That’s interesting. I always have a cup of hot chocolate before I go to bed. I wonder what the doc’s reason is?
For me, it’s because the doctors felt I wasn’t eating/drinking enough calcium so listed the things I might think about adding to my diet - that was one of them.
1 Like
Exactly. And with our very hard water, I generally end up tipping most away because it’s so choked with limescale. So a waste of water and a waste of electricity too.
Nostalgic! We had these at boarding school in the 70’s. Managed to not burn down the old hallowed halls, so I too can recommend. Just watch where you put it down when you exit it from the cup. It’s gets very hot!
Ours has a minimum of 0.25 litres. I have big cups, so that’s fine. It can also be set to 80 degrees for green tea and 90 for the cafetière. Very useful!
1 Like
800w microwave actually uses 1400-1600 watts, they only tell you the bit that hits the food.
2 Likes
Instant boil water kettle, just a cupfull if thats all you need. I am using a whistling kettle on my gas ring 1/4 of the price of electricity (UK but may have changed)
A saucepan without a lid will be waisting so heat.
Ah yes, but the saucepan has a lid. 
It boils in about 15 seconds on the induction plate.
3 Likes
If you really need a hot drink, I’d go for the induction hob. However, you will need a good quality, thick bottomed stainless steel pan, with a lid. Look for pans that have ‘304’ stainless steel … most don’t say what type of steel, but it can be very important as far as heating efficiency is concerned.
Edit. I said ‘Look for pans that have ‘304’ stainless steel’, which is actually wrong and is much less efficient than ‘432’ steel. Some induction hobs will reject 304 steel pans as mine does. I had to replace the set of pans.
Just remembered some deep green friends of ours up in the High Jura who have a bunch of solar cooking equipment. A bit slow for a cup of tea, bit you could put a kettle on in the morning and finish each mug in the microwave.
The one that I was really impressed with was a vacuum tube that sterilised all their jars of fruit and veg and passata.
to see how much power different devices use. (Recommended by Which?)
I find Le Creuset also works on induction. You just need to be a bit careful not to slide and scratch, though the quick lift when hot is a bit more of a challenge with arthritis hands 
1 Like
Cast iron works very well with induction and is almost as efficient as the best stainless steels. I have a set of cast iron casseroles and it’s great to brown off and start the cook on the hob and then transfer to the oven. My slow cooker insert also works on induction which is also great for the same reason.
Speaking of which… Le Creuset crepe pan is swift and marvellous on induction. A rather handy tool for the holiday season!
We ditched our kettle a few years back and use something similar to this - it means we can have various temps / capacity of water at the touch of a button.
2 Likes
I would probably pick a microwave if you only needed to approximately heat the liquid and not boil it first.
Exactly what I mentioned a few post back, had one for my Mum so she could have hot when she needed without needing to lift a kettle
1 Like
Try putting a piece of kitchen paper under the Le Creuset pan to avoid scratches (gas users, please ignore this).
2 Likes
Using hot water from the tap means less time and energy getting it to higher temp for a drink.
2 Likes
Depends on the source of your hot water though? in UK at least the cold kitchen tap had to be directly off the mains istr - was not true for hot tap particularly in older systems