Use a British Challenger tank to heat your water instead

Microwave : boils water
\ Stovetop : boils water
\ Electric stovetop : boils water
\ Induction stovetop : boils water
\ Electric kettle : boils water
\ Open flame : boils water
Bri'ish "people" : pretending they have any sense of taste "mIcRoWavE wA'eR taSte difFerenT."
- Brits will scoff at microwaved water then straight up eat mushy peas at dinner.
  
  I mean we can pick at things. Americans put marshmallows in their potatoes and eat cereal that are the same shade as crayons. Asians put cheese slices in their instant noodles. Italians eat Prosciutto and Melon, The French eat Escargot and Frog. At least most of these are consider guilty pleasures or 3am grub rather than cuisine.
  
  Americans always shit on British food then come over and remark at how great it is.
  Americans try to substitute good food with size, sugar and oil.
- Is this some kind of beans on toast thing I'm too colonies to understand?
- Yeah I will never at all understand this weird superiority complex in the way in which people boil fucking water of all things. The result is the same.
  The reason why a kettle is nice is because it boils a large quantity of water quickly. If you only want a single cup, then a microwave is a great option if you don't have or want a kettle.
- You’ve missed the way that British people actually boil water though, thus missing the true reason that we’re superior.
  
  We get it, you boil water with your anus.
- In our defence (spelt correctly) all of the above are acceptable, except the microwave. Reasons being that a) the microwave doesn't boil it evenly, and you get pockets of mega heated water that bubble up and splash up in the microwave, then drip off the manky ceiling of the microwave and into your cup. B) microwaves stink. I don't know anyone that uses one for anything other than popcorn or melting butter. But if you're using it to cook as well.... 🤢
  
  Clean out your fuckin microwaves.
  Convection currents stir the water automatically, heating it unevenly doesn't matter. A stovetop also heats water unevenly.
  Stop microwaving fucking fish you dirty bastards. I will punt any mf who microwaves fish into the fuckin Gehenna.
  
  You gotta clean the microwave regularly like anything else. There are reasons why I would probably use my stove top over my microwave to boil water (though I do use a microwave to make tea when I just want a single serving), but your points about water splashing up everywhere and dripping down off of disgusting interior surfaces of the microwave sound a lot like operator error.
  
  Yeeeeah, that's not how microwaved water works. If there IS any temperature differential, the movement of the water quickly evens it out. By the time you're dropping your tea in, it's even.
  As far as microwaves being stinky, that's a you thing, bud. My microwave smells fine.
  
  Really the only danger in using a microwave to boil water is superheating if there are no nucleation sites in the mug.
  Which is why it's important to put the teabag in the water before microwaving it.

Bri'ish people: Conquer half of the world in the name of spices
Also Bri'ish people: Refuse to season food
- Aye, we season our world-class curries with newspaper and high fructose corn syrup aye
  
  "our" curries
  Damn, the empire mindset alive and well lmao
- Don't get high on your own supply
- I'd never dare make a joke like this, not because it's mean or whatever, but because I wouldn't want to show off how little I know about the world.

This isn’t true, Americans make tea by boiling a stovetop kettle pouring that into a pitcher with 5 teabags adding 1-3 cups of sugar after about 3 minutes and then filling that pitcher to the top with hot tap water. And then pouring that over ice after about 5 minutes
- 🤣
- Ever made sun tea? Kinda granola and time consuming but it's yummy.
  
  Nah not granola imo. I always thought it was poverty tea, use the sun don't run up the electric bill

Americans who drink tea generally use a stovetop kettle. Sometimes they use an electric one. But what does it matter how the water gets hot, if the water's hot? Microwave radiation doesn't leave a taste in water or something
- Boiling it with some kind of kettle can make minerals drop out of solution, but I really doubt it would make a significant taste difference unless the kettle is attached to copper piping leading to a catch basin (aka a still).
  
  What if it turns out that Bri'ish people just use pure lead kettles.
- I have been drinking a lot of tea because I had a persistent cough. I use the microwave because it's faster than boiling my kettle.

No we don’t. We don’t drink tea at all
- You kid, but I really do find this stereotype of Americans fascinating in it's persistence. Every supermarket I've been to in America during the last decade has a tea section that is double the size of the coffee section next to it. These stores wouldn't be stocking like that if Americans weren't buying a ton of tea, but yet the idea of America being a tea desert continues.
  
  it's not that they don't drink tea, it's that they drink it wrong
  
  The difference in coffee varieties is a lot more nuanced than tea flavors so it makes more sense for tea to have more space even if it isn't drunken as much. It depends a lot on what part of the country you're in too.
  People who drink a lot of tea just have kettles though... I don't know where myth that US kettles are slow came from.
- "Tea is for the sea not for me"

Electric kettles have been available at every American ~~supermarket~~ superstore for literal decades.
Yes they aren't ubiquitous here in the way they are in the UK and elsewhere, but they're absolutely not a rarity at all.
Sincerely, somebody who has been using an electric kettle for almost two decades.
edit: wrong word. I meant places like Walmart, not places like Safeway.
- 🎵 Oh oh oh, Omega Mart.
  \ You Have No Id-ea What's In-Store For Yoouuu🎶
  
  You just reminded me I'm out of Gestating Mammal Liquid.
- I never once saw an electric kettle until I was an adult. Then again, I'm from Idaho.
  
  But how do you boik your potatoes?
- Curious if you have any insight as to why Americans in movies always boil water on the stove top? Australian here and we use electric Kettles. I assumed it was a 120 vs 240V thing.
  
  Again, ubiquity. Especially since the vast majority of Americans who make coffee at home do so in drip coffee machines, there just isn't a lot the typical American is needs to heat up hot water for, so to most people an electric kettle is a non-mandatory item. Even most American tea drinkers honestly aren't daily tea drinkers (myself included), so for many the benefit of having extra counter space beats out the benefit of having convenient hot water, and a stovetop kettle can most easily be put away in the back of a cabinet somewhere.
- The people that don't have kettles don't drink tea. Pretty much everyone I know who drinks plenty of tea have kettles, and everyone knows that they're an option.
  
  Well considered it was only 5 days ago that I made this comment, you successfully clocked me as a tea drinker and you might be on to something with your theory.

Lol, no we don't. We just don't drink tea. Unless you're in the south n it's more sugar water than tea.
- Southerners are actually 2/3 hummingbird

I have an electric kettle and actually go out of my way to get good tea thank you.

I have an electric kettle, AND I season my food, lol

I’m British and was shocked to learn that other countries don’t even have 3000W electric kettles.
- Just put the kettle on top of your Intel laptop...
- Our typical US 120V household outlets can't pull that much power. Most electric kettles here draw about 1.5 kW.
  Could run a 240V circuit (or tap into the oven/range 240V circuit I suppose) and use an imported UK kettle. I've heard of people here actually doing this, but I can live with the slower boil times 😄
  
  Just make a kettle with two plugs.

240V Masterrace
- It actually doesn’t make that big of difference. It is more likely Americans don’t have kettles because we drink more coffee and have drip coffee brewers instead.
  https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c
  We use a kettle here in the states and it’s just fine. But it’s mostly used for French press coffee.
  
  Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  https://piped.video/_yMMTVVJI4c
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

I use a kettle at home, but I’ve used a microwave at work. I don’t understand what’s remotely laughable about doing so. Boiling water is boiling water.
I’ll tell what is laughable is how America restaurants typically serve hot tea. They draw a small metal container of hot water from the spigot on the side of the coffee maker, and bring it to the table with an empty cup and a teabag. By the time the bag goes in the water, the water is far too cold to infuse properly.
- ~~Here, here~~ Hear, hear! Restaurant hot water pots blow!
  
  I think it's hear, hear

Britain, do you really want to compare appliances?
I could put most of your fridges in my fridge.
I could put the whole bayuex tapestry in my washing machine.
I don't even know if y'all can fit scrooge's Christmas bird in your ovens.
I'm kidding around but the one thing y'all definitely have is better kettles that's for damn sure.
- Are the things you listed supposed to be positives? It's so weird to me that Americans like everything to be gigantic.
  
  My parents were like that when I was a kid, always going for the heavier, bigger and uglier option.
  Taught me to value minimalism and compactness the painful way.
  
  Yes, I'd like to be able to keep a longer run of groceries on hand. I'd like to be able.to wash curtains or duvets. I'd like to be able to easily cook the main course of a popular holiday.
  I have a 20 minute drive to a grocery that has everything I need, so I want to do it less frequently. I use my duvet every night so it needs to be cleaned weekly.
  Appliances are to do things. I want to do more things more easily.
  Fridges store food. I don't want my appetite to dictate the size of my fridge, but the freshness of vegetables and such.
  Washing machines wash things. I want to be able to wash all the things I regularly use without any loss of performance.
  You can't tell me, that all things being equal, you'd prefer a smaller washer. Or that you want to think / guess about the available space in your fridge if you're at the store and looking at a purchase at the grocery. "Hmm I want this for a meal, but I don't think I have space for it" is not and ideal statement.
- Making better kettles is easier when your entire electric grid is optimised for it.
  Seriously, 220 volts will just always get you a faster boil than 120. It's physics.
  
  We have 240 in kitchens but don't use it for counter top stuff
- It just tells us that you're obese.
  
  No, it doesn't.
  Having a small fridge and going to the grocery very often vs having a large fridge and going less frequently tells you nothing about calories consumed.

I have a machine that keeps hot water on tap. You peasants heat your water up? I pour mine in the cup already boiling hot from the tap. Kettles are so 90s early 2000s.
- The hot water coming out of the tap isn't supposed to be boiling.
  
  See how far behind you are?
  https://www.quooker.co.uk/
- Sounds like a huge waste of electricity

Most people I know use a kettle as well as I. Hailing from Michigan!!

I use a gas stove to heat my kettle.
The microwave is only used to melt butter before I make cheesecake.

I only make tea with water from Boston Harbor.

Britties think they're better, even though the concept of science seems to escape them.
- I've alwaus been fascinated how Limeys are so adamant about how American 110v homes are inferior, but they all have an insane fear of electricity.
  
  240V 60Hz is actually the US standard, the actual output from the outlets however is different and depends on what device it's intended for. High volt outlets for high volt devices use NEMA 6-15P & 6-50P connections.
  
  Why is 110v better than 220v?

I like my electric kettle because it has temperature settings for specific tea leaves/types and it has a large volume. But if I just want to boil one cup, the microwave is a no-brainer.
- Microwave is slow
  
  I've timed it with my kettle and it's literally the same time to boil one cup.

The British sent us Beatles and Monty Python, let them have this.

Ok, Brits. Educate me. What's the benefit of a tea kettle over heating water in the mug you'll drink it out of in the microwave? (Assuming you're making one cup of tea.)
- The kettle is much faster.
- The "slight difference" is you need to clean out your fucking microwave. 🗣️
  I've made tea on gas, electric, & even mf induction stovetops, over an open flame, using an electric kettle and in a microwave.
  \ There's 0 difference. The only thing that matters is getting the water to boiling temperature, which all can.

Have an electric kettle. It's slower than kettles in the UK and Ireland as it maxes out at a lower wattage.
- Just plug it into an outlet that outputs higher voltage(you can't lol). The US household standard is actually higher than the UK(230V 50Hz) at 240V 60Hz, the output of the outlet is just dependent on what devices it's intended for. General outlets output 110-120V 60Hz, outlets intended for say an electric stovetop or dyer output 220-240V 60Hz. Too hard to access? Literally can't go wrong with these bad boys.
  Wikipedia
  Today, virtually all American homes and businesses have access to 120 and 240 V at 60 Hz. Both voltages are available on the three wires (two "hot" legs of opposite phase and one "neutral" leg).
  
  Before an American lights their house on fire, do not plug a 120V appliance into an 240V circuit using one of these adapters. If you live in North America, a 240V appliance will not use an ordinary plug, and the 120V ones that do will probably light on fire if you plug it into one of these. You need to import a 240V appliance from a different country, and then it will use the plug from that country and not an North American plug.
  Also for the non-Americans, 240V circuits in NA need 4 wires (2 hots, 1 neutral, 1 ground) instead of 3, so usually only 1-2 circuits in the entire house will be 240 and the rest are 120. If you want to install another 240V outlet, you probably need to install a completely new circuit at the breaker and run new copper wires from there to the new outlet, which is very expensive.
  Also, wires heat up according to their current. Normally the breaker at the panel can open the circuit if the current is too high, but 240V circuits are often rated for much higher currents (e.g. 50A instead of 20A), and the appliance itself will draw a lot more current than it expects if the voltage is double, which can internally overload it even if it doesn't trip the breaker. E.g. if you plug a 120V 15A kettle into a 240V 40A circuit, it will draw 30A according to Ohms Law, which will probably cause wires within to overheat and eventually light the kettle on fire without tripping the breaker.
  
  A couple of issues:
  Watts = Volts * Amps. So, if the circuit that the outlet is on is not rated for enough current, it will either trip the breaker or potentially start an electrical fire.
  A 240V outlet requires appropriately-rated wiring and breaker, not to mention the outlet itself. Generally these are only installed for ranges and dryers. Getting an extra installed for the counter isn't in the budget for most people.
  And for the 240V extension cord...really?... Is that thing rated for consistent usage at >3kW and potential water exposure? If it's not, that's just asking for a house fire.

Erm, the microwave is faster and more efficient at heating water.
- American outlet electricity, I recall, is such that it is actually some kind of weak. You guys need the microwave because your kettles aren't getting enough to eat, so they can't lift.
  There was a technology connections video of that I think...
  
  https://youtube.com/watch?v=_yMMTVVJI4c
  Here's that video btw.
  TL:DW Even in the US with its 120V electrical system the kettle is faster than gas or electric stove kettle (he didn't test microwave) but most people just don't drink tea often enough to warrant a separate appliance for it. He does go into the whole microwaving water in a follow up video here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=RpoXFk-ixZc

Could someone explain why it matters? Is microwaving water for tea akin to instant coffee or Keurig to snobby coffee drinkers? (I nuke water for tea, but when it comes to coffee I use distilled water, fresh beans, a scale and it's kinda ritualistic)
- At the end of the day, everything is just atoms moving at different wiggle rates, that's the technical term. It doesn't matter what makes them wiggle faster or slower.
- It's fairly inefficient and less convenient than a dedicated electric kettle, but no there's nothing wrong with the results. I did pick up a cheap electric kettle recently and it's nice, but doesn't get a ton of use since I don't drink that much tea.
- No, it doesn't actually matter as to the quality of the tea. Hot water is hot water. Assuming you don't just microwave til it's boiling, and instead get it to the proper temperature, there will be 0 difference.
  A lot of electric kettles have fine temperature control, so it's easier to dial in on an exact temperature. Brewing a lot of teas too hot will burn them and make them taste bitter. This is 100% a temperature thing, though, and what you use to make it hot has no impact.

I think most use a kettle on the stovetop.

wait people make tea in the microwave? gross lol
- wait people don't understand how microwaves work? dumb lol
- @Gork @Pika yeah. im always trying to avoid the microwave because things just taste better using any other way of heating.
  
  Hot water is hot water.
  
  Microwaves are good for some tasks and bad for others. They're generally fine for reheating food if you know how to use one, for example. Absolutely no difference between hot water that comes out of a microwave and any other method.

If you're british and lacking a tank, you can always use a gatling gun to heat the water instead

Americans: invent machine to boil water
Also Americans: use that machine to boil water
Rest of the world: 😱
- The cavity magnetron was invented in England by a man who was clearly a tea drinker. The Americans successfully commercialised the device some years later, no doubt by a coffee drinker.
  If you guys had more volts in the household electrics you too could use an electric kettle like we do in the UK.
  
  You mean the electric kettles that you can find at literally any fucking Walmart ever.
  The standard US household voltage is infact higher than the UK 230V 50hz at 240V 60Hz with outlets output differing depending on what devices it's intended for. Outlets intended for low volt devices are 110-120V 60Hz using NEMA 1-15P & 5-15R, Outlets intended for high volt devices are 220-240V 60Hz using a NEMA 6-15P & 6-50P connections.
  Wikipedia
  Today, virtually all American homes and businesses have access to 120 and 240 V at 60 Hz. Both voltages are available on the three wires (two "hot" legs of opposite phase and one "neutral" leg).

Truly the superior hot water

Just recently I learned about different temperatures for different teas and coffee. Now I know why my coffee was coming out burnt tasting, and why my green tea didn't taste right.
- Often burnt coffee taste is from people leaving the coffee on the hot plate for way too long.

If I have a little extra time I'll run water through the coffee maker without any grounds if that's somehow better?