A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a type of pot specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle'', or a small electric

kitchen appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. Appliances are divided into three ty ...

of similar shape that functions in a self-contained manner. Kettles can be heated either by placing on a

stove A stove or range is a device that burns fuel or uses electricity to generate heat inside or on top of the apparatus, to be used for general warming or cooking. It has evolved highly over time, with cast-iron and induction versions being develope ...

, or by their own internal electric

heating element A heating element converts electrical energy into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element. Unlike the Peltier effect, this process is indepen ...

in the appliance versions. As indicated by its name, the kettle was and is often used as

teaware Teaware is a broad international spectrum of equipment used in the brewing and consumption of tea. Many components make up that spectrum, and vary greatly based upon the type of tea being prepared, and the cultural setting in which it is being ...

to brew tea or prepare a

tisane Herbal teas, also known as herbal infusions and less commonly called tisanes (UK and US , US also ), are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Oftentimes herb tea, or the plain t ...

. Some very modern versions do more than just boil water, and also make the tea and keep it warm.

Etymology

The word ''kettle'' originates from Old Norse ''ketill'' "

cauldron A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot ( kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and ...

". The Old English spelling was ''cetel'' with initial ''che-'' ʃlike 'cherry', Middle English (and dialectal) was ''chetel'', both come (together with German ''Kessel'' "cauldron") ultimately from Germanic ''*katilaz'', that was borrowed from Latin ''catillus'', diminutive form of ''catinus'' "deep vessel for serving or cooking food", which in various contexts is translated as "bowl", "deep dish", or "funnel".

Stovetop kettles

A modern stovetop kettle is a metal vessel, with a flat bottom, used to heat water on a stovetop or hob. They usually have a handle on top, a spout, and a lid. Some also have a steam

whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...

that indicates when the water has reached boiling point. Kettles are typically made with stainless steel, but can also be made from copper or other metals.

Electric kettles

In countries with 200240V mains electricity, electric kettles are commonly used to boil water without the necessity of a stove top. The

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: the main 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. In modern designs, once the water has reached boiling point, the kettle automatically deactivates, preventing the water from boiling away and damaging the heating element. A more upright design, the "jug"-style electrical kettle, can be more economical to use, since even one cup of water will keep the element covered. In the United States, an electric kettle may sometimes be referred to as a ''hot pot''.

Development

Electric kettles were introduced as an alternative to stovetop kettles in the latter part of the 19th century. In 1893 the Crompton and Co. firm in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

started featuring electric kettles in their catalogue. However, these first electric kettles were quite primitive as the

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 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, 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. In 1922, Leslie Large, an engineer working at

Bulpitt & Sons Bulpitt & Sons Ltd was an electrical goods manufacturer and limited company in Birmingham, England, established as a brass founder in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century the company registered The "Swan Brand" name. In the 1920s ...

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. In 1955, the newly founded British company

Russell Hobbs Russell Hobbs is a British manufacturer of household appliances. Formed in 1952 by William Russell and Peter Hobbs, it became the primary kettle maker in the United Kingdom marketplace in the 1960s. Subjected to many corporate acquisitions thr ...

brought out its stainless steel K1 model as the first fully automatic kettle. A thermostat, heated through a pipe by the steam produced as the water comes to the boil, flexes, thereby cutting off the current. Notably as little steam is produced before boiling occurs, so the thermostat is set to activate well below 100C, and thus this simple design works well even at high altitude where the boiling point is significantly lower. The design has since been widely adopted by other manufacturers.

Whistling kettles

A whistling kettle is a kettle fitted with a device that emits an audible

when the water in the kettle starts to boil. The action of steam passing through the device causes vibration, in turn creating the sound, known in physics as a

tone hole A tone hole is an opening in the body of a wind instrument which, when alternately closed and opened, changes the pitch of the sound produced. Tone holes may serve specific purposes, such as a trill hole or register hole. A tone hole is, "in w ...

. 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 engineering

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, and A. Agarwal, his supervisor, in the journal ''Physics of Fluids'' in 2013. Harry Bramson is the inventor of the whistling tea kettle.

Automatic tea kettles

These are relatively new kinds of tea kettles. They are high tech kitchen appliances that are geared towards making tea brewing easy for everyone. They are built with the capability to intelligently make different kinds of tea without much input from the user. 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. 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.

Kettle gallery

File:Swan electric kettle, Museum of Liverpool.jpg, Bulpitt & Sons, Swan electric kettle in brass, an early electric kettle at the Museum of Liverpool File:Caydanlik.jpg, Aluminium ''çaydanlık''. A unique instrument of Turkish cuisine. File:Museu da BaronesaDSCF0130.JPG, Kettle on a portable stove at the Museu da Baronesa, Brazil File:Tea beauty in simplicity.jpg, Modest tea kettle boiling water over small bottled gas at a tea house. File:Graves kittel 1984.jpg, Michael Graves, Graves kettle, 1984, a post-modern kettle with a bird-shaped whistle on the spout File:Electric kettle phillips white.JPG, A contemporary "jug"style electric kettle made from enameled metal and plastic File:Solar kettle.jpg, Solar powered kettle File:Kkettle.jpg, A Kelly kettle, designed to efficiently use the heat of a small fire in a chamber at the base File:USKettle.jpg, Copper coated Cast Iron Stove Tea Kettle made between 1846-1860. Albany/Troy NY, USA File:Station Chai.jpg, An Indian aluminium kettle, popular in South Asia, used for making tea or boiling water File:Glass tea kettle, Kashgar.jpg, Glass tea kettle in Kashgar in 2010

Similar devices

* A

is a large kettle hung over an open fire, usually on an arc-shaped hanger called a ''bail''. In Hungary these are referred to as kettles. * A fish kettle is a long slim metal cooking vessel with a tight fitting lid to enable cooking of whole large fish such as salmon. * A grill (cooking)#Kettle, kettle grill is a dome shaped grill (cooking), grill with a rounded lid, resembling a cauldron. * A kettle drum is a kettle (cauldron) shaped drum.