Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks
The stupid question is the question not asked
 
PerlMonks  

I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...

by ambrus (Abbot)
on Feb 01, 2013 at 10:42 UTC ( [id://1016511]=poll: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

Vote on this poll

Outdoor fire
[bar] 32/3%
Hearth
[bar] 10/1%
Gas stove
[bar] 156/13%
Electric stove
[bar] 87/7%
Induction stove
[bar] 16/1%
Electric kettle
[bar] 281/24%
Coffee machine
[bar] 33/3%
Microwave oven
[bar] 78/7%
Vending machine
[bar] 5/0%
Solar hot water panels
[bar] 4/0%
Oven
[bar] 2/0%
Car engine
[bar] 20/2%
Computer processor or video card
[bar] 37/3%
Lens collecting sunlight
[bar] 11/1%
Nuclear reactor
[bar] 89/8%
Geyser or natural hot water springs
[bar] 15/1%
Volcano
[bar] 72/6%
I make tea from cold water
[bar] 23/2%
I buy my tea ready to drink
[bar] 21/2%
I never drink or make tea
[bar] 111/9%
Other
[bar] 75/6%
1178 total votes
Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by ChuckularOne (Prior) on Feb 01, 2013 at 16:20 UTC
    Phaser set on minimum.
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Feb 01, 2013 at 10:56 UTC

    Boil water!

    Don't you know that anything over 95°C is an accident waiting to happen and a lawsuit you're guaranteed to lose?

    The facts that: a) tea tastes lousy made with less than boiling water; and b) 95°C water will still damage your private parts irreversibly if you insist on driving your car with a cup of it gripped betwixt your thighs; in no way absolves you from being seen to take Health & Safety seriously, by avoiding the use of boiling water in your beverages, no matter how pointless it may be.


    With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
    Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
    "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
    In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

      Clearly the only good reason to boil water is to calibrate your thermometer, allowing a more accurate measurement of 95°C.

      (This should only be attempted by correctly trained personnel wearing appropriate clothing for the handling of such hazardous materials.)

      package Cow { use Moo; has name => (is => 'lazy', default => sub { 'Mooington' }) } say Cow->new->name
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by Don Coyote (Hermit) on Feb 02, 2013 at 11:59 UTC

    A basic physics premise: A vessel containing water will not reach a higher temparature than the containing fluids until after such a time as the vessel no longer contains any contents.

    Applying the premise, a Spanish friend and myself conducted the experiment of boiling water on a gas stove. Using not a traditional metallic vessel, but in the interests of developing a cost effective alternative, we used a rapidly folded oragami prototype. Yes. Paper!

    Started well.

    Another physics premise... water is flammable?


    coyote

      Yes, water can burn, but not using oxygen as an oxidizing agent. See http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_save_you_this_time.php, noting especially the quote:

      It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.”

      Not only will water burn with ClF3, it will spontaneously burst into flame!


      Information about American English usage here and here. Floating point issues? Please read this before posting. — emc

        Yes, water can burn, but not using oxygen as an oxidizing agent.
        Going the other direction, water can also be used as the oxidizing agent, depending on what you want to burn. (Things on the left hand side of the periodic table tend to work rather well.)
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by jgamble (Pilgrim) on Feb 02, 2013 at 20:09 UTC

    I was a kettle-on-the-burner guy (it's just boiling water after all), until my sister bought me one of the fanciest electric kettles I've ever seen.

    I've become a convert. It has variable temperatures (in degrees F it has pre-set buttons for 175, 185, 195, 200, and 212, which are supposed to be the ideal brewing temperatures for green, white, oolong, french press they snuck a coffee in, and black teas). It has mL markings on both sides of the kettle for right and left handed people, and it's just all-around geek-friendly.

    Breville variable temperature kettle

    Now I'm experimenting with loose-leaf teas...

      Nice invention. Of course as soon as you pour the exact temperature water in your teapot, the temperature drops and then the water is too cold. So first heat the teapot with higher temperature water, throw that away and pour in water at the right temperature. A special tea-thermometer is an indispensable tool in your tea-lovers tool chest.

      What do you mean by "Now I'm experimenting with loose-leaf teas"? You don't mean you have been drinking tea made from these horrible tea bags, filled with dust?

      CountZero

      A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James

      My blog: Imperial Deltronics
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by pvaldes (Chaplain) on Feb 04, 2013 at 23:39 UTC

    I always use Crypt::TEA for this, so I don't really know how the tea object is boilt. It simply happens...

    (Maybe I should use Test::Boilder and do some research?...)

Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by CountZero (Bishop) on Feb 02, 2013 at 10:20 UTC
    A special tap that dispenses boiling water: Quooker. One has to take tea making very serious.

    CountZero

    A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James

    My blog: Imperial Deltronics

      As I also claimed to use :)

      The quest here is about boiling water for tea, but I also use the Quooker to pre-heat my cups (just rinse) for espresso brewed with my Jura J9 causing the coffee to stay hot longer.


      Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn
        I never drink coffee. But when my father visits me (he is a great lover of coffee), the first "cup" of coffee I make is without coffee, to clean the espresso machine and heat the system and the cup.

        Quooker is really a wonderful invention. Together with my high pressure steam oven, they are the best investments I ever made in my kitchen.

        CountZero

        A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James

        My blog: Imperial Deltronics
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by Tux (Canon) on Feb 01, 2013 at 13:26 UTC
    • Quooker. (Once you're used to one, you don't want anything else)

    Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by blue_cowdawg (Monsignor) on Feb 01, 2013 at 14:32 UTC

    Boil water for tea you say?

    For the most part I do not drink tea on a regular basis per se. I usually drink coffee (which I'm Jonesing for really bad right now.) But in the past I have under certain circumstances brewed up some tea to take the chill off. Especially back in the days when I spent a lot of time backpacking and exploring the wilds.

    Looking at the list of options I will admit to using the following at one time or another:

    • Campfire. Of course. When in the Great Outdoors&tm; this is a no-brainer. I realize some folks nowadays don't do that and use some new fangled gadget to boil water, but I'm and old school outdoorsman. Thought I haven't slept on the ground in about two decades. Getting too old for that sh*t.
    • Exhaust manifold on a {car|truck|motorcycle|Mike-8 boat}
    • Coleman camp stove
    • blow torch. (Nothing to do with being in the woods.. more of a prank)
    • and at home in a proper tea kettle:
    • electric stove
    • gas stove

    I am horribly addicted to ice tea. I would have never bought this for myself but a friend of mine gave me a Mr. Coffee™ iced tea maker. That gets fired up all the time, especially when my mint is growing, to make iced tea.

    Somehow I never developed a taste for hot tea.


    Peter L. Berghold -- Unix Professional
    Peter -at- Berghold -dot- Net; AOL IM redcowdawg Yahoo IM: blue_cowdawg
      If you're backpacking, I'd recommend a JetBoil. 2 cups of boiling water in 2 minutes, the device is light, cools down fast, it's really the way to go. I bought one in 2011, and have taken it on every other camping trip I've been on, backpacking or not. Then again, I'm a big coffee drinker, so Starbucks Via packets are nice to have in the backcountry...

      tubaandy
            If you're backpacking,

        My last backpacking trip was in 2002 with a bunch of youth from our church. My knees won't deal with backpacking any more unfortunately.


        Peter L. Berghold -- Unix Professional
        Peter -at- Berghold -dot- Net; AOL IM redcowdawg Yahoo IM: blue_cowdawg
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by RedElk (Hermit) on Feb 09, 2013 at 03:47 UTC
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by swkronenfeld (Hermit) on Feb 04, 2013 at 20:51 UTC

    I generally heat my water in the microwave. I also generally reheat it in the microwave since I've forgotten about it and it has cooled off too much.

    (Yeah, occasionally I need to re-reheat it too. Does that make me a bad person?)

      It makes you a suicidal person. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheating I've had the relays melt closed and blow the breaker on a MW oven that had distilled water used to make coffee and was forgotten and reheated which caused superheating and a explosion of steam. The mw door has 2 safety switches, the deeper one keeps the power to the magnetron on when the latch/door is closed and the latch tip sits on this switch, the 2nd switch (closer to you in the latch hole) is briefly toggled as you pull the door open, grounds the magnetron power input. Normally the deeper switch already disconnected before the shallower one is briefly toggled as the door latch is pulled out or pushed in, but because of the steam explosion the door flew open so fast the deep switch didn't lift fast enough before the shallow switch closed and the breaker blew. The shallower switch is a safety mechanism if the deeper switch was stuck and the door was opened. I had to replace a relay on its control board and did a radiation test on the mw oven and its back in service uneventfully.
        I look forward to a possibly eventful morning sometime. :)

        Seriously though, thanks for the heads up.

        You have a megawatt oven? Impressive.
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by planetscape (Chancellor) on Feb 17, 2013 at 12:09 UTC

    Self-powered dragonfire.

    planetscape
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by Anonymous Monk on Feb 01, 2013 at 10:52 UTC

    I use an Electric kettle , haven't used a stove of any kind in quite a few years

    Although the Electric kettle has gotten some disgusting mineral deposits, so I've been using the microwave until I figure out how to clean that stuff :)

      Although the Electric kettle has gotten some disgusting mineral deposits, so I've been using the microwave until I figure out how to clean that stuff :)

      Malt vinegar! (Just) Cover the element or base of the kettle with it and switch the kettle on for a few seconds until the vinegar boils; then switch it off. Leave to stand for 1/2 hour. Rinse with cold water to avoid an unpleasent (but otherwise benign) aftertaste. (Also, avoid sniffing the fumes. Again, not dangerous, but pretty eye-watering.) <p?(For really thick deposits you may need to repeat a couple of times!)

      Malt vinegar is cheap as chips and far more effective(*) than those overpriced -- and usually noxious kettle cleaning products you find on the market.

      (*Calcium carbonate (chalk) readily dissolves in Acetic acid.)


      With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
      Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
      "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
      In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

        Any reason for malt vinegar instead of white vinegar? We use white vinegar for that sort of thing, and for many other cleaning uses.

        Also found a recipe for making pancakes that included how to 'fake' buttermilk...something like a teaspoon (or tablespoon?) of vinegar in milk, then let it sit a few minutes.

        I have also used citric acid several times. It can be bought here for cheap (I am not sure what its original purpose is) and its aftertaste is much less noxious.
        لսႽ† ᥲᥒ⚪⟊Ⴙᘓᖇ Ꮅᘓᖇ⎱ Ⴙᥲ𝇋ƙᘓᖇ
        White vinegar! Save your malt for the chips.

      Clean with white vinegar

      $3.25 USD per gallon for store brand.

      James

      There's never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over...

      Vinegar, likely (definitely, if the residue is chiefly lime). Ordinary white vinegar can be diluted w/H20 as much as 1:1. Simply run thru a boil and (mostly) cool cycle; discard remaining liquid; rinse, repeat (if necessary).
      Cream of Tartar dissolved in water, boiled, rinsed a few times cleans them up fine.
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by cavac (Parson) on Feb 04, 2013 at 14:04 UTC

    I don't boil water myself... i have a specialized tea machine that that does all this tedious boiling, stopwatching the brew time and so on for me. It's called a Caso 1800 Tea Gourmet.

    "I know what i'm doing! Look, what could possibly go wrong? All i have to pull this lever like so, and then press this button here like ArghhhhhaaAaAAAaaagraaaAAaa!!!"
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by thezip (Vicar) on Feb 12, 2013 at 00:11 UTC

    I was always so proud just to have 'tea' and 'no tea' simultaneously...


    What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof. - Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by smls (Friar) on Feb 15, 2013 at 13:42 UTC

    Boil water? There is only one proper way to do it:

    In an Erlenmeyer flask over a Bunsen burner!

Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by Anonymous Monk on Feb 04, 2013 at 05:58 UTC
    I have always believed in adventure and hence i boil water using volcano
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by swampyankee (Parson) on Feb 18, 2013 at 04:14 UTC

    My immediate method is a teapot on an electric cooktop. But, since I live in Connecticut, about 60% of my electricity comes from nuclear power, and the rest from a mix of hydroelectric (from HydroQuebec), methane and coal (icky) fired steam plants, my tea is heated, mostly, by nuclear fission.


    Information about American English usage here and here. Floating point issues? Please read this before posting. — emc

Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by cpaplham (Initiate) on Feb 24, 2013 at 17:39 UTC
    I use the video card in my tower not only to heat water, but as an alternative to a slow cooker. It's water cooled (no pun intended), but it still often goes above 200 degrees F if I'm playing a graphically intensive game, like Skyrim, at max settings.
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by punch_card_don (Curate) on Feb 27, 2013 at 22:34 UTC
    I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...

    ...vacuum chamber. It boils real good, but darned if it never heats up!




    Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by Plankton (Vicar) on Feb 13, 2013 at 06:13 UTC
    You mean your suppose to boil the water?

View List Of Past Polls


Log In?
Username:
Password:

What's my password?
Create A New User
Domain Nodelet?
Chatterbox?
and the web crawler heard nothing...

How do I use this?Last hourOther CB clients
Other Users?
Others scrutinizing the Monastery: (3)
As of 2024-03-19 04:59 GMT
Sections?
Information?
Find Nodes?
Leftovers?
    Voting Booth?

    No recent polls found