How do you make a proper cuppa?
Teabag, water, milk, or teabag milk water?
Not in the microwave that’s for sure. We have been seeing a number of videos sweeping through social media recently on how to make tea in the microwave.
Now, being the proud owners of the Uccello Kettle, we wanted to get in on this debate and clear up a thing or two. At Uccello Designs, we strongly believe you should never boil water in a microwave, and here’s why:
Temperature Needed to Make Tea:
Tea needs a specific temperature, plain and simple. For black tea, you would need around 98ºC and for green tea it’s 80ºC. To get the best flavour out of the tea the water must contain oxygen. If you boil the water in the microwave this is heavily reduced.
Kettles such as ours, are designed to boil water to 100ºC and that is a fact. When using the microwave there is no way of showing the temperature of the water.
An Even Boil:
Microwaves do not heat the water evenly.
In a kettle, the element is at the bottom of the kettle. This means when the water begins to warm it rises and the cool water then falls to the bottom to give an even boil.
Microwaves don’t allow this to happen. Researchers have found microwaved water at the top of the glass/mug was around 20 degrees hotter than the water at the bottom.
Super Heating
While it may seem harmless to use the microwave when boiling water, it really is a bad idea.
Heating water in a cup/glass for too long can keep bubbles from building. This is how the hot water rises and the cool water drops for an even boil.
Therefore, the water becomes superheated and dangerous to the user, especially when the cup/glass is moved. Superheated water means that the water is past its boiling temperature even though it may not look like it.
If superheating has occurred, the smallest disturbance or movement such as picking the cup up or pouring in a spoon of coffee or sugar could result in a violent eruption with the water exploding out of the cup.
Would you or someone you know benefit from a Uccello Kettle? Talk to us today or get your very own Uccello Kettle Here.
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