Boiling the kettle

I would always fill through the spout, then pour some back out into the sink, so that the filter does its job. Otherwise the filter just keeps any impurities inside the kettle.

I would never use hot water though.

Dravokivich wrote: »

But sure he's boiling it, what's the problem?

You'd want to boil it for at least a minute. Just bringing water to the point of boiling doesn't ensure beasties are killed off!

http://www.itoen.com/preparing-tea

Always use freshly drawn, cold water to prepare tea. Purified and spring water are best because they are relatively free from pollutants and other substances that can dramatically alter tea's taste. On the other hand, it is preferable for the water to have some natural minerals content, as they may enhance the tea's flavor. For this reason, distilled water should be avoided since the lack of minerals will leave the tea tasting flat. Similarly, one should never use pre-heated water-as from the faucet, for instance. This kind of water has mostly likely been overheated, thereby losing oxygen content while picking up possibly harmful substances from the water pipes.

Dravokivich wrote: »

But sure he's boiling it, what's the problem?

It's "traditionally" known that consuming the water from the tank is not a good idea.
But things have changed in recent decades which mean that this old wisdom may not apply any more.

A house may have an uncovered cold water tank. Which means you end up with dust and animals and other crap floating in it. So drinking may not be a great idea. Modern tanks are covered, though that doesn't mean you won't find a dead rat floating in it if you're unlucky.

The issue with the hot tap specifically comes from old piping systems. Really old systems used lead piping, but even up to the early 1980's, lead solder was used to join copper piping. When you have hot water and lead pipes or lead solder, the amount of lead leaching into the water is increased. Even worse, as you continually reheat the water, the concentration of lead increases as the water evaporates.

So if you leave the immersion on and don't use the hot water much except to make tea, then the lead levels in the tank are constantly building up. Over the course of years then you're going to poison yourself.

This is unlikely to be an issue for the vast majority of people at this stage, but nevertheless the received wisdom still persists.

Malari wrote: »

You'd want to boil it for at least a minute. Just bringing water to the point of boiling doesn't ensure beasties are killed off!

Hmmm. I would be happy that the vast majority would be killed when the water is at 100 celcius for a few seconds.

At the end of the day, if such extremophiles were present, they are going to be all over your skin anyway when you shower and get in your ears/nose/mouth/eyes.

Unless you have a seriously compromised immune sys, this would not really be a reason not to use the hot water tap.

Day Lewin wrote: »

I've always understood that the reason to use cold freshly-drawn water was because of some theory that it was more oxygenated, and would make a "fresher-tasting" cuppa.
The same (well-known) cookery author goes on to claim that "twice-boiled water is only fit for washing-up"

I am no chemist so I can't contest any of these claims: (though I wonder if a "blind tasting" test would reveal any difference.)

But sure, nobody ever caught a disease from drinking tea made with boiling water, so it isn't really a question of the "beasties"
- and every dog in the street knows that tea must be made with water that is actually boiling. Any other temperature doesn't count as Tea, but merely as eyewash.

Really? See below

Temperature
Temperature is critical in making good tea. The popular conception that boiling water can be used on any kind of tea is actually incorrect. In fact, each variety of tea,
from green to black, needs to prepared at a different range of temperature. Because of its more delicate processing, green tea often needs a cooler temperature to bring out the right flavor. Conversely, black tea, which has been fully oxidized, needs much hotter water to bring out its characteristic baked sweetness

Seve OB wrote: »

Lad in work always uses hot water to fill the ketle and fills it through the spout. I've never seen anyone else ever fill a kettle with hot water, something I would never do, I'm sure it's grand, but it turns me off making a cup of tea/coffee from the same boil.

Also, why do people fill through the spout? There is a little button at the top of the kettle which pops the lid, fill her up and press the lid down, how hard is that, and you won't spill water all over the outside of the kettle. There is a filter in the spout, so when you pour it catches any little bits of debris that may have come through the water system. So to fill through the spout, you could have the bits of debris on the wrong side of the spout and they end up right in your morning cuppa!

So how do you do it?

I have a combi boiler so the mains water is heated and comes directly out of the hot tap. So the hot is just as fresh as the cold.

I would fill from the hot tap if im in a hurry as it will boil quicker.

Dont see why he would fill through the spout. Maybe his kettle at home is broken and the lid doesnt open so its just a force of habit.

Winterlong wrote: »

Why would he use hot water? Does he now know that water from the cold tap in the kitchen is freshest, direct from mains.
Water from the hot tap has been pumped to a cold water storage tank on premises and then in to the hot tank for heating and only then get to the tap.
God knows what wee things are living in that cold water storage tank.

You think the water coming off the mains is fresh?
Have you ever seen the inside of those water storage tanks that the mains comes from? I can tell you that they ain't 'wee things' living in them.:eek:

Steve F wrote: »

Because of its more delicate processing, green tea often needs a cooler temperature to bring out the right flavor. Conversely, black tea, which has been fully oxidized, needs much hotter water to bring out its characteristic baked sweetness

Green tea should be returned to the lawnmower-box that it came from.