heating water

[Alpo]

You are about to make something that requires hot water. Cuppa tea. Instant coffee. Hot chocolate. Instant oatmeal.

 

Does not matter what you are making. It requires hot water.

 

How do you heat the water?

 

Put a pan on the stove? Put a cup in the microwave? Plug in your electric kettle?

 

I have a teapot. I very seldom use it. My daughter was visiting a couple of months ago and when I walk in the kitchen she's got the teapot on a burner. I asked why, and she tells me she's making a cup of tea. I asked why she didn't just nuke the water? It would get hot faster and it burns less electricity.

 

She tells me that you cannot make tea with water heated in the microwave. You have to heat it on the stove.

 

Really?

 

So, how do YOU heat water?

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Is there electricity?
Nuke it.
Power's out?
Strike a kitchen match, turn on the burner knob, light the surface burner on the stove.

Beyond this, a propane camping stove, a folding Sterno camping stove, the ax in the garage is sharpened and there's a standing dead tree out back, and I've still a fist size flint lump of flint I can use to strike sparks from my knuckles if need be ...

Edited October 9, 2025 by Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103

[Subdeacon Joe]

Usually I'd put however much water, plus about half a cup, in a pan on the stove, or in the kettle. Seemed to take about as much time as in a microwave.  But a few months ago we finally got an electric kettle.  Those things are FAST!

[Rye Miles #13621]

Pan on the stove

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Pan on the stove

[Cypress Sun]

For iced tea, pan on the stove until boiling, toss the bag in, cover and let sit for a few hours.

 

For Swiss Miss type applications and hot water requirements less than one cup, nuke the appropriate amount of water in the microwave.

[Stump Water]

Pan on the stove.  Don't own a microwave.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

I use the stove but have used the electric kettle. May have to get one.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

Not one person said Coffee pot (drip style ) no filter or a filter that is empty?

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

4 minutes ago, PowderRiverCowboy said:

Not one person said Coffee pot (drip style ) no filter or a filter that is empty?

 

Way back when I worked for DEC, the company provided Bunn coffee makers at all the little kitchens scattered about. In each location the engineers would work out a club of sorts where some one or many would buy the essentials and many would pay for coffee, etc. at one time I ran one of those clubs, about $25 a week in business. I ordered the coffee, bought the cups. Someone else collected the cash, someone kept milk, cream, and sugar stocked, etc.

some people would remove the drip cup and sprinkler head so they could get just hot water for tea. So far all’s well. Sometimes the sprinkler head would get lost. I would replace them at $8 each, but it was a PITA to do that. One Saturday I went in and epoxied all of the sprinklers. No more problems.

 

through three buildings, there were about 40 such stations, all independently run. One time I went in to work at 4 am, all is quiet at that time, good for getting work done. I caught a security guard stealing our cash. I reported him. I was told‘I’ll give you a report by the end of the week.” It was an HR matter, no report of course, but he was gone.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

4 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Usually I'd put however much water, plus about half a cup, in a pan on the stove, or in the kettle. Seemed to take about as much time as in a microwave.  But a few months ago we finally got an electric kettle.  Those things are FAST!

My Daughter bought me one of those two years ago.  I thought I'd never use it for anything but tea and Maruchan Instant Lunches.

 

Surprise!  Now I use it at least three or four times a week for all kinds if things.  Preheating water for niblets and peas, canned soups, lots of powdered foods like Instant mashed potatoes, cocoa,  boxed rice pilaf and couscous, Jell-O, preheating water for slow cooker stews, preheating water for stain removal, etc.  

 

NOTE: It isn't good for coffee.

 

Tap cold water to boiling in about four minuets

Edited October 9, 2025 by Forty Rod SASS 3935

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I had a Russian water pot. I liked it. Problem was that it ran on Europe’s 220v. I had a transformer too and used it here. Ultimately I had to leave it all behind.

[Calamity Kris]

My Keurig machine has different cup sizes.  If I'm making cocoa or soup, I just run a 12oz brew of hot water through the machine.  Works well every time.

[SHOOTIN FOX]

Hot water dispenser next to the kitchen faucet. 

[Sarge]

Instant hot water spigot.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

4 hours ago, SHOOTIN FOX said:

Hot water dispenser next to the kitchen faucet. 

 

1 hour ago, Sarge said:

Instant hot water spigot.

How hot is it?

[Cypress Sun]

39 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

 

How hot is it?

 

They used to be known as Instahots, now I think they're called under the sink tankless water heaters. They are scalding hot depending upon the way you set the temperature. The small, under the sink type usually require a separate 20 amp, 120 volt electrical circuit with receptacle to power it. Unlike the salesman will tell you, they're not just plug in and use. I've wired many of these in bathrooms and kitchens.

[Trailrider #896]

Take a fair-sized piece of tree bark. Fill it with water. Build a small campfire, and heat until the water is boiling. At least that is how the late Louis LaMoure described one of his characters doing it. Never tried that myself. I can get water pretty hot right out of the kitchen tap. If not hot enough, boil in a pot on the top of the stove. 

[SHOOTIN FOX]

9 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

 

How hot is it?

Have not measured it, but instant grits are too hot to eat after mixing. Tea is also.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

2 minutes ago, SHOOTIN FOX said:

Have not measured it, but instant grits are too hot to eat after mixing. Tea is also.

Thanks, I often wondered about such a thing.

[Sarge]

11 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

 

How hot is it?

Hot enough to keep my wife happy with her hot tea.  

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

30 minutes ago, Sarge said:

Hot enough to keep my wife happy with her hot tea.  

happy wife, happy life.