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What do you put in first: Teabag or hot water? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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And no, the microwave is not a valid option.

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[–] 5 points 2 years ago (4 children)

It is not simply 'just another method to heat water'. There is a significant difference between microwaving and kettle/stovetop. Microwaving risks superheating resulting in flash boiling causing an explosion of steam and boiling water. This is also why microwaved water has foam appear when inserting anything into it. Bubbles that 'should' have formed didn't and are now doing so at the nucleation points whatever you inserted provided.

That foam, while an indication the water was close to erupting, is otherwise harmless but ruins the tea/coffee for me and I'm sure others too.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    Exactly. Also an interesting phenomenon I saw when microwaving water for tea is that, because it's so foamy and bubbly, the tea packet floats to the top when you drop it in which makes it harder to mix in the taste.

    Those few weeks where my kettle wasn't working were dark times.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    You know you can wait like 15 seconds before opening the microwave and putting something in, right? Even with my electric kettle I give it a few seconds before doing anything.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    Thx Tips. Waiting 15 seconds is no guarantee the water isn't superheated. If you actually want to ensure microwaved water won't erupt put a wooden toothpick or spoon in it while nuking.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Do you have any statistics regarding how likely a water eruption is? Because I microwaved water daily for nearly a decade without issue.

    The turnstile removes most of the risk because super heating is a lot more difficult with moving water. Plus, most glasses aren't perfectly smooth and have plenty of imperfections to provide nucleation points.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Explain to me how lab statistics would help? Then explain how you could generate useful statistics using the extremely non-standardized settings of every unique household in the world?

    Now that the absurdity of wanting statistics is set aside... Microwave caused superheating of water is a well studied and understood phenomenon. There are things that reduce the likelihood, sure: air bubbles created by modern low-flow taps, general impurity of tap water, and scratches in used containers all provide nucleation points and reduce the likelihood of superheating.

    All it takes is jossling a new mug so the air bubbles all float out, with a particularly clean supply of city water (or filtered is a common culprit) and that thing you've been doing for years blows up in your face at 105^o^C.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago

    Not previous poster. A helpful statistic would be recorded medical incidents. Treatment sought for burns from microwaved superheated water could be used as an indicator of how much of a danger using a microwave oven to boil water is. Full disclosure, electric kettle user, bag before water.

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