Old Style Kettles (whistling hob ones)

garret1

Maybe a bit irrelevant but you can now buy a kettle that measure how much water you need to boil and saves loads of energy. Costs about £35 but saves in the long run. My biggest bug bear is OH filling the kettle to the brim and then letting it cool and reboiling it....well...maybe not my biggest bug bear.

Lillibet_2

Hi BG

I have just done half an experiment for you, you'll need to do the other half!

I have measured & boiled 2 pints of stone cold water in my kettle on my gas hob, with the gas ring turned up to it's fullest. It took 5 mins 14 seconds to reach boiling point. Obviously you'll need to allow for a difference in kettles and I don't know if some hobs produce more gas flames than others?, but if you time boiling 2 pints of cold water in your electric kettle then you should get an idea;)

As a confirmed gas kettle user, I would just warn you that keeping your kettle on the hob, where you do other cooking means that in no time it'll be greasy & dirty. You'll keep cleaning it but it'll never look spotless, so investing a lot of money in a fab retro one might be a bit of a waste. I just have a boring plain one (and the whistleing bit fell out years ago:rolleyes:). Personally I'm convinced that a gas boiled ketttle means that the water stays hot for longer though, leftover water is in a hot metal container which means it retains heat for 2nd cups, and I think that 'cos it doesn't switch off the second it reaches boiling point but goes a few seconds longer the water in your cup stays hotter for longer:D. Of course there is absoutly nothing to back this up, it's just the way my "brain" works:rotfl:.

Anyway, hope it all helps;)

Spendless

Lillibet wrote:

Hi BG

I have just done half an experiment for you, you'll need to do the other half!

I have measured & boiled 2 pints of stone cold water in my kettle on my gas hob, with the gas ring turned up to it's fullest. It took 5 mins 14 seconds to reach boiling point. Obviously you'll need to allow for a difference in kettles and I don't know if some hobs produce more gas flames than others?, but if you time boiling 2 pints of cold water in your electric kettle then you should get an idea;)

I've just tried 2 points of stone cold water in electric kettle and timed it 3 minutes 35 seconds till it reached boiling point and switched off.

MushyPeas

Hiya

I have a lovely strawberry shaped on the hob kettle that makes me smile eveytime I use it Have a look at it here:

http://thecookskitchen.com/browse_2481?PHPSESSID=61af328b9332b483ffba03700ab379a8

V. expensive, but I think it is worth it for a smile a day

Also, when the whistle broke I emailed the company and they sent me one free of charge!

My previous EX-OH wouldn't let me use it as he said it took too long, but that is if you fill it all the way up! I only use as much water as I need. Sad but true, but I decided if he would control me over the use of my kettle, he wasn't worth going out with!

Sadly, due to having one arm in bandage at the moment, I dropped it and broke the handle yesterday and then dropped the whistle behind the cooker! But it is kind of OS as both bits are removable and can be replaced...I mst drop the company an email again.

Happy kettling!

MP

Debt_Free_Chick

garret1 wrote:

:think:Yeah but leccy is more expensive than gas

But isn't the gas hob less efficient? Some of the heat is wasted and won't directly heat the water

Anyway, the OP simply wants a whistling kettle

garret1

i think I'm just trying to justify getting a hob top one myself!!

Debt_Free_Chick

garret1 wrote:

i think I'm just trying to justify getting a hob top one myself!!

sussed you :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

garret1

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

sussed you :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I am developing a kettle obsession!!!:eek:

There is a thread going in debt free wannabe where someone is advising everyone to bin electric kettles and use hob ones cos they save money. Have to look into this further so finely tune reasons for buying a lovely new retro one;)

B

kittiwoz

My parents have both an electric kettle and a copper kettle that whistles which they bought form a car boot sale. The kettle that goes on the hob takes longer to boil and it is less efficient as some of the heat from burning the gas is lost to the surrounding air. It may nonetheless be cheaper because of the lower price of gas compared to electricity.

sarah0404 wrote:

Apparently boiling an electric kettle is one of the most wasteful household appliances.

This is completely false. It is only wasteful if you boil a full kettle when you only want a cup of water. This is because it takes a lot of energy to bring water up to boiling temperature and not because electric kettles are inefficient. They are in fact extremely efficient because the heated element is in direct contact with the water so very little energy is wasted.

ocemeer

you are all bad people.... now i want a hob kettle, i've managed to shrug off the rest of the OS must haves but i think this is going
to go on and on, can remember my gran always having one and how much fun it made having a cup of tea.
A question for anyone who has one, mine will be on a rayburn, so constantly being kept warm, is it worth keeping the leccy one?