Americans don't use kettles and Australians are completely floored

"I try to be positive and non-judgemental but I just found out Americans often microwave water instead of using a kettle..."

There's rarely an electric kettle in the US.

There's one of these in every Australian home, but you'll rarely see an electric kettle in the US. Source: Your Best Digs / Flickr.

Chances are, your standard morning routine includes flicking your kettle on and making yourself a refreshing cup of tea or coffee. You might assume that the vast majority of people in the first world complete the exact same routine after waking up each day, but it's recently come to light that this is not the case at all.

Thanks to a simple tweet from writer , Australians have just discovered that American households don't know what an electric kettle is.
The confusion slowly spread across Twitter:
And then the question was asked: what exactly do they use to make a cup of tea or instant noodles or jelly? How do they fill a hot water bottle?
No, the answer is stove-top kettles, apparently. The ones that whistle when the water has boiled:
Or, they MICROWAVE their water. (FYI, this is - it could flashboil and cause serious burns.)
When you , there is a very good reason - the US simply does not have the power standards necessary to use electric kettles.

Their power standards dictate that only 120V comes out of the socket, which is about half of what we have here in Australia. So, electric kettles in America would take a really, really long time to boil.

Still, Australian Twitter will not be getting over this in a hurry. Lucy Valentine, however, appears to have moved on - read all about it over on SBS Comedy:
Kettle image used in lead artwork is by via

Share
SBS Food is a 24/7 foodie channel for all Australians, with a focus on simple, authentic and everyday food inspiration from cultures everywhere. NSW stream only. Read more about SBS Food
Have a story or comment? Contact Us

SBS Food is a 24/7 foodie channel for all Australians, with a focus on simple, authentic and everyday food inspiration from cultures everywhere. NSW stream only.
Watch nowOn Demand
Follow SBS Food
2 min read
Published 10 March 2017 2:47pm
Updated 3 November 2017 2:51pm
By Chloe Sargeant

Share this with family and friends