Boiling water

[kp64zl]

Hi @Elly Swanson - thanks for the tip about the primus tupike - it arrived yesterday- what a superbly made piece of kit. So much superior in construction than the Camping gaz 200s and it simmers properly.

In the spirit of this thread, here is a picture of my mode of water boiling in an old Trangia kettle.

 

[Wesel]

A pan. Kettle take lot of place.

 

[jts46]

A pan. Kettle take lot of place.

But if on EHU?

 

[kp64zl]

A pan. Kettle take lot of place.

Kettle fits in pan so space not an issue

Kettle is dedicated for boiling water and nothing else

 

[Wesel]

But if on EHU?

We are almost never on EHU.
At most 3 days without driving, and the leisure batteries do the job.

 

[chez786]

collapsible kettle when on hook up

 

[kp64zl]

But if on EHU?

Don’t use EHU - solar panels so no need.

 

[Russell&Margot]

Why do you need a kettle when a small saucepan can be used to boil water.....and also be used for other cooking. Better to have multi-purpose utensils in the van.

 

[WelshGas]

I can understand the rationale of having an electric kettle to boil water if on EHU, but what I don’t understand or get is carrying 2 kettles.
Why not just 1 kettle and an Electric Hotplate/ring for EHU. At least it could be used for other cooking pans as well.

RS Hot Plate Portable Electric Cooker - Camping | eBay

Brand new in box electric cooker <br> <br>Portable hot plate with 6 different heat settings <br> <br>UK Plug <br> <br>All brand new but will be tested before posted <br>

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Elly Swanson]

Why do you need a kettle when a small saucepan can be used to boil water.....and also be used for other cooking. Better to have multi-purpose utensils in the van.

Good point, Russell & Margot, but does your pan whistle?

 

[kp64zl]

Why do you need a kettle when a small saucepan can be used to boil water.....and also be used for other cooking. Better to have multi-purpose utensils in the van.

Good point— probably a British cultural thing rather than any logical reason.

Although there was a rather unpleasant garlic porridge incident one winter (1999 I think) when staying in a Scottish bothy and weather too miserable to go outside to wash up properly in the stream. So there was remnants of dinner in the pan.......I think it was followed by garlic coffee..... so now always have a dedicated kettle

A little luxury! Never have to wash it up and always possible to make tea

 

[Skylark2.0]

You mean Cali stove, Skylark?

Oops Yes! That would be Cali. Blooming predictive text has gone potty

 

[Elly Swanson]

Good point— probably a British cultural thing rather than any logical reason.

My logical reason: I can’t count the times I’ve forgotten a pan and let it boil dry. So a whistling kettle is great for me. If anything in our van only serves one purpose it has to have a very good reason to be there and earn it’s place. Even my kellie kettle has a whistle , but then that does serve several purposes.

 

[kp64zl]

And kettle used much more than pans ..... much more frequently make tea than anything else.

 

[Amarillo]

I can understand the rationale of having an electric kettle to boil water if on EHU, but what I don’t understand or get is carrying 2 kettles.
Why not just 1 kettle and an Electric Hotplate/ring for EHU. At least it could be used for other cooking pans as well.

RS Hot Plate Portable Electric Cooker - Camping | eBay

Brand new in box electric cooker <br> <br>Portable hot plate with 6 different heat settings <br> <br>UK Plug <br> <br>All brand new but will be tested before posted <br>

www.ebay.co.uk

Absolutely agree - but cannot convince Clare. On our last trip we took at least FOUR distinct methods for boiling water.
#1 Kettle on gas hob or cadac
#2 Saucepan on 240 volt electric hob
#3 Standard electric kettle for hookup
#4 12 Volt electric kettle


We did use the 12v kettle - one morning in a motorway aire for a single small cup of tea. It took twenty minutes to boil, and then Clare insisted on stopping at the first full service station, where she bought a cup of tea for €6.20: €3.20 for the tea and €3 for cold milk. My heart sank when I saw the name "Paul" above the service station bakery, but Clare, bless her, argued with the bakery manager and managed to extract a €3 refund for the milk.

 

[MattBW]

Apkit Brukit, faster than a kettle on the stove every time. Packs into itself including gas. I do have a small 240v kettle too which is fast on hookup but to be honest the space it takes and the amount of times it gets used, probably not worth it.

 

[tanne]

I get a real sense of satisfaction using free fuel that’s been foraged.

+ the atmosphere of a campfire ( ok, a very small one, but still, your clothes smell smokey )

 

[Elly Swanson]

+ the atmosphere of a campfire ( ok, a very small one, but still, your clothes smell smokey )

Can’t beat it.

 

[Walrus]

The base of my kettle is much thinner than any pan I would want to cook with and therefore boils much faster. I would say that is generally true of kettles.

 

[DavidofHook]

We use 800w electric on hook up and a folding kettle when on gas. Very mundane compared with some of the exotic stuff here!

 

[Quentin SF]

We put “spare” boiled water in a Thermos 1.2 litre king stainless steel flask. The water stays really hot for 24 hours and cools really slowly. Very impressive.

Yes, we use a small low-wattage kettle when on hook-up, and before we leave the site we put a kettle-full into a flask, which means that coffee during the day doesn’t involve turning the gas on. If there’s any left when we get back to the site in the evening, it goes back into the kettle.

My preference is for the wonderful green Stanley flasks, BTW... recommended.

 

[kp64zl]

We use 800w electric on hook up and a folding kettle when on gas. Very mundane compared with some of the exotic stuff here!

Why electric kettle not use the gas? seems like one extra (duplicate) thing to bring.

 

[Walrus]

Why electric kettle not use the gas? seems like one extra (duplicate) thing to bring.

I have a small electric travel kettle which I use on hook up. Saves my gas and gives me more value out of the hookup which I've paid for.

 

[DavidofHook]

Why electric kettle not use the gas? seems like one extra (duplicate) thing to bring.

It saves gas to use electricity when on hook up. In fact we use very little gas preferring electricity for cooking and for our fan heater & charging phones etc.
Also we cook outside and a 2 ring burner is quite neat, flat and fits neatly on it's side in the boot by the battery box. We think probably smaller than carrying, say a gas cooker plus gas bottle or bottles. Also probably cleaner. Just don’t put it away before it’s cold! Also it does not rattle! Can't be bothered anymore with a barbecue.

I agree it means taking two kettles but the second, gas kettle, our emergency if we can't get a hook up, is a folding one so it doesn’t take a lot of space next to the electric kettle and our 1ltre red plastic coffee pot.
Re duplication it’s best avoided but we go away for a month or more to France and sometimes Spain and so some things you need to take two of in case one breaks or won’t work where you are.
I suppose another example is water. We take 10 litres in the tank, just in case, but usually we get our water straight from the tap into the saucepan. But occasionally we do use the water in the tank but not much.

 

[DavidofHook]

To let you know the large hob on our Russel Hobs eclectic hob has just stopped working.Not good as we are in France until early July and relying on it! However a slight silver lining has occurred, I rang Russell Hobs in Manchester & they will be sending out a replacement in the next 5 days. To our house in the UK! So, good in one sense but it still leaves us to cook on the small ring whilst in France. There could be worse problems to have!