# Swan Neck Kettles...



## YerbaMate170

I pretty much only make Chemex coffee at home for various reasons, yet so far have done so with a regular kettle (in fact a £10 kettle from Asda that somebody else bought and we just stuck with...).

Anyway, given that I'm Chemex-only for the near future, I figure my next investment should be a swan neck kettle. My question is, should I get a stove top one or an electric one?

I assumed maybe wrongly, that electric would be much quicker and more convenient - I'll make my coffee in the morning 90% of the time, so quickness is important - how long does stove top take to boil? What other factors do I need to consider, and finally if anyone has recommendations, feel free to name them!

Thanks!


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## froggystyle

If you have the cash, and they have them in stock, then go for the electric version, this saves having to faff with a thermometer in the top of the non electric version on the stove, just set your temp and away you go as it will hold it there for you all day long.


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## jlarkin

I agree, I've never tried a stovetop kettle but the electric one like this http://www.pumphreys-coffee.co.uk/variable-temperature-gooseneck-electric-kettle/ works well, you can play with temp, as Froggy said it can hold temp if you want it to. Happy days.


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## Phil104

I have the bonavita temp variable and it's indispensable. It's about £76 from coffee hit at the moment but you might get it cheaper still with a bit of searching around.


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## Rhys

Don't folks boil a normal kettle then pour it into the swan neck?


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## johnealey

std kettle plus Hario 1.2L Swan neck About the £25 ish mark occasionally on Amazon plus a thermapen bought from one of the forum members works for me. Can see the attraction of the bonavita kettle as once you factor in three bits of kit not too much of a difference although wouldn't want to use it as a std kettle though just for longevity's sake ( a £10 kettle easily replace with no tears when elements blow, not so sure woud feel the same if the element goes in something more expensive)

John


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## froggystyle

Rhys said:


> Don't folks boil a normal kettle then pour it into the swan neck?


I do this on the boat as boiling via electric is a big drain on power, its ok and works but if you want the best from your cup then you need to be getting the temp stable at your desired level.


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## Rompie

Rhys said:


> Don't folks boil a normal kettle then pour it into the swan neck?


I do this and just thought it was the norm


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## grindhousecoffee

Thats what I do, I guess there is no temperature regulation once its not got its own heat source.

However, I've never had a bad pour or noticed a taste difference because of the drop in temp as far as i can tell :/


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## grindhousecoffee

Ive always called them Goose Necks... I wonder if the swans would be offended...


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## Rompie

grindhousecoffee said:


> Ive always called them Goose Necks... I wonder if the swans would be offended...


Phew - I'm not the only one!


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## Beanosaurus

The only thing that puts me off the electric swan necks is the time it takes to boil (to desired temp) from cold.

Coventional kettles tend to be around 2200 watts whereas the electric swan/gooseneck are about 1000 watts.

The Brewrista Kettle can be set to auto-boil before you drag your dreary self out of bed in the morning which to be fair is welcome mod-con if you're clumsy at that time of the day or a fan of the snooze button.


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## Rhys

Beanosaurus said:


> The only thing that puts me off the electric swan necks is the time it takes to boil (to desired temp) from cold.
> 
> Coventional kettles tend to be around 2200 watts whereas the electric swan/gooseneck are about 1000 watts.
> 
> The Brewrista Kettle can be set to auto-boil before you drag your dreary self out of bed in the morning which to be fair is welcome mod-con if you're clumsy at that time of the day or a fan of the snooze button.


It's not that long considering that the La Pavoni is also 1000 watts. All good things come to those who wait..


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## froggystyle

Beanosaurus said:


> The only thing that puts me off the electric swan necks is the time it takes to boil (to desired temp) from cold.
> 
> Coventional kettles tend to be around 2200 watts whereas the electric swan/gooseneck are about 1000 watts.
> 
> The Brewrista Kettle can be set to auto-boil before you drag your dreary self out of bed in the morning which to be fair is welcome mod-con if you're clumsy at that time of the day or a fan of the snooze button.


Tasty coffee takes patience!


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## Syenitic

Beanosaurus said:


> The only thing that puts me off the electric swan necks is the time it takes to boil (to desired temp) from cold.
> 
> Coventional kettles tend to be around 2200 watts whereas the electric swan/gooseneck are about 1000 watts.
> 
> The Brewrista Kettle can be set to auto-boil before you drag your dreary self out of bed in the morning which to be fair is welcome mod-con if you're clumsy at that time of the day or a fan of the snooze button.


Put a standard Hario 1.2L Buono onto an induction hob - boils way quicker than my electric kettle









That though supposes you already have said hob. But a standalone, single ring hob can be had for less than £30 these days, as can the kettle. A fast £60 solution (albeit without the bonavita temp control) that gives you a new gadget/cooking solution.

Though as has been said what difference the odd minute?

I can only vouch for the Hario kettle here regarding suitability for induction though.


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## froggystyle

price difference though between £60 and £85 (i think is todays price) is not worth the faff in my eyes.


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## Beanosaurus

Syenitic said:


> Put a standard Hario 1.2L Buono onto an induction hob - boils way quicker than my electric kettle
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That though supposes you already have said hob. But a standalone, single ring hob can be had for less than £30 these days, as can the kettle. A fast £60 solution (albeit without the bonavita temp control) that gives you a new gadget/cooking solution.
> 
> Though as has been said what difference the odd minute?
> 
> I can only vouch for the Hario kettle here regarding suitability for induction though.


Induction hob you say?!

I shall try this out!


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## Dylan

Syenitic said:


> Put a standard Hario 1.2L Buono onto an induction hob - boils way quicker than my electric kettle
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That though supposes you already have said hob. But a standalone, single ring hob can be had for less than £30 these days, as can the kettle. A fast £60 solution (albeit without the bonavita temp control) that gives you a new gadget/cooking solution.
> 
> Though as has been said what difference the odd minute?
> 
> I can only vouch for the Hario kettle here regarding suitability for induction though.


A ring hob is not an induction hob though, and would take much longer to boil the kettle! Induction hobs are fairly expensive, and if you can get a freestanding single induction hob I would guess it to be very expensive.


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## Syenitic

Dylan said:


> A ring hob is not an induction hob though, and would take much longer to boil the kettle! Induction hobs are fairly expensive, and if you can get a freestanding single induction hob I would guess it to be very expensive.


It was a bit of an off the wall alternative to the electric bonavita, which was being questioned about the speed at which it would heat up the water.

But no, a standalone induction hob, which are available, can be had for less than £30. Some induction hobs do indeed remain very expensive, but some are these days much less so.


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## Syenitic

Beanosaurus said:


> Induction hob you say?!
> 
> I shall try this out!


Yes but do make sure your kettle will work with induction (basically magnetic on the base). The Hario kettle works on my hob which might of course have a higher output than the standalone ones I mentioned above.

So unless you already have the hob, I would advise research it before purchase


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## Dylan

Syenitic said:


> It was a bit of an off the wall alternative to the electric bonavita, which was being questioned about the speed at which it would heat up the water.
> 
> But no, a standalone induction hob, which are available, can be had for less than £30. Some induction hobs do indeed remain very expensive, but some are these days much less so.


So it can!

Has cracking reviews that, and temperature control, I wonder how accurately it would correspond to the temp in the kettle.

Actually a pretty darn good idea, your choice of kettle and control the temp from the induction hob, just a bit big is all!


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## froggystyle

Seems a nifty idea, but is it worth the £20 saving?


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## Phil104

You would still red a thermapen or something to check the temperature if you used a standalone induction hob. In terms of time to heat up, with my Bonavita, it's set to its predetermined temperature, you can set it to remain at that temperature, and from putting it on to weighing out and grinding the beans, it's at the temperature I want. It really is faff free.


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## Dylan

Could always come up with other reasons you need a portable induction hob! Good for an electric caravan, energy efficient too.

But if you just want an electric temp control kettle, unless you are really straining for cash, it doesn't make much sense.


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## Phil104

Apart from portability, I'm wondering whether one of these hobs would have any advantage over any other hob for any stove top method or heat source for syphon (maybe not sensitive enough).


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## Dylan

Syphon is glass is it not?

An induction hob needs a suitable metal to 'induct' its energy into.


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## Phil104

It is - I had noticed the induction hob converter being sold alongside the hob.


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## Kyle548

I bought an induction hob and tried this ages ago.

In the end the hob sits unused down where no one can see it and I just use an electric kettle and leave it to cool to temp in my gooseneck.

It's no faster, it's a waste of space and the safety features which stop them from starting random electrical fires or getting too hot make them inconvenient for use with a kettle.

If you take the kettle off- most hobs detect a break in the mag field and shut down - placing the kettle back on does not start the hob again - you need to go though the setting and start it - so it's not good for maintaining a steady temp.

Also if your kettle deforms a little as low grade steel can under the stresses of direct heat and cooling - it won't make contact with the hob and the hob won't start.


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## Dylan

Kyle548 said:


> I bought an induction hob and tried this ages ago.
> 
> In the end the hob sits unused down where no one can see it and I just use an electric kettle and leave it to cool to temp in my gooseneck.
> 
> It's no faster, it's a waste of space and the safety features which stop them from starting random electrical fires or getting too hot make them inconvenient for use with a kettle.
> 
> If you take the kettle off- most hobs detect a break in the mag field and shut down - placing the kettle back on does not start the hob again - you need to go though the setting and start it - so it's not good for maintaining a steady temp.
> 
> Also if your kettle deforms a little as low grade steel can under the stresses of direct heat and cooling - it won't make contact with the hob and the hob won't start.


Thats very odd, when posting the above I did some cursory reading about induction hobs and it banged on about how the mag field was safe unless there was a metal to heat up, I wonder what they are making safe with an auto-off. Same goes for the warped metal, the field should rise above the hob, it must be a safety feature again to have solid metal contact, again I wonder why it is needed when they are supposedly 'safe' anyway.


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## Dylan

Phil104 said:


> It is - I had noticed the induction hob converter being sold alongside the hob.


I guess that would be no better than a lump hob, or halogen hob then, as it still has to heat up some metal which will dissipate heat.


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## Phil104

So - an induction hob offers no tangible advantages and potential disadvantages.


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## Kyle548

The advantage is that it's convenient being able to plug it in and have heat anywhere - which is - with no doubt safer than electric.

The problem is they use a glass plate.

What happens is you heat a kettle to boiling - that kettle which now has a lot of energy stored in it heats the glass plate.

If you then take the kettle off and touch the plate - you burn your hand because there was a boiling kettle on it.

Thus negating the "it doesn't get hot!" Logic of induction.

My advice- for just boiling water - get an electric kettle.

The bonavita are on se again with coffee hit - so that's one way to go.


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## Dylan

They directly heat the pan and waste less energy, and (given enough power) heat a metal container of water faster than an equivalent hob.


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## Syenitic

Kyle548 said:


> The advantage is that it's convenient being able to plug it in and have heat anywhere - which is - with no doubt safer than electric.
> 
> The problem is they use a glass plate.
> 
> What happens is you heat a kettle to boiling - that kettle which now has a lot of energy stored in it heats the glass plate.
> 
> If you then take the kettle off and touch the plate - you burn your hand because there was a boiling kettle on it.
> 
> Thus negating the "it doesn't get hot!" Logic of induction.
> 
> My advice- for just boiling water - get an electric kettle.
> 
> The bonavita are on se again with coffee hit - so that's one way to go.


I never expected this to raise such contention...apologies if I have stirred up something. But based on my experience, with my already present induction hob and a normal Buono I get hot/boiling (if I wish) water far quicker than my work top multi Kw kettle. And that was what the OP was dismayed about...the speed to heat.


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## Dylan

Syenitic said:


> I never expected this to raise such contention...apologies if I have stirred up something. But based on my experience, with my already present induction hob and a normal Buono I get hot/boiling (if I wish) water far quicker than my work top multi Kw kettle. And that was what the OP was dismayed about...the speed to heat.


Nothing stirred up I dont think, this is just how we all talk about things most of the time


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## Kyle548

If I can't be fanatical and aggressive in my choice of water heater on the Internet - where can I be?


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## jlarkin

Kyle548 said:


> If I can't be fanatical and aggressive in my choice of water heater on the Internet - where can I be?


I didn't really like the way you gave a bunch of information though, I'd prefer just absolutes: If somebody buys an induction hob just for this then they're clearly the stupidest person that ever lived etc.


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## Kyle548

jlarkin said:


> I didn't really like the way you gave a bunch of information though, I'd prefer just absolutes: If somebody buys an induction hob just for this then they're clearly the stupidest person that ever lived etc.


Yet this is the internet; so it has to be said.

It would still be a better love story than Twilight.


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## Pompeyexile

A few of years ago well before I got into real coffee we bought a Bosch kettle that you can choose either 70, 80, 90 or 100 degrees from a button on the handle so I can't justify buying a Goose Neck kettle too. A the moment you can buy it for £49 on-line and there is another version at Argos with the temp selection in the base for £40. I don't find it any trouble pouring into my Aeropress or Clever Dripper without a Goose Neck spout.


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## Mrboots2u

Pompeyexile said:


> A few of years ago well before I got into real coffee we bought a Bosch kettle that you can choose either 70, 80, 90 or 100 degrees from a button on the handle so I can't justify buying a Goose Neck kettle too. A the moment you can buy it for £49 on-line and there is another version at Argos with the temp selection in the base for £40. I don't find it any trouble pouring into my Aeropress or Clever Dripper without a Goose Neck spout.


Is someone is ever gonna do pour over brews ( as opposed to the immersion of Clever and Aeropress ) then a swan neck is easier to get consistent results. For plonking water in immersion style , I can see how a kettle would do just a good a job


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