Rogers Blog

Not all kettles work well on a hotplate. This is because of the surface area of the bottom of the kettle  that is in contact with the surface of the hotplate. While the kettle may be great on a gas stove it might not be any good on a hotplate. Here are some photo example Also the flatter the and thinker the hotplate the better. chequer plate is ok if thats all you got  but you want as flat and as smooth a surface as you can get

1st is a small standard camping kettle.I know its a bit battered.It will work on a hot plate  but not that well

Here is a pic of its base. As you see only the rim of the base will actually make contact with the hotplate so the heat transfere will not be very good.

Here is the 2nd kettle   its normally seen in the home on a gas stove. Though the base is better  it still not as good as it should be

Here is its base it is better than the first one  but not as good as what you want. As you can see it will have more surface area in contact with the hotplate. But as you can see with it having a thin base its warped over time. its better than the 1st one  but can still be improved on

here is my 3rd kettle  its a small teapot style one  but it has a solid flat base  more suited to hot plates

As you can see its base is thicker and flatter

This one works the best.

The more base you have incontact the quicker the heat transfer and the quicker the water will boil. If your using a saucepan and it seems to take for ever to get upto a roiling boil. Put a lid on it as this will help bring it to the boil quicker. Because it you dont have a lid on the heat of the steam will eascape and this actually has a cooling effect  on the water. Beacuse as the water evaporates( turns to steam) its actually  cools  down.You  will also notice the same effect  with alcohol  medical wipes. Wipe one on your arm ands it feels cold. This is because the alcohol is evaporating  and cooling your skin. So for a quicker boil  of you water put a lid on it.