A traditionalstainless steel kettle with a handleAn electric kettle
Akettle, sometimes called atea kettle orteakettle, is a device specialized forboiling water, commonly with alid,spout, andhandle. There are two main types: thestovetop kettle, which uses heat from ahob, and theelectric kettle, which is asmallkitchen appliance with an internalheating element.
The wordkettle originates from Old Norseketill, "cauldron". The Old English spelling wascetel with initialche- [tʃ] like 'cherry', Middle English (and dialectal) waschetel, both come (together with GermanKessel "cauldron") ultimately from Germanic*katilaz, that was borrowed from Latincatillus, diminutive form ofcatinus "deep vessel for serving or cooking food",[1] which in various contexts is translated as "bowl", "deep dish", or "funnel".
Astovetop kettle on agas burner; this type, without a lid, is filled through the spout.
A modern stovetop kettle is a metal vessel with a flat bottom used to heat water on astovetop or hob. They usually have a handle on top, a spout, and a lid. Some also have a steamwhistle that indicates when the water has reached its boiling point.
Kettles are typically made withstainless steel but can also be made from copper or other metals.
An electric kettle, with boiling water visible in its transparent water chamber
In countries with 200–240V mains electricity, electric kettles are commonly used to boil water without the necessity of a stove top. The heating element is typically fully enclosed, with a power rating of 2–3 kW. This means that the current draw for an electric kettle is up to 13A, which is a sizeable proportion of the current available for many homes: themain fuse of most homes varies between 20 and 100 amps. In countries with 120 V mains electricity, twice as much current is drawn for the same power.
Thermal Vision video of water being boiled in an electric kettle
In modern designs, once the water has reached its boiling point, the kettle automatically deactivates, preventing the water from boiling away and damaging the heating element.[2][3][4]
Electric kettles were introduced as an alternative to stovetop kettles in the latter part of the 19th century. In 1893 theCrompton and Co. firm in theUnited Kingdom started featuring electric kettles in theircatalogue. Although these kettles were quite primitive as the heating element couldn't be immersed in the water. Instead, a separate compartment underneath the water storage area in the kettle was used to house the electric heating element. The design was inefficient even relative to the conventional stove-top kettles of the time.
In 1902, the 'Archer' electric kettle made by Premier Electric Heaters inBirmingham, England, was marketed as a luxury item. It had an element sealed in the base of the kettle (not exposed to water), and was one of the first kettles with a boil-safe device.[5]
In 1922, Leslie Large, an engineer working atBulpitt & Sons of Birmingham, designed an element of wire wound around a core and sheathed in a metal tube. The element could be immersed directly into water which made the kettle much more efficient than stovetop kettles.[6][7]
In 1955, the newly founded British companyRussell Hobbs brought out its stainless steel K1 model as the first fully automatic kettle.[8] Abimetallic strip, heated through a pipe by the steam produced as the water comes to the boil, flexes, and cuts off the current. As little steam is produced before boiling occurs, the bimetallic thermostat is set to activate well below 100 °C (212 °F; 373 K), thus this design works even at higher altitudes where the boiling point is significantly lower. The design has since been widely adopted by other manufacturers.[4][3][9][10]
A whistling kettle is a kettle fitted with a device that emits an audiblewhistle when the water in the kettle starts to boil. The action ofsteam passing through the device causes vibration, in turn creating the sound, known in physics as atone hole.[11]
The exact mechanism by which this occurs was not fully understood until a paper,The Aeroacoustics of a Steam Kettle, was published by R. H. Henrywood, a fourth-year engineeringundergraduate at theUniversity of Cambridge, and A. Agarwal, his supervisor, in the journalPhysics of Fluids in 2013.[11][12]
Harry Bramson is the inventor of the whistling tea kettle.[13]
Automatic tea kettles are meant to make tea brewing easier, built with the capability to make different kinds of tea without much input from the user.[14] Once set, the automatic tea kettle brings the water to the specific temperature for preparing a given kind of tea, adds the tea to the water, and steeps the tea for the appropriate amount of time. This is because different types ofteas must be brewed at different temperatures in order to create a full, balanced flavor.[15] Often they will make a beeping sound to alert the user when the tea is ready, and maintain the temperature of the beverage after preparation.
Kelly Kettle, specialized types of kettles for outdoor use, intended to use fuel more efficiently.
Kettle corn, a sweet variety of popcorn that is typically mixed or seasoned with a light-colored refined sugar, salt, and oil. It was traditionally made in cast iron kettles, hence the name.
