hot water boiler you never seen before

[monkfanatic]

every chinese have one of this at home, just want to let the none chinese know about this piece of electronic equitment, once you get use to it, you can never live without it.

it's a hot water boiler, cook about1 gallon of water at one time and keep it hot 24/7, you only need to add water when it's almost empty, one push of a button, you'll have hot water for your coffee , tea , cup noodle .

i been giving this to my none chinese friend as present for years, and everybody love it, they said they can not image the life without it.

you can get it at any chinese supermarket for $40, it can go up to $100, basicely it's the same, no need to buy the expensive one. hope you guys can enjoy this as much as all the chinese

[ML8000]

That's new school techno stuff. My grandmother boiled water in a kettle in the morning and poured it into a stainless steel themo pitcher for the rest of the day. As for my Mom, she puts a cup in the mircowave when she wants hot water.

[monkfanatic]

tell your mom be careful, I saw it on tv once, they tested boiling water in microwave, the water temperature gets too high, they put a spoon in the cup, explosive in the face,it gor burned

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

The phenomenon is known as superheating. In a very smooth container (such as a mug or glass), there may not be any rough spots for the hot water to start boiling, and it just keeps getting hotter. Once you introduce something like a spoon, all of the excess energy absorbed releases instantly and the water boils very violently. The easy way around this happening is to put a small wooden spoon in the water to create a point for the water to boil.

[ML8000]

Thanks for the tip...Moms actually uses a 3-4 cup pyrex container with a lid from another pyrex product. It's rigged but it works. Being retired she doesn't sit there and wait for it to heat or jump right at it...it usually takes her a couple of minutes to remember she heated water up.

[vicki_vale]

My folks have one of these, and they use it all the time to refresh a cup of tea that's gone cold, or to jump start a pot of water destined for the stove. It has a safety lock button. Like a small tank heater, it's insulated and is about the same size as a small rice cooker.

[Scrapironchef]

I have a Zoji electric airpot I use for parties and the like. It's handy to have with a collection of teas/ hot chocolates. It doesn't use a lot of electricity due to the insulation, but the scale buildup inside can be considerable over time.

With only the wife and I we heat water in the Bodum electric kettle as needed, but I can see how this could be useful in a seeting where more people needed hot water throughout the day.

[ccbweb]

It looks like a fairly helpful appliance. We've got an orange plastic water boiler we picked up on clearance at a Crate and Barrel outlet. If you only need enough water for a cup of tea (or, in my case, instant oatmeal in the mornings...I know, I know...) it takes just a minute or two to come to a boil. The whole quart will boil in a few minutes. I guess the always on thing could be helpful...but I tend to think I'd get a Bunn at that point.

[Shazam]

My friend has one that's branded with Hello Kitty.

I consider it a total waste of electricity.

[will47]

I think it depends on what type of pot it is, and how much tea you drink. Most of them are fairly well insulated and pretty energy efficient.

[Pei]

My parents pull out the plug at night and plug it in when they get home from work. It is kind of a waste to keep it on all day, but agreed that the newer models are pretty energy efficient. Most of us leave appliances plugged in all day (TV, lamps, computers, microwaves, toaster ovens) and they're all draining small amounts of energy as well. I doubt a water heater drains much more.

It's very convenient if you're from a family that has ten people over any given weekend, and these ten people consume gallons and gallons of tea while chatting in the living room and not paying attention to a kettle on the stove.

I am perfectly fine in my small kitchen without either a microwave or a rice cooker (which always shocks people), but I would happily make room for a smaller model water heater.

[justagthing]

surpisingly, I had a friend that noticed a pretty big difference in her energy bill when she got one. not sure how well he new ones fare, but I would definitely unplug when not in use for awhile. BTW...I saw that Bodum also makes a more modern looking version.

[chowser]

They look like this:

http://www.cooking.com/products/shpro...

I've only seen zojirushi ones. It's convenient if you drink tea a lot but keep an eye out on all the cracks and crevices because hot/warm water on some parts can cause mold/mildew to grow. It doesn't stay "on" all the time. Most of the time, it works like a pump thermos but there is a "boil" button that you push if you want the water to boil. So, the water stays thermos hot but only boiling hot if you want.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Chowser and JB, I looked at the Zojirushi. The ones I'm familiar with are smaller, simpler, cheaper--more like the thermous pump pot pictured along side but with the addition of a heating element at the base. All do have shut offs after water boils.

[Jimmy Buffet]

Sam, can you point me to some on the internet? I have searched but found only one made by Zojirushi...

[monkfanatic]

if you want to buy one with cheaper price, you have to go to a chinese supermarket to buy it, you can get one at japanese market too, but it will cost you over $100 , it does the samething,some have a boil button, if you push it, it well reboil again raise the water temperature, some will will let you choose the temperature you want, it come in handy if you biol a lot of water, in southern ca and las vegas area 99 rench market all carry this, they come in different sizes and different design , and there are over 14 in southern ca alone.
there customer service number is 1800-600-8292, website is 99RANCH.COM, but I don't believe they sell on line

[will47]

Tiger and Sanyo both make them
http://www.usa.tiger-corporation.com/commodity/air_pump_jugs/index.html
http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-U-D22S-Mi...
etc. etc.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Will, yes. But for Tiger, it is the "Electric Water Heater" rather than the "Air Pump" section that is of interest to this discussion. The former have spread rapidly, taking over from the previously ubiquitous latter in more affluent parts of Asia. The Sanyo looks more complicated and expensive than is necessary.

[xena]

Sounds interesting. Will they shut themselves off if empty or do you need to pay attention?

[Jimmy Buffet]

Sort of like samovars in Russia?

[Sam Fujisaka]

Not quite: picture a big, fat thermous, slightly tapered towards the top. The outer skin is insulated and usually plastic with floral designs or the like. A heating element is at the bottom. The electric cord comes out of the base and plugs into any wall outlet. The internal vessel is stainless. The lid and a bucket type handle is at the top, as is a large button for pumping water out from a spigot near the top (rather than at the bottom by gravity as in a samovar).

[Sam Fujisaka]

Funny, I never thought about that. All over Asia people have those electric pastel-colored water heaters with the push pump big button at the top. True...ther're not found much outside of Asia. Possibly goes along with tea drinking.

[will47]

Yeah... my gf's parents use one of these.

You don't get as precise control as with a kettle, though. For tea, I use a couple of electric kettles (one a Kamjove - ~ $30-40, though the price ranges from $20-80), and a more expensive, old style one with a kind of "army surplus" look.

Some talk of both the "air pot" style water heaters and electric kettles in this (very long) thread about tea:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/360379

[will47]

ps - One feature that does matter between the cheap pots and the expensive ones is that the expensive ones tend to have a better range of temperatures.

If you brew a lot of teas that need sub-boiling temperatures, it's nice to have a pot that will do 175, 195, and 208.

[Jimmy Buffet]

Monkfanatic, can you buy online or post a reference? I have never seen one.