The electric kettle is a very convenient invention of the twenty-first century. Making tea and coffee has never been easier! It can also boil water quickly and effortlessly for other beverages like instant soups. However, this time-saving and convenient machine may also persuade you to think, can you boil milk in an electric kettle?
The idea may seem great; however, electric kettles are not designed for that purpose. Instead, many kettles are designed to boil milk, and using those is recommended. And in this article, we will find out what may happen if you use a typical electric kettle to boil milk.
Can you put milk in an electric kettle?
Electric kettles are not designed for boiling milk. They are made to boil water specifically. Unless your kettle is designed to boil milk, you should never try to boil milk using a kettle. The reasons for these are,
- Milk will spill over: Water and milk have different properties; water will boil at high temperatures and evaporate, but boiled milk won’t evaporate and will spill over. This will cause a huge mess and waste good milk. This is also a fire hazard as spilled milk may damage the kettle causing a fire.
- Kettle won’t shut down automatically: Kettles are designed to shut down when steam reaches the top. However, as milk does not evaporate, the kettle won’t shut off, and it will keep on burning, causing a fire.
- Milk leaves residues: Milk leaves residues after boiling; unless the kettle you are using is designed to boil milk, it may be quite hard to remove them from the kettle. This can negatively affect the performance of the kettle.
- Bad smell: If you burn milk inside of your kettle, then the inside of your kettle may smell really bad even after cleaning. This can ruin the taste and flavor of your other drinks.
Based on the points above, it should be evident that boiling milk in an electric kettle is a bad idea and nobody should try it.
Are electric kettles designed for boiling milk?
Electric kettles are designed to boil a lot of beverages but not milk. So you are better off boiling milk on a non-electric kettle, but if you want to use an electrical kettle still to boil milk, you can- But with extreme care.
You need to be present near the kettle to make sure that the milk does not spill over; the main reason is that the spilled milk can damage the electric kettle and cause a fire.
If you are boiling a small amount of milk, then you have to make sure to check if the milk is burning, you may forget, and the milk can burn to damage the kettle.
Also Read: How to Make Coffee with Electric kettle
What happens when you put milk in a kettle?
In a normal kettle, boiling milk is common. Although you still need to make sure to turn the stove off in time, or else the milk may spill and make a huge mess. Milk may also spill over if you are using an electric kettle, only this time you are damaging your precious electrical kettle alongside making a mess.
If you forget about the milk in the electric kettle, it will keep on burning potentially causing a fire! This happens because regular electric kettles are not designed to shut down when milk is boiling. However, suppose your electric kettle is designed to boil milk. In that case, it will boil the milk to the appropriate temperature and shut down, causing you no hassle!
Which electric kettle is good for boiling milk?
While you cannot boil milk in a regular electrical kettle, there are many multipurpose electric kettles out there that can boil milk easily and safely. However, you need to make sure before buying whether your choice of electric kettles can boil milk or not.
How do you clean an electric kettle after boiling milk?
Here are two methods to clean an electric kettle after boiling milk in it:
1.Vinegar solution
- Make a water and white vinegar solution with equal proportions and fill the kettle up to ½ to ¾ with the solution.
- Boil this solution until the residue is gone. If the residue remains, then increase the amount of vinegar in the solution.
- The kettle should be boiled for a while, and after that, turn the kettle off and unplug it but keep the solution in the kettle for about 20 minutes
- If the residues are nasty, scrub the kettle’s inside with a nonmetallic sponge or a soft cloth. Make sure to avoid scrubbing the heating elements at the bottom.
- Rinse the kettle to get rid of the solution and dry it with a cloth. Do this multiple times to remove any odor left completely.
By using the two methods stated above, hopefully, you will be able to remove any and every dirt and smell from your electric kettle, and for the best measure, it is best not to boil milk in the kettle at all.
2. Using kettle cleaner
- Make a solution of powdered dishwater detergent and heat it for ten minutes in the kettle.
- Rinse the kettle several times with a bottlebrush and, if necessary, then repeat the process.
- Fill half of the kettle with white vinegar and let it boil for a while; repeat this process if necessary.
By using the two methods stated above, hopefully, you will be able to remove any and every dirt and smell from your electric kettle, and for the best measure, it is best not to boil milk in the kettle at all.
FAQs: Related Question
Q1#. Does boiling milk in a kettle ruin the kettle?
Yes! Boiling milk in a kettle can indeed ruin it. If the milk spills while boiling in the electric kettle, it will mess and damage the appliance. And if the milk kept burning inside the electric kettle, then it can become a fire hazard.
Q2#. What temperature do kettles boil to?
Kettles are primarily designed to boil water. And since kettles automatically shut off when water is boiling, we can say that kettles can boil up to a little over a hundred degrees Celsius. So why not precisely a hundred degrees Celsius?
Normal tap water has lots of impurities, which raises the boiling temperature of water to over a hundred degrees Celsius easily. This is not a problem; that bit of temperature is excellent and won’t damage your kettle.
Q3#. Is boiling water in an electric kettle safe to drink?
This depends on what kettle you are exactly using. Buy a good regular kettle, and the drinking water is safe and hygienic.
You will probably be fine boiling and consuming that water. But, if you buy a cheap and inferior kettle, then consuming boiled water from it may cause a safety risk.
Usually, cheap kettles are made of high-manganese steel, making the water a little bit poisonous as some of the metal may dissolve in the water. However, normally kettles use a type of steel that is “food-grade,” and even if a bit of the metal dissolves in the water, it won’t pose a risk to the human body.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, we were able to answer your query on whether if you could put milk in the electric kettle. If our article helped you out, then make sure to check our other fantastic articles!