Considering a countertop HOT-water dispenser.

[boomchakabowwow]

California winter is coming. it's mild compared to say....Michigan winters. but what can I say? we are wimps. My wife pretty much walks around the house full time carrying a cup of hot tea or even just a mug of hot water. our electric kettle is in use almost full time.

we are thinking of one of these: a water dispenser for hot water. you all use these? my MIL had one and she loved it.

 

[Edge]

I have one that I recently purchased. I like having it. I use it for hot drinks and then things like quick oatmeal or dried soups when I want a quick snack. (I know, not real food like here, but it works from time to time.).

 

[refcast]

I have that one and I use it frequently, it totally works

If you're super obsessive and totally can't stand any plastic taste, then a metal kettle on an electric plate can work too. Cast iron or stainless, up to you. The plastic taste is subtle though, and the alternative is a slight metal taste, haha

 

[Rangen]

I have that exact one, and it's wonderful. Great to have water handy for coffee or tea or cooking. I don't get plastic taste; it appears to be metal with a non-stick coating inside, so I'm not sure where that would come from.

 

[MowgFace]

I have a built in one to my kitchen sink, and it is a game changer.

My lady wants Hot Tea? 30 seconds. Preheating a soup bowl? No problem. Very convenient, and prior to having it i used to boil water very seldom, but now its much more convenient.

 

[ptolemy]

I use one all the time as well. Lid hatch on mine finally broke after 10 years

 

[Rangen]

One subtlety you may come to enjoy as much as I do: The Zojirushi supports multiple hold temperatures, which becomes very interesting if you get serious about tea:

Black/Red tea: 205
Oolong: 195
Green tea: 175

It's even interesting for coffee, because, while I usually use 195, some coffees (Yemen, specifically) like 205 water a little better.

 

[Choppin]

Stupid question but how is this different than using an electric kettle? I'm asking because I have one of the latter and use it all the time - tea, coffee, oatmeal, keeping hot water when I'm cooking in case I need some to fill the pan...

I can see it holds much more volume than my kettle (1.5 liters)... does it heat faster?

 

[parbaked]

Stupid question but how is this different than using an electric kettle?

It is designed to heat and hold water at a set temperature while most electric kettles just boil water.

 

[Choppin]

It is designed to heat and hold water at a set temperature while most electric kettles just boil water.

Got it. My kettle does the same (Fellow Stagg EKG), with temperature control. But the small capacity makes it less practical as I have to refill it a couple of times a day.

 

[MarcelNL]

I have one of those for coffee and tea etc... Works like a charm, highly recommended for coffee, it keeps water at a very precise temperature (just ine temp) and it has a 5 Liter boiler.

BTW, with just on temperature (or boiling) water it is fairly easy to reach standard predermined temps pretty exactly by simply pouring the water in another cup, or two or three...the final result is very consistent when using the same cups.

 

[sansho]

Got it. My kettle does the same (Fellow Stagg EKG), with temperature control. But the small capacity makes it less practical as I have to refill it a couple of times a day.

no

this is an insulated dispenser that is designed to keep the water hot and ready to go all day. your stagg isn't really for that.
sometimes they have timers too so you can have it automatically turn on in the morning.

different product type. kettle vs dispenser.

 

[Justinv]

I also have a stagg and find it perfectly convenient. It takes about 2 minutes to boil water, but it takes just about that long to grind coffee or find tea and get your gear ready. Is it really that big deal to wait 2 minutes? It seems we are too impatient.

 

[sansho]

it's not just about waiting, lol. many other considerations.

• a dispenser is clunky. and no goosneck spout. you're not going to use it for pourover coffee.
• people generally don't have water at a full boil in a dispenser.
• some people believe that water that has been sitting at high temp for an extended period of time (or reboiled) tastes flat
• a dispenser is great to have in a communal kitchen or café where people can just get hot water into a mug on demand
• i've never had a dispenser, but i think it takes kind of a long time to come up to temp if you fill it up all the way with cold water
• dispenser has a higher volume than kettle (typically 2-3x)
• some dispensers can turn on automatically at a set time

 

[blokey]

Really like it when my family had it, if you drink alot of tea and hot drink like us it is a must.

 

[Rangen]

That Stagg, which I had not heard of, looks like a really nice piece of gear. If I liked pourovers, I'd probably grab one.

 

[Justinv]

Fellows also makes a Corvo that has a standard spout and is the better general purpose kettle. I actually have both the stagg and corvo. They are great kettles for making coffee and tea. You set the temperature and it will hold it for 2 hours. Its temperature control is excellent, it will hold it within 1deg C. Its easy to switch temperatures for different types of tea or coffee.

And its all metal, no plastic at all. No funny tasting water.

 

[Rangen]

Fellows also makes a Corvo that has a standard spout and is the better general purpose kettle. I actually have both the stagg and corvo. They are great kettles for making coffee and tea. You set the temperature and it will hold it for 2 hours. Its temperature control is excellent, it will hold it within 1deg C. Its easy to switch temperatures for different types of tea or coffee.

And its all metal, no plastic at all. No funny tasting water.

A question: if I set a Stagg/Corvo to 195F, does it boil it, then let it cool to 195, only then applying heat to maintain it, as the Zojirushi does? Or does it heat to 195F and stop?

 

[Justinv]

A question: if I set a Stagg/Corvo to 195F, does it boil it, then let it cool to 195, only then applying heat to maintain it, as the Zojirushi does? Or does it heat to 195F and stop?

It heats to 195 and stops. It may overshoot by 1-2 degrees but that is it. It actually shuts off the heater before it hits 195 knowing the temperature will keep rising. It appears to me to use PID temperature control. It should stay at 194-196. I’m very impressed with the unit.

Unlike some kettles, you can set it to 100C so it will boil. I usually set it to 96C and leave it for a couple hours. I do aeropress coffee and its usually used on tea as well most days. The holding a precise temperature is good for gongfu as its ready whenever you want to brew.

 

[sansho]

i've taken the stagg ekg apart. it has the most sophisticated controller in the electric kettle market afaik.

like most kettles, it uses a relay for main heating. unlike most kettles, when it gets close to the temp setpoint, the relay clicks off, and a TRIAC (solid state controller) takes over to heat for the last few degrees.

if you have the keep warm mode on, it uses its TRIAC chip to maintain the setpoint. gently/quietly keeps it in range so you don't hear a relay clicking on and off. you also don't hear vibrations from sudden boiling since the heater isn't running full blast.

for keep warm fans, it also stays in that mode when you take the kettle on and off of the base. no need for button press to keep it turned on each time you return it to the base. though keep warm mode is optional. there's a switch to turn it off if you don't want it.

 

[MarcelNL]

Just google PID, basically a smart temperature regulator pulsing the heater on and off using a SSR (solid state relais - the TRIAC) to switch the heater.
We have a hot water kettle with PID, and it will hold the set temp for x minutes. (bought 6 years ago for baby formula, the under-overshoot and then waiting due to eyeballing water temperature was killing our nights)

 

[sansho]

you can do PID with a regular relay. what i'm saying is the stagg is an improvement on that since it's solid state. i've had like 5 different variable-temp electric kettles and have never seen that before.

 

[blokey]

Timemore and Bonavita also makes nice kettles, I bought the Bonavita 1l for $50 and still using it after years of daily pourover, the sprout might not be as precise as the EKG but hey that's what practice are for.

 

[Choppin]

I'm really happy with my Stagg EKG. I used to have the regular stovetop Stagg and then upgraded to the EKG. I've been using it everyday for the last 3 years or so. Very interesting to understand how it works, it really seems to run smoothly and silently.

But yeah, I understand it's different than a water dispenser, which sounds useful to me even though I have the Stagg already. The gooseneck is wonderful for pourover but very impractical for other uses (like tea or adding hot water to a pan), not to mention the lower capacity.

 

[Kgp]

i have an insinkerator under the sink and love it. No counter space wasted and great for my wife’s tea or my French press coffee.

 

[Todd762]

I have the Zojirushi. Looks like their is a new model that has a colored ball in the water level indicator which appears to be a little easier to read than my version.

I got curious about the newer offering and looked on their website. It showed the plug is non magnetic unlike the one you pictured. Honestly The features are very similar, and only difference I can tell is the finish, aesthetics, plug connection, and water level display. Maybe the dimensions as well?

If you have hard water there is a descaling mode. I just use USA made bulk citric acid from Amazon instead of their branded citric acid cleaner and it works great and is a ton cheaper.

We really enjoy ours. The only thing I hesitated on was the kettle has a non-stick like coating. I just made sure that it was a made in Japan model. I’d buy it again.