SOT: Smeg kettle

[The Natural Philosopher]

Marketing has worked, you dont know its power, its capacity. its brand, or who makes it, just that it is red, and pretty.

Hmmm.

[Ian Jackson]

One of these stainless steel 'wire wool' things goes a very long way in keeping a kettle free of lime scale.

[mm0fmf]

Which is what I said. The Russell Hobbs of today isn't the same manufacturer of 50 years back. I was pleasantly surprised that the more expensive Far East made RH branded kettle actually lasted much longer than the cheaper supermarket brandless kettles. I thought my beloved was just paying for a brand name in the RH case and would get the same cheap product.

[Chris Hogg]

I have a RH jug-shaped kettle (not a teapot-shaped one IYSWIM). Had it for getting on for ten years, and it recently started leaking around the base of the spout where it's braised or welded into the body (drips boiling water when you pour it). Ran a little rapid Araldite around the inside where the spout projects into the body of the kettle, and all is OK and I'm looking forward to another ten years of life for both of us!

[Brian Gaff]

No I had a Swan of similar age, the leak was where the rubber foot was fixed. You actually could change the element in a Swan, most of the current kettles have a kind of flat plate element apparently glued in. A lot of people are just buying those one cup devices that allows tea to be made in a cup, but of course its not much good if you want more water. Brian

[Brian]

Some years back, we bought a Porsche kettle. It looked great in our new kitchen. It didn’t boil water any better than a cheapie we kept as a spare. Nor did it last long.

Next we bought a Bosch with some fancy features - keep warm, different temp etc. It was a s*d to descale and started to leak.

Next, a cheaper from Tesco. It is still going.

I get tempted to a Smart kettle now and then, I like my smart gizmos. But I lay down until it passes. 😊

[Scott]

I think that's an overwhelming no then. Thanks to all who commented.

[Vir Campestris]

Dunno about Smeg, and ICBA to check what we have - which has lasted years. But the advice I was given was

Get one with a flat base inside, not an element.

They last better.

Andy

[Pamela]

I believe the Dualit toaster uses a mechanical timer but what do ordinary toasters use?

I mean a toaster like this:

Is there a bi-metallic strip or perhaps a small electronic timer?

I want consistent repeat toasting, even after the toaster has got hot, but is it working with a warmed up bi-metallic strip?

[Max Demian]

The advantage of the bimetallic strip timer is that, if you put a second slice of bread in soon after the first, it toasts for a shorter time as the strip (and the rest of the toaster) are still hot. I expect that most modern toasters use a 555 (or equivalent) chip so you get the the same time.

[Bob Eager]

One of the reasons we got the Dualit was because there is no common failure mode that leaves the element on, causing burning and fire. I guess if the timer jammed halfway down it could happen, but...

Pop-up toasters have a habit of jamming, whether the latch or an oversize slice of bread.

[Ian Jackson]

Jamming is made more likely by nearly all toasters having slots that are a little bit narrower than the slices of almost all off-the-shelf loaves.

[Bob Eager]

Indeed. A secondary reason for the Dualit.

[Tim Lamb]

In message <[e-mail]>, Ian Jackson [e-mail]> writes

Umm. I have a conviction that my Warburtons seeded loaf slices have become thinner without notification:-(

[Pamela]

I tried a Dualit recently and found it couldn't take normal sliced bread as the slots were too short. My Morphy Richards that I was looking to replace could take longer slices. I hadn't expected that.

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

Which set us thinking, we had a few stainless steel pan scrubs in the cupboard, so we popped one of those in the kettle, as a trial. I don't know if it's the bobbing about which helps scrape it clean, but it seems to be working.

[Joe]

Some time ago when we needed a toaster, my wife took to carrying around a cardboard cutout of a white slice, the largest bread that we use. It took a while to find a toaster that would take it in far enough to toast it. Suddenly all the toasters seemed designed for very small slices.

[Ian Jackson]

No - it works because the stainless steel 'wire wool' furs up instead of the kettle element. Every so often you have to take it out and give it a scrunching under a running tap. If you leave this too long it becomes unscrunchable, and you'll need to de-scale it (I use Kilrock).

[The Natural Philosopher]

Do you really buy SLICED BREAD???

[Tim Lamb]

Yes. Or rather my caterer does. The loaf sits in the freezer and I break off a few days supply. Re-wrapped and kept in the bread bin near the toaster it is fine for 3 days or so.

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