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Water kettle thermostats are slow (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/tea@feddit.uk
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Got a new water kettle that has different temp selections for different teas. If you select a less than boiling temp, it’s smart enough to stop heating early, wait for the termometer to catch up, then give another burst of heat to reach the target. Fair enough.

OTOH, if you boil water, it does not bother to stop and read. Perhaps prioritizing speed over energy waste. When the water is bubbling like crazy, it’s clearly boiling at which point the thermometer shows 90°C. So it keeps heating to 100°C. Are thermostats generally that slow and far off? Or is my kettle’s thermometer particularly slow?

Low tech electric kettles which only boil the water have no thermometer AFAICT. Is it steam that triggers the off switch? Would that be faster than a thermometer that is 10° behind?

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[–] 5 points 1 month ago

Most now use a different method. The thermal cutoff has problems when the air pressure is lower than expected. It can get to a rolling boil, but never turn off.

Most now use the presence of steam coming off the liquid. This means it gets to a boil, no matter what temperature that actually is. I've seen a demo where they put alcohol in, and it worked fine, despite boiling at only 78°C.

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