Filling a hot Kettle
Is it ok to fill an electric kettle straight after it's been emptied? I heard that it does something to the element. Please help!
Best Answer
Shock cooling anything is never good, strictly speaking, but whether there is serious harm in practice will depend on many factors. Refilling a hot kettle with cold water immediately after emptying probably will not make that much of a difference to the longevity of it.
If you are excessively cautious and a bit pedantic, I would say completely emptying a hot kettle will create more problems, such as increase of scaling especially if you have hard water and iron piping or corrosion. There is far more shock cooling from the last few drops of hot water evaporating off the element. I would not worry too much about refilling straight after. If you really do care, it would be more beneficial to not drain it of hot water to the point of exposing the element out of water.
Pictures about "Filling a hot Kettle"
Should you fill a kettle with hot water?
Boiling water takes forever, so you decide to speed things up by filling the pot with scalding hot tap water instead of cold. DON'T DO IT! Why? Well, because your hot water from the tap can contain contaminants.How do you fill a kettle?
When filling the kettle, open/remove the lid to fill- don't fill via the spout. Make sure the lid is fully closed before switching on and don't open or remove the lid while the kettle is boiling. Never fill with water above the bottom of the 'MAX' marker on the kettle window.How full should you fill a kettle?
Fill your electric kettle with water. Open the hinged lid and run water into the kettle until it's at least halfway full\u2014under- or overfilling it could damage it or present a possible safety hazard. If there's a fill line indicated somewhere on your kettle, make sure the water doesn't sit higher than this point.Should you fill your kettle?
June's Top Tip is not to fill your kettle too full. Many people don't realise how much electricity kettles use and how much is wasted if you only want 2 cups of tea but you boil enough water for 4 or more!Will a Kettle Full Of Alcohol Stay On Forever?
More answers regarding filling a hot Kettle
Answer 2
Additionally, if you have limescale in your kettle (either on the element or the inside of the kettle), the cold shock may cause that to come off. Whether you want that, is up to you.
I used this with a non-electric kettle to get rid of the limescale
(put it on the heat, let it dry out and heat up, then immediately pour in water from the tap).
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