someone needs a life

[gaspode]

I was in the returns queue at the local supermarket and the woman in front of me was returning a kettle,the reason for said return"it boils too loud" .She must have noisy water or something.

[NorthernZel]

Was it one of them electric kettles where the heating thing is flat and at the very bottom (opposed to those who have a heating element just *near" the bottom)? Coz the kettles with flat heating elements can be VERY loud, I'm speaking from experience.

Though I'd never throw a complaint about that - no matter how much noise it makes, the noise only lasts a minute or so.

[EvilEmpryss]

Perhaps it was a kettle with a lid that rattles loudly when steam escapes, rather than fitting tightly and just letting steam phoosh out around it quietly?

[Daemonmonkey]

Or a kettle that whistles....

[Gawdzillers]

Maybe she has iron deposits in her water.
BIG iron deposits.

[PepperElf]

that's what i was thinking. hellooo... it's a kettle, it whistles when it's boiled enough.

[Andara Bledin]

There are some electric kettles that make a ton of noise as they boil and make no noise at all when they've finished. The one at my work is like that.

The one I have at home, however, makes almost no noise at all until just prior to being done, at which point it makes a kind of weak whistle-like noise that's easily missed.

^-.-^

[EvilEmpryss]

Okay, now I'm confused. Language barrier: I read "kettle" and picture a large pot for stews and such (hence the use of the term for "kettle drums", "kettle corn", and so forth). Clearly other people read "kettle" and think "tea kettle" which is a totally different kettle of fish.

Which one was this lady returning? If it's a tea kettle, then her complaining about it being loud definitely doesn't make sense.

[Merriweather]

Okay, now I'm confused. Language barrier: I read "kettle" and picture a large pot for stews and such (hence the use of the term for "kettle drums", "kettle corn", and so forth). Clearly other people read "kettle" and think "tea kettle" which is a totally different kettle of fish.

Which one was this lady returning? If it's a tea kettle, then her complaining about it being loud definitely doesn't make sense.

Since the poster mentioned the returns "queue", I'm guessing British, which would make me guess tea kettle, probably an electric one.

But either way, seems a ridiculous reason for return, IMHO.
A kettle boils - who cares how loudly? How loud can liquid boil for it to disburb anyone? And if it's a whistle kettle, well, don't you buy those FOR the noise, so you know when it's done?

[Shalom]

Those big silver coffee urns can make a noise like a wind whistling through a cemetery if you run them without the coffee grounds basket (e.g. if you only want hot water).

[Zaiida]

Some kettles are just really noisy. My parents old kettle was nicknamed the rocketship because it was that damn loud you could hear it outside with all the doors and windows closed. Nothing wrong with the kettle, just really loud when boiling the water.

They bought a new one recently and they are still in awe at how quiet it is.

[Barefootgirl]

In the UK, when someone says "kettle" they almost always mean an electric jug-type kettle, like this;



This is in fact the type of kettle I own (because it looks so pretty with the colour-changing feature) and it IS noisy when it boils...but its hardly unbearable. It doesn't whistle, but it heats up very quickly and it makes a sort of whooshing noise.

[PepperElf]

There are some electric kettles that make a ton of noise as they boil and make no noise at all when they've finished. The one at my work is like that.

The one I have at home, however, makes almost no noise at all until just prior to being done, at which point it makes a kind of weak whistle-like noise that's easily missed.

^-.-^

o that would suck.

my bf was boiling water in a tiny sauce pan and... well we forgot about it. came back into the kitchen some time later and I smelled something... like something was cooking. the water had completely boiled off and the pan was a shade darker on the inside.

not surprisingly we got a kettle within a week or so

[EvilEmpryss]

Barefootgirl: Oooo! Pretty! Now I want a tea kettle that puts on a light show.

Birthday coming up soon. Must show picture to Evil Overlord.......

And thank you for the clarification!

[Kogarashi]

I don't bother with a kettle. We got a coffee pot as a wedding gift, even though we don't drink coffee. I put it on the registry because my parents had one that we used for herbal tea instead, and I loved the trick. So I just put the tea bags where the coffee filter goes and get a nice huge batch of herbal tea that way, or leave out the bags completely to just heat up water for things like hot cocoa. Works wonderfully, and isn't noisy at all.

We do have a stock pot, though, that pops and rattles when it heats up. It's the weirdest thing.

o that would suck.

my bf was boiling water in a tiny sauce pan and... well we forgot about it. came back into the kitchen some time later and I smelled something... like something was cooking. the water had completely boiled off and the pan was a shade darker on the inside.

not surprisingly we got a kettle within a week or so

We've killed two small saucepans that way. One was a copper-bottom that my husband forgot, and had gotten hot enough to melt the solder holding the copper bottom to the rest of the pot. He lifted the pan off the stove and the bottom just fell off, splashing hot solder over the stove, counter, floor, and one of the pacifiers he was intending to sterilize. Luckily he didn't get himself, and all but the floor has since been taken care of.

The other was a non-stick pan I forgot while heating water for noodles, and I only remembered because our smoke detector went off. The kitchen smelled awful, and the non-stick coating was cracked all over and beginning to flake. Not trusting that one to food anymore.