While waiting for the errant broccoli to cook itself last night, I realized I could continue amusing myself by taking a picture of the tea kettle. This was not sheer selfishness, of course, but rather an act of selflessness in order that you, dear reader, could see a picture of a real Australian tea kettle. The Australians think these are exceedingly normal devices, though very few American households have them. They're ingenious, though, and can also quite handily be used for boiling water quickly to cook with.As a side note, you might like to notice the outlet: there is a switch on it. You can actually turn the electricity on and off at the wall in Australia. I assume this is a safety feature of some sort, though really it has resulted in little besides frustration for me as I leave my phone doing what I think is charging but what really amounts to absolutely nothing as the switch has not been, for lack of a better word, switched.
5 comments:
How do these compare to the tea kettles of England? And what is the difference between them and American hot pots?
How do you make tea in Ohio?
To make tea in Ohio, there are three options. 1)Put water in a cup and microwave it until it is hot. Add tea bag. Steep. 2)Put water in a tea kettle. Heat to boiling. Pour into cup. Add tea bag. Steep. 3)Put water into a hot pot. Heat till boiling. Pour into cup. Add tea bag. Steep.
I might add that a slightly more effective method of option 1 is putting the teabag in the cup before it is microwaved, and that the "tea kettle" in number 2 is of the stove top variety, not at all electric. The hot pot is the most similar the Australian tea kettle, though usually plastic, a different shape and only found in college dorms, as opposed to every kitchen.
I have a stove-top kettle. My electric kettle died and, since I currently live in a place with a gas stove and I grew up with a whistling kettle and a gas stove, this is the type with which I replaced it.
I think it takes longer to boil but since it whistles, I'm more likely to pay attention when it boils and actually make my cup of tea, rather than put on the kettle and forget it until an hour or so later because I've become distracted.
And yes, the switches are a safety device - if one remembers to turn them off - less chance of a small person sticking a metal object in the socket and being electrocuted.
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