Electric Kettle » electric kettle features

Kettles, Kettles, Everywhere, And Not a Drop of Tea!

Nick — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:59:57 +0000

It’s Foodie Friday and with the weather all crisp and cool, my mind is my favorite daily drink–Tea. Not the leaves themselves, though, but the vessel in which we boil the water to make this healing, warming beverage. What is the best balance of safety, beauty (tea is a pretty drink, after all), and maintenance ?

I was sad to part with my last kettle, this all-Glass Stove Top Piece from Adagio. Watching the water slowly perk up and get a’bubbling was a simple morning joy. It was dishwasher-safe, not at all risky in terms of chemicals from either metal or plastic leaching into the water, and an all-around winner.

The problem is, after about a year and a half, it Cracked Around the “stay-cool” handle, and sometimes if I didn’t grab it just right, my pinky got too hot for my taste. And despite its dishwasher-safe status, it eventually got grimed up with stovetop spatter that was impossible to get off.

Next stop on the tea train was an ELECTRIC KETTLE, bought as much out of necessity (our Kitchen Renovation is only now near-complete…in week 13) as by a desire to keep the stovetop free and clear. Nostalgic for my old glass friend, I got a Capresso H2O Plus. It’s great in many respects–quick, quiet, and with an auto-shut-off feature.

The problem is that even after several boil-and-rinse cycles, plus a soapy wash, the thing just reeks of plastic. The tea doesn’t really smell, but come on. One must be able to trust one’s teapot, non? Good thing I kept the receipt.

I’ve spent too much of this morning looking into what my next kettle should be (this Breville Stainless-Electric Kettle looks promising….stop! Step away from the search engines!), so it’s time to turn to you, Fresh Living readers, and ask for your wisdom.

News Source: http://blog.beliefnet.com/

Niche Producers Find Hot Prospects Inside The Machine

Nick — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:35:23 +0000

IN A cramped and anonymous workshop opposite a housing estate in the Isle of Man, a handful of people supervise Hi – tech pressing machines that stamp out minuscule metal parts that form the key components of control switches for electric kettles.

The parts are produced according to a secret formula and are the sensors that recognise when water has boiled in an electric kettle and switch the device off virtually instantly.

The workshop is the nerve centre of Strix, a privately owned company that makes about two-thirds of the world’s output of control switches for electric kettles. An operation with sales last year of about £85m, Strix recently celebrated the manufacture of its billionth kettle control.

It is difficult to imagine a bigger contrast between the tranquillity of the sparsely populated island off the north- western coast of England and China’s Pearl River delta — the hub of much of the world’s manufacturing. There, in a large, modern factory on a bustling industrial park close to Guangzhou, another team of Strix workers assemble the components shipped from the Isle of Man, with other less crucial parts made in China, to make the controls.

The main reason the metal components continue to be made on the Isle of Man, even though much of the company’s production has been moved to China in the past decade, is to protect Strix’s intellectual property (IP). Strix has spent decades developing its product but fears losing its formula to Chinese competitors if this part of the production process was moved to Guangzhou.

“IP is important to us and it seems safer to keep this part of Strix’s operations in a place where we know we can control it,” says Paul Hussey, Strix CE.

Strix’s success in kettle controls — which it sells to the makers of the 60-million kettles globally produced last year, nearly all of which are produced in China — makes it a prominent member of an unusual but growing group of companies. These are makers of “embedded product enhancers” ( EPEs): devices or materials based on novel technologies, and which transform the function of the appliances they are used in.

Rather than being sold to consumers, these “enhancers” are invariably hidden from view. The only way, normally, to inspect a Strix control is to smash a kettle into pieces.

For this reason, many of the makers of the enhancing devices are “invisible champions”, little known outside their specific sectors.

News Source: www.businessday.co.za

Work Made Easier With The Electric Kettle!

Nick — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:51:52 +0000

The day since when the Electric Kettles have been introduced, it has been easier for one to boil water instantly and prepare tea or coffee. Many such electric kettles come with whistling provisions and it inform the user that the water in it is completely boiled. Hence, these have relieved one from waiting in front of the stove to keep checking how much more time is left for the water to be boiled.

This is why; the electric kettles have been able to snatch the market from the ordinary kettles.