwaves are not recommended for safety reasons.
[super heated water](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JOxuS0SBHc)
For most hot water requirements anything above 85°C is more than adequate.
In terms of taste, I find microwaved water to taste more flat.
I found this link when looking for evidence of my prejudice.
[microwave makes flat water](https://www.cookist.com/why-you-should-never-boil-water-inside-of-a-microwave/)
The water should not be pure/distilled when microwaving it, because then bubbles can't form and that's when superheating occurs. Even regular tap water has a (low) chance of superheating. If you microwave water you should put in a wooden stick or spoon inside the glass as well, alternatively put in salt, so that bubbles can form and so it won't superheat.
Some RIDICULOUS arguments for and against kettle/microwave use here 🙄. Just do it like normal people and suspend the kettle over your coal fire until it boils. Really, it doesn't matter even one tiny bit how you heat up water.
It's not better, that's what it boils down to. Kettles aren't as popular in the US as they are in the UK for two reasons, the US uses 120v electric in our homes and the UK uses 240v making kettles in the UK come to the boiling point faster than kettles in the US so in the US a microwave is faster. Coffee is more popular in the US and most homes have either a drip coffee maker or a system like a Kuerig, having a second set up just for tea takes up counter space if you only have tea occasionally is cumbersome. I have never had more than one person in my home that wanted tea at any given time. I have a kettle because I use a french press for my coffee and if I used a different system I probably wouldn't have a kettle because it would only get used once every few months, not enough to warrant taking up counter space.
Commentors that talk about microwave condensation are...silly. Anything you microwave will give off steam in some form, and superheating water is exceptionally rare for which you need perfect conditions.
Every household is going to use what works best for them, I'm just trying to figure out why Brits are willing to die on this ridiculous hill as if they have nothing better to defend.
ITT: no one actually answering the question.
not asking about which machine is more efficient at boiling water. Obviously kettle is. Move on.
If you don’t make tea very often, and/or you don’t give a shit about “the perfect cup” there’s nothing different between kettle or microwaves water.
It’s both hot.
I own a kettle. Sometimes I microwave water to get it hot anyway. It’s great and fast when you have a small amount of water to work with.
I am a human and I don’t need to live my life like I’m minmaxing efficiency in a video game.
As an American: depending on the vessel microwaved water can have an odd taste to it and it’s often too hot to pickup the cup you just heated water in.
Electric kettle is just simpler all around.
I’ve never met a soul who boils water in the microwave? We don’t drink a lot of tea over here, we have coffee makers. If I’m making oatmeal or something I’ll boil water on the stove.
Seriously who boils water in the microwave??
Microwaving water isn’t safe. [here is Hank Green to explain why](https://youtube.com/shorts/XggHhU16axk?si=375HaeMnSjJkvJRP). My brother got some nasty burns on his arm and leg from microwaved water when he put his tea bag into the water.
You should never microwave water.
It’s not just British people. Everywhere else in the world actually boil their water in kettles. It gets boiled fully hot in a kettle but not as hot in a microwave.
>It gets boiled fully hot in a kettle but not as hot in a microwave.
This is wrong. A microwave oven is far more likely to superheat the water (i.e. above 100C) if the water is clean enough. It happened to me a couple of times. The sudden outburst to boil of superheated water when it finally gets disturbed is no joke!
EDIT: A kettle has of course the ability to superheat water, but because of localised application of heat and convection currents, the water has far more chances to be disturbed and just boil.
American who doesn’t really drink tea, but electric kettle is the best & they even have models with heat selectors. I don’t buy the whole “well microwave does it just as well”. For example my mum likes microwaving scrambled eggs in the microwave, I absolutely detest them.
That’s not an analog. Scrambled eggs aren’t water. When you microwave the scrambled eggs you’re, heating up just the water in them to warm them. When you’re heating water in a microwave you’re…just heating water.
One actual effect I could possibly see is that microwaves are enclosed boxes that you heat all kinds of different foods in and it might have some subtle odors in it that gets imparted into the water. Other than that yeah, unless you superheat your water, which I've never personally seen happen and I've microwave boiled water plenty for different reasons, I'm quite confident that there's no physical difference between water heated by different methods. People are just weird and the placebo effect is strong.
To make tea properly the water needs to ideally be boiling when it hits the teabag or tea - microwaves inconsistently heat water within the cup/mug and don’t allow for proper tea preparation.
Also the voltage here makes kettles really quick and easy to use, unlike in USA for instance.
American here, but it can actually be dangerous to heat water in the microwave.
Since it gets heated super rapidly, it can reach boiling temperatures without actually boiling.
So there is a slight but real risk that when you move it or drop something in, it will all of the sudden boil over and burn you.
American here. There's nothing specifically wrong with water boiled in the microwave. I think it's really more about the time. If you just making a cup or two of tea I suppose of microwave would be fine, but I drink a lot of tea and I make it a gallon at a time. A kettle will make that quantity of tea much much faster than a microwave or a stove top.
Just to be clear, I'm talking about an electric kettle here, not the kind that you put on the stove top.
My Italian and French housemates don’t trust the kettle and boil water in a pan. They think the limescale comes from the kettle… I’ve given up explaining water
I’m American and I prefer to use a kettle for my tea.
It’s easier to know when the water is ready because the kettle will whistle when it is.
And from my experience, using a microwave to boil water takes way longer.
With 240V outlets standard across Europe, kettles boil quicker in Britain than in the US, so there's no/little time advantage to microwaving.
Plus, we tend to make a brew for more than one person at a time so putting the kettle on once instead of microwaving 3 mugs separately is more convenient.
I have never heated water in microwave nor I know anyone IRL who does that... it's just super inconvenient and inefficient.
Even if I didn't have any kettle I would still use pot of water on a stove, mainly because it's way higher volume and doesn't take long to reheat later.
The only liquid I microwave is a soup, simply because it's most efficient and convenient option, but if I know I'll need 2 or more servings then I'll heat the whole pot on a stove instead. Also the microwave method is worse because it heats the bowl first and then you have to use oven gloves or some cloth to carry the bowl which is not the case if you fill the bowl from a pot.
Unless your microwave is spotlessly clean on the inside, the steam is likely to dissolve all sorts of food goo from the walls of the microwave and settle back into the water once the heat is off causing the off flavor.
American here - I grew up microwaving water but now own an electric kettle. I think a big part of it is that no one really drank tea in my family, they mostly drank coffee from a machine. So if they needed the occasional cup of hot water for tea or hot cocoa just for one person they’d just quickly microwave a mug. I have vague memories of my mom owning a stovetop kettle that she would occasionally use but it whistled and was annoying.
I now only drink tea and own a kettle because of all the reasons everyone listed including multiple cups and better precision for different types of tea. Now when I visit family and I want some tea it definitely throws me off but it’s not that bad.
A kettle can keep water contained even when it's reaching a full energetic rolling boil—for most containers you might put in a microwave, water at that kind of energetic boiling temperature would "boil over" and spill out. The steam coming out of a kettle will dissipate easily into the room, whereas steam rising from a container in a microwave will be stuck inside a small box and leave condensation around the inside of the microwave. The kettle brings water up to exactly boiling before turning itself off—with a microwave you're guessing at the necessary duration, and might either not get it fully up to temperature or overshoot and waste energy. Water heated in a microwave in a sufficiently smooth container can end up superheated, then flash boil suddenly when you disturb it or drop in something that acts as a nucleation point. Some risk of that being hazardous. On a UK power supply a kettle might run at 2000–3000 watts, with all of that energy being dumped straight into the water by a simple heating element. A microwave is probably more like 800–1000 watts (so will take much longer to heat up the water) and spends some energy on the extra complexity of generating microwaves. I can't see there being a major difference in the "quality" of the hot water itself, except to the extent that being more exactly the right temperature might make it better at extracting flavour from tea/coffee. But the kettle is a better appliance for the task.
Also, a kettle can provide multiple servings of hot water at the same time. Making tea in the UK is making tea for everyone present, it’d take forever to boil 4 separate cups of water in the microwave
And by the time you did boil the fourth cup in the microwave, the other three are tepid
I use a kettle myself, but if I did want to make tea for four in the microwave, I would either fill four cups with water and put them all in the microwave at the same time, or fill a small jug (4 cups worth) and heat that.
Yeah, the argument makes no sense. I also only use the kettle and soley use the microwave on vacation if there is no kettle. (Put a spoon or something (without sharp edges - sparks) in the water to prevent superboiling) But if I would... Why not place 4 mugs in at once? I am pretty sure almost all microwaves can handle that, lol.
Don't you have to put it on for four times longer and are now waiting 8 minutes for the water to heat?
Why would you microwave 4 separate cups one at a time. Just put them all in at once.
To be fair, microwaves have hot zones and having four cups would mean you had four unevenly heated cups. Much better to use a Pyrex measuring jug, or better yet… A kettle…
>microwaves have hot zones That's why they usually also have the spinning plate…
Up until recently I had a very old microwave with no spinning plate and it honestly has not mattered, even once
Fun fact, ants are small enough to dodge the hot zones in a microwave
Yeah, but I bet they aren't smart enough to do it. Stupid ants.
But they are. Give it a google.
If Americans could handle that, they wouldn’t be microwaving water
Hey. I'm an American with a kettle. They do exist. But then again, I'm also a tea drinker. Herbal teas mostly, but I love a good cup. If I ever visit Europe I'm looking forward to the tea.
I don't know how large your microwave is but I would absolutely burn my hand on a hot mug or knock one over, trying to get them out one by one. Just so impractical. I'm neither American nor British but I've always been thrown off by my parents heating up their water in the microwave and getting a kettle was one of my first purchases when I moved out lol.
And the best part about burning your hand on the hot mug is you get to drink the Luke warm water from it
Fill up a large Pyrex measuring cup. You don't have to microwave 4 separate cups of water.
Your username both disgusts and intrigues me
Why not boil all 4 at once? Larger container?
What? Boil water in pot/sauce pan, drop in 4 or so tea bags when boil, stir in sugar. Then double sugar. Keep stirring, double again. Serve /S just in case lmao
Thank you for the /S. That made me irrationally uneasy!
Wait! Are you suggesting that a specialised tool might do a more efficient job than a generic tool?
My nan nearly killed my aunt by serving her microwaved tea that got superheated
Mythbusters did a great episode on this and when a sugar cube was dropped into a microwaved, super heated cup of water it did indeed explode up a molten mess of fury nightmare fuel. Kettle turns itself off when its boiled, just about the fastest and most efficient way to get the exact same temperature every time.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1\_OXM4mr\_i0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_OXM4mr_i0) When I was in the US I did once have some superheated microwave water 'explode' when I put a teabag in. I guess it must have been unusually pure water plus a smooth cup to prevent bubbles from forming.
>On a UK power supply Theres a guy on youtube whose name escapes me but is recommended to me every so often that did a video an this exact subject. The biggest takeaway was the difference in power supplies and the length of time a kettle would take to boil in the US vs UK.
https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c?si=PfpIqJdNq_fhtRpj I love this guy and this video in particular is awesome. Technology Connections
Thats him! :)
Yeah this is a big factor. US electricity is so weak, about half the voltage as is used in the UK and European mainland.
Technology Connections.
That flash boil thing happened to me and it’s not pleasant
It happened to my aunt but it was as an egg instead of water. She needed skin grafts and everything.
It happened to me with milk. I didn't expect it to be that violent.
oh wow, wasn't expecting this! thank you for teaching me something new today
Important thing I'd like to add: Heating water in the microwave means your entire cup gets hot too. So the handle might be too hot to hold (or handle, lol). While pouring hot water in cup means that, while it does heat up, the handle typically doesn't, by design.
Way better than my answer..." because it is better"
There is a taste component that I can't describe well. The microwaved water makes whatever it is taste flat. I spent one winter complaining about microwaved water (good-natured). My family got tired of it, and they began fixing my hot chocolate/tea. Sometimes, they used the microwave, sometimes the stove. I could tell which every time. They even tried microwaving water that had been boiled on the stove and boiling water on the stove that had been microwaved. (They both taste microwaved) There's no real reason to taste different, but it does.
I'd guess any difference you're detecting is a difference of what container it was boiled in imparting some amount of flavors.
So boil in the kettle in the microwave?
Obviously.
Heating releases dissolved gasses. Containers might influence taste. Additives used to treat water might behave differently with different heating methods. Tea and coffee are temperature sensitive. Tea requires fresh boiling water (not reboiled) in a pre-warmed pot for best results. Coffee goes bitter above 90-something degrees (adding milk or a dash of cold water first can make freeze dried instant taste better). Steam extracted coffee is very hot but maybe it works because the exposure to the extra heat is brief? Quality of water supply is very significant. The difference in tea quality using same ingredients between cities is really noticeable (rain catchment, river, bore, water hardness, etc). I suspect my grandmother's teapot had some magic as well due to decades of tannin buildup inside it (thick black layer).
Lol. Grandma's secret 60 year old recipe!
It does taste different. My grandma would boil water in the microwave for tea and I stopped having tea at her house. It was even worse when she would put the teabag in the cup in the microwave
Okay. Microwaving the tea bag is just psychopath behavior
Good answer, but one more point - a kettle heats from the bottom, making a lovely convection surface the water will 'rotate' round, hot rising, cold falling, thereby speeding up the entire process. A microwave is heating 'all at once' but actually the top is likely to get hot before the bottom, so there's no convection to heat the water at the bottom properly.
Outstanding comment.
The kettle boils from the bottom thus aerating the water because the steam stirs the water while a microwave it’s heated evenly throughout meaning no aeration
This guy waters
A modern electric kettle is just a purpose-designed device that has advantages over any other non-specialized way of heating water. Sometimes I can unscrew a screw with a key, but a screwdriver is going to do it better.
Another analogy that comes to mind is when you put bread on a dry pan with a low flame to make toasts on the stove. It does the intended purpose but there's a lot more efficient ways.
I have no toaster in my apartment and electronics are expensive here. I’ve been making toast on a dry pan for 6 months and it’s actually not so bad. Would still prefer a toaster though.
Would the bread not go off after being on a pan for 6 months?
The heat prevents bacterial and and fungal growth. It's actually a pretty ingenious setup if you know that you will likely want hot toast within the next six months, but you're not exactly sure just when that craving will hit. This method ensures instant satisfaction at any time. Pretty big-brained move, IMO
I can't wait 6 months for toast.
You kids and your constant need for instant gratification
Probably change their mind 3 months in... no commitment anymore!
Exactly, good things are worth time.
Or on the marketing slogans I was raised on “Good things come to those who wait”
You just have to be well organised. Get your New Year’s Eve breakfast started today. New Year’s Day toast starts tomorrow. Buy 182 pans and hobs. It’s really not that hard if you plan it in advance
>I have no toaster in my apartment and electronics are expensive here My dude... i can buy you a cheap toaster for like $10 here... where do you live?
Sounds costly
Best comment, a kettle you fill up with water press a button and it’ll heat to boiling point. A microwave you fill up a cup/jug place it in the microwave set a random time you think will be best then wait for it to cool or touch the piping hot cup/jug handle - a few extra steps with a worse outcome.
Great analogy!
I think the question was about what about what those advantages are.
Oh really? What advantages?
An electric water kettle is made to stop at 100 degrees celsius (boiling water), or less if you have a water kettle that's able to do so. It's simply safer and easier to use.
And in the US our electricity doesn’t allow they to work fast enough but our plugs are safer. The analogy doesn’t fly when you know about the voltage.
Yup, it's faster, easier and purpose made. The end product is still hot water, but getting there is better with a kettle than basically any other method.
I always thought boiling water in a microwave was a bit of a joke. Do people really do it?
Yeah they do
As an American I’ve never seen it happen. Only heard about it on Reddit. We have electric kettles too…
I am a gross human. I microwave a cup of water every morning. Then I make my instant coffee. I’ve love it
I do at work, but the break rooms don’t have stovetops so it’s easier to just heat up water in a microwave and pour it over my tea in a mug. I have a whole routine for it and preferred microwave so I know what times get me which temperatures. o7
Yeah this sounds insane to me.
What is insane about boiling water in the microwave? Boiling water in the oven, maybe. But what is the hang up with the microwave?
A microwave doesn’t turn itself off when the water gets to 100°c.
It’s not Britain vs the US. It’s: the entire world uses kettles, the US for some reason refuses to use kettles.
American here. I use an electric kettle to make coffee every morning. (pour-over method)
Nope this guy said America's are against kettles so you gotta throw it out.
Dammit. Guess I gotta start heating my water in the microwave like a filthy casual. *sigh*
As an American abroad, I’ve been converted. Kettles 100%. Also, most of this discussion is around tea which Americans don’t take seriously as a beverages. No one in America is making coffee by microwaving water first.
Suddenly when you guys put a fuck ton of sugar in tea and make it cold you love the shit.
That is strictly a southern US thing. Most of the US isn't about sweet tea and it doesn't even exist outside of a few states
Sweet tea is different than just iced tea and it’s a southern variety. Correctly made iced tea with just a little sugar, not too strong or weak, is excellent. I’m a lifelong fan of Earl Grey, but also love espresso, americanos, etc.
Very few lol. But I know 2
How do Americans make coffee at home? Presumably they need boiling water for that, too? If I can’t be arsed with the espresso machine I (New Zealand) boil the kettle for either instant coffee or plunger (maybe what’s called “French press” over there?) coffee.
Most Americans who drink coffee at home have a drip coffee maker. Those either brew a pot of coffee or they could be a Keurig or Nespresso machine that brews individual cups.
I absolutely use an electric kettle 100% of the time.
Of course Americans use kettles. Look in any American store that sells kitchenware and you will see a selection of kettles. Just not every one of us does . Many use kettles of some sort. I do. Some use the hot water function of the coffee maker. Some do use the microwave. There is just no consensus.
120v power supplies is the reason. North American kettles are slow.
That's probably part of the reason, but the US isn't the only country with 120 V supplies. Other countries have 120 V supplies but still use kettles.
Most Canadian homes have a kettle. It's tea, not the voltage. Americans just don't drink a lot of tea.
Use the hob then instead of microwave you maniacs lol
I'm in 230V land, but my kettle 'only' has 1400W, something that would be doable in the USA without problems. I got this one so I can run it at the same time as the toaster.
Kettles are extremely common in the US. It’s some sort of weird reddit myth that they aren’t.
I'm Australian, and I have never in my life even heard of someone using a microwave instead of a kettle, I'm 42 years old
I’m not British but an electric kettle is the best way to heat water. It’s fast, no guessing, you can heat multiple cups worth. Some people claim microwaved water tastes ick. I’m not that subtle. I’m guessing you might get aromas from food cooked in there perhaps.
I have a whistling kettle. It works like an electric kettle on an induction hob with the added benefit of an ear piercing screech when the water boils
Wtf who uses a microwave to boil water lmao is this another weird American thing?
yes
People who don’t have a kettle and want just a single cup
And don't have the counter space for a kettle.
American here. I use a teapot on a stove. I don't own an electric kettle. My SO uses an electric teapot. I'm guessing the people that use a microwave don't have patience to heat water in a teapot or kettle and the microwave takes about 80 seconds. I imagine somebody at work that wants a cup of tea but their breakroom does not have a kettle would need to microwave their water.
You should never microwave water to boil it. It can superheat and explode, it's really dangerous. If you microwave water you should put in a wooden stick or spoon inside the glass as well so that bubbles can form and so it won't superheat. Alternatively put in salt or something else. The water should not be pure/distilled because then bubbles can't form. Even regular tap water has a (low) chance of superheating. I'm surprised this isn't common knowledge.
Well up until purifiers it wouldn’t need to be because who the hell is boiling distilled water? Maybe you are boiling water to make distilled water but what purpose would anyone in a home environment have for hot distilled water? I could see someone filling a container from a purifier and then trying to microwave it however because our society is overly worried about everything.
Alternatively, buy a kettle.
I have used a microwave almost daily for more than 40 years and I have never once had an issue with superheated water.
Same. These people are making wild assumptions.
God damn no wonder your entire nation is a nanny state lol 42 years of heating up water in a microwave and it has never been a problem. It's just bonkers that y'all have an issue with something so simple.
For black tea, you ideally want the water just brought to boiling or perhaps a bit lower before pouring it over the tea. It’s very difficult to do that with a microwave unless it has a temperature probe. So you risk boiling it too long (which removes some of the dissolved air). In some cases, it can be superheated, so it starts to boil over when poured.
Its even harder to get proper temps for greens or different kinds of oolongs. Even 5 celcious makes a difference and 10 might just ruin delicate greens.
I've seen (more expensive) electric kettles with a temperature setting, and it goes to that temperature with the water.
This is all true and someone who doesn't care about tea at all downvoted you
Waaaait, wait wait. What do you mean British people? This question should be the other way around. Why does Americans not use a kettle to boil water?
In my own opinion a microwave has the general reputation of being the inferior way to heat things. If something says oven cook or microwave then use the oven. Use the microwave if you're in a hurry but oven cooked will taste better if you have time. I think this stems from a childhood of eating terrible microwave meals. It's a perfectly adequate way to heat many things but my brain is trained to think to think otherwise. I'd imagine it's the same for many people who own a kettle. Microwaving water may be chemically identical to boiling it in a kettle but my brain wants me to think it's wrong.
Canadian here. Microwaving water is dumb. Electric kettle all the way.
American here with the same mindset. Something about boiling water in a microwave just feels wrong to me. Like it becomes stale or some shit lmao.
It's kinda like if someone put water in a ziploc bag and stuck it in their pants to warm it up...yeah it's warm now but I ain't drinking that
I demand my pants are to be drank.
It’s also not safe. It can become super heated (above boiling temp without actually boiling), as soon as you put something in the cup. It can spray all over the play. My brother got some bad burns from microwaved water.
Am I insane for just boiling a pot of water on the stove?
"Nurse! He's out of bed again!"
This is the future old man
They literally make kettles designed to go on stove tops, so I think that's pretty common.
Why not rephrase that question. Why do Americans everything differently to the entire rest of the world and think it's somehow smart?
Nobody thinks microwaving water is “smarter” than heating it using other methods. I use a kettle, but there is nothing wrong with using the microwave if that’s what you have access to. The final result (i.e. boiling water) is identical.
That is true.
You know the answer to that one…
Idk based on the above ground vs below ground fire hydrant post yesterday, it’s not always the case
Kettle is just easier imo, add water, press switch, walk away. Don't have to worry about figuring out the right length of time between different powered microwaves, don't need to keep an eye on it in case it overflows, kettle holds plenty of water for multiple cups and easy to pour from, the list goes on.
How many different places are you staying that you actually need to worry about this? I have just one microwave at my house.
Not just British, and because it *is*.
Vaguely interesting fact: in 1980 the [British Standards Institution](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BSI_Group&diffonly=true) wrote a British Standard for brewing tea (BS6008:1980). Then in 2003, the Royal Society of Chemistry (British scientific institution) published a press release entitled "How to make a Perfect Cup of Tea" in direct competition. The British Standard was used as the basis for the International Standard (ISO3103), but drew criticism from Ireland because the methodology omitted to mention prewarming the teapot.
Because with 230-240 volt power it's faster, it can't become superheated with a kettle, and modern kettles even allow temperature setting >Either way it's warmed up water Some Brits are very fussy about the temperature of their tea water, to the degree fussy.
Most green teas need 80ºc water. Any higher, it will burn and be overly bitter.
Indeed it’s not just British, but rather everyone except Americans. It’s just weird, plus if you’re making tea for more than one person it’s super weird.
Irish here, ideally you use the kettle to scald the teapot with boiling water then pour that water away then put the tea into the scalded teapot and pour new boiling water in from the kettle and leave it to stew. A full teapot is 4-5 cups of tea. If just making tea in a single cup, you scald the cup first, then the pouring of the water over the tea helps it to stew better.
What do you mean by scald in this context? I've never heard that term used this way.
It means to warm the pot or cup with boiling water. Water that would scald you.
You want to heat the inside of the teapot with boiling water, slosh it around the insides then empty the water. I prefer a tin teapot had it for generations it builds up a residue of thousands of pots of tea brewed that works best if it's primed before you add in fresh tea. You dont want any other reactions from a sudden change in temperature affecting the tea stewing process People do the same with ceramic teapots too. The kettle is used because there is a lot of pouring of boiling water to be done.
Oh that makes sense, I had no idea there was a term for that. Thank you for the explanation!
Kettles only heat to 100 degrees. Microwaves run the risk of superheating water without boiling it. Generally, microwaves are not recommended for safety reasons. [super heated water](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JOxuS0SBHc) For most hot water requirements anything above 85°C is more than adequate. In terms of taste, I find microwaved water to taste more flat. I found this link when looking for evidence of my prejudice. [microwave makes flat water](https://www.cookist.com/why-you-should-never-boil-water-inside-of-a-microwave/)
The water should not be pure/distilled when microwaving it, because then bubbles can't form and that's when superheating occurs. Even regular tap water has a (low) chance of superheating. If you microwave water you should put in a wooden stick or spoon inside the glass as well, alternatively put in salt, so that bubbles can form and so it won't superheat.
I'm in the USA and I strongly prefer kettle or even a pot to microwaved water
Some RIDICULOUS arguments for and against kettle/microwave use here 🙄. Just do it like normal people and suspend the kettle over your coal fire until it boils. Really, it doesn't matter even one tiny bit how you heat up water.
It's not just British people, everybody who's not an idiot knows this
It’s not just us, it pretty much the rest of the world, America once again tries to be different by doing something in the most heinously wrong way.
It's not better, that's what it boils down to. Kettles aren't as popular in the US as they are in the UK for two reasons, the US uses 120v electric in our homes and the UK uses 240v making kettles in the UK come to the boiling point faster than kettles in the US so in the US a microwave is faster. Coffee is more popular in the US and most homes have either a drip coffee maker or a system like a Kuerig, having a second set up just for tea takes up counter space if you only have tea occasionally is cumbersome. I have never had more than one person in my home that wanted tea at any given time. I have a kettle because I use a french press for my coffee and if I used a different system I probably wouldn't have a kettle because it would only get used once every few months, not enough to warrant taking up counter space. Commentors that talk about microwave condensation are...silly. Anything you microwave will give off steam in some form, and superheating water is exceptionally rare for which you need perfect conditions. Every household is going to use what works best for them, I'm just trying to figure out why Brits are willing to die on this ridiculous hill as if they have nothing better to defend.
ITT: no one actually answering the question. not asking about which machine is more efficient at boiling water. Obviously kettle is. Move on. If you don’t make tea very often, and/or you don’t give a shit about “the perfect cup” there’s nothing different between kettle or microwaves water. It’s both hot. I own a kettle. Sometimes I microwave water to get it hot anyway. It’s great and fast when you have a small amount of water to work with. I am a human and I don’t need to live my life like I’m minmaxing efficiency in a video game.
Exactly. So many people are completely ignoring the question asked.
A kettle doesn't make your cup hot, just the water
One method just keeps the water less angry and the other one definitely pisses the water off
Wtf is wrong with you
Microwaving water is for inbred hillbillies.
Canadian here, no one asked me. I’ve used both methods and the kettle is far superior for making tea.
As an American: depending on the vessel microwaved water can have an odd taste to it and it’s often too hot to pickup the cup you just heated water in. Electric kettle is just simpler all around.
I’ve never met a soul who boils water in the microwave? We don’t drink a lot of tea over here, we have coffee makers. If I’m making oatmeal or something I’ll boil water on the stove. Seriously who boils water in the microwave??
I do also...
People microwave water??
Microwaving water isn’t safe. [here is Hank Green to explain why](https://youtube.com/shorts/XggHhU16axk?si=375HaeMnSjJkvJRP). My brother got some nasty burns on his arm and leg from microwaved water when he put his tea bag into the water. You should never microwave water.
It’s not just British people. Everywhere else in the world actually boil their water in kettles. It gets boiled fully hot in a kettle but not as hot in a microwave.
>It gets boiled fully hot in a kettle but not as hot in a microwave. This is wrong. A microwave oven is far more likely to superheat the water (i.e. above 100C) if the water is clean enough. It happened to me a couple of times. The sudden outburst to boil of superheated water when it finally gets disturbed is no joke! EDIT: A kettle has of course the ability to superheat water, but because of localised application of heat and convection currents, the water has far more chances to be disturbed and just boil.
American who doesn’t really drink tea, but electric kettle is the best & they even have models with heat selectors. I don’t buy the whole “well microwave does it just as well”. For example my mum likes microwaving scrambled eggs in the microwave, I absolutely detest them.
That’s not an analog. Scrambled eggs aren’t water. When you microwave the scrambled eggs you’re, heating up just the water in them to warm them. When you’re heating water in a microwave you’re…just heating water.
Eggs vs water is a huge difference in a microwave. You should look up how microwaves actually heat things. It screws the Maillard reaction.
One actual effect I could possibly see is that microwaves are enclosed boxes that you heat all kinds of different foods in and it might have some subtle odors in it that gets imparted into the water. Other than that yeah, unless you superheat your water, which I've never personally seen happen and I've microwave boiled water plenty for different reasons, I'm quite confident that there's no physical difference between water heated by different methods. People are just weird and the placebo effect is strong.
To make tea properly the water needs to ideally be boiling when it hits the teabag or tea - microwaves inconsistently heat water within the cup/mug and don’t allow for proper tea preparation. Also the voltage here makes kettles really quick and easy to use, unlike in USA for instance.
Covering ones ass with a loincloth i also just as effective as wearing pants. Ass is covered either way.
American here, but it can actually be dangerous to heat water in the microwave. Since it gets heated super rapidly, it can reach boiling temperatures without actually boiling. So there is a slight but real risk that when you move it or drop something in, it will all of the sudden boil over and burn you.
Wait do American actually boil water in the microwave?
Because we're traditionalists and not interested in your new fangled radiation water.
Wait, you microwave water?
All this has taught me is that Brits are exceptionally bad at using microwaves.
Are you weirdos actually out there making a brew in the microwave?! Haha
Not just British people. American here and kettle user. Kettles rule.
This is not a British thing, it is the rest of the world vs America thing.
Personally I can't boil water in the micro-wave without making a mess.
American here. There's nothing specifically wrong with water boiled in the microwave. I think it's really more about the time. If you just making a cup or two of tea I suppose of microwave would be fine, but I drink a lot of tea and I make it a gallon at a time. A kettle will make that quantity of tea much much faster than a microwave or a stove top. Just to be clear, I'm talking about an electric kettle here, not the kind that you put on the stove top.
My Italian and French housemates don’t trust the kettle and boil water in a pan. They think the limescale comes from the kettle… I’ve given up explaining water
both work but a kettle is more efficient energy wise. also not a fan of hot cups
As an American, I just use the stove with a pot of water and lid. It's just a high volume kettle, really.
I don't think the water is better I know the kettle is.
I’m American and I prefer to use a kettle for my tea. It’s easier to know when the water is ready because the kettle will whistle when it is. And from my experience, using a microwave to boil water takes way longer.
Not British, but I also don't like my cup handle to be too hot to pick up.
Not only the British people think so. Using microwave to heat water is weird as fuck.
I cant stand it when my glass of water is too hot to drink at the edges but still frozen in the middle.
With 240V outlets standard across Europe, kettles boil quicker in Britain than in the US, so there's no/little time advantage to microwaving. Plus, we tend to make a brew for more than one person at a time so putting the kettle on once instead of microwaving 3 mugs separately is more convenient.
Because it is.
I have never heated water in microwave nor I know anyone IRL who does that... it's just super inconvenient and inefficient. Even if I didn't have any kettle I would still use pot of water on a stove, mainly because it's way higher volume and doesn't take long to reheat later. The only liquid I microwave is a soup, simply because it's most efficient and convenient option, but if I know I'll need 2 or more servings then I'll heat the whole pot on a stove instead. Also the microwave method is worse because it heats the bowl first and then you have to use oven gloves or some cloth to carry the bowl which is not the case if you fill the bowl from a pot.
American here. Boiling water in a microwave seems weird to me. I use a kettle, and when I haven't had one in the past, I've used a pot on the stove.
Because you don’t want your water tasting like the Chinese food the last guy nuked in the microwave.
>water heated via microwave What?
Who tf is heating up their water (or tea) via microwave? Don't say Americans because I'm from the US and everyone I know uses a pot on a stove.
Unless your microwave is spotlessly clean on the inside, the steam is likely to dissolve all sorts of food goo from the walls of the microwave and settle back into the water once the heat is off causing the off flavor.
As an Irish person, I agree with the Brits on this one.
American here - I grew up microwaving water but now own an electric kettle. I think a big part of it is that no one really drank tea in my family, they mostly drank coffee from a machine. So if they needed the occasional cup of hot water for tea or hot cocoa just for one person they’d just quickly microwave a mug. I have vague memories of my mom owning a stovetop kettle that she would occasionally use but it whistled and was annoying. I now only drink tea and own a kettle because of all the reasons everyone listed including multiple cups and better precision for different types of tea. Now when I visit family and I want some tea it definitely throws me off but it’s not that bad.
Heated in the microwave doesn't stay hot as long as boiled in a kettle. I don't know why but it just doesn't.
KEEP CALM AND PUT THE KETTLE ON
Because it is? Electric kettles are cheap and awesome