Non-Americans who have been to the US.. What is the weirdest thing about America that Americans don't realize is weird?

You're viewing a single thread.

689 comments

As an American, my top realization was... everywhere else in the world yall use electric kettles - Americans frequently only have a stove top kettle like it's the fucking eighteenth century.
- Honest truth is that people in the US don't need to use kettles as much, so for a lot of households it's just a question of why buy an extra appliance when the cheap $10 kettle from Target or a small saucepan will do for the few times a year a kettle becomes convenient.
  
  You ever eat instant ramen? You enjoy boiling things? Do you drink tea multiple times a year?
  The kettle is worth it.
  
  That's the thing, the answer for a lot of people in the US is no.
  After coffee, the most common need for boiled water in US households is probably for pasta, and a kettle's not really the tool for either of those.
  People that do eat a lot of instant ramen or drink a lot of tea in the US are more likely to have electric kettles (as some people I know do) but most don't eat ramen often enough and tea just isn't as big here.
  
  Ramen is most commonly sold in sealed plastic bags in America. We just cook it in a pot like any other pasta. Lots of people I know don't own any kind of kettle. If they need to boil water a pot or the microwave both work just fine.
  Personally, I like tea, but I also have an induction cooktop, so I just have a kettle for that. It's great. All the advantages of an electric kettle without having to put an electrical appliance by my sink.
  
  you can boil water in a pot on the stove, or in the microwave, we have options.
  
  This is sort of the point - it's such a pain compared to an electric kettle and I just don't understand why Americans are so dedicated to avoiding such a useful appliance.
  
  is it though?
  kettle: fill it with water, turn it on, and wait
  stove: fill a pot with water, put it on the stove and turn it on, wait
  microwave: put a cup of water in the microwave and wait
  coffeemaker: press the go button, it makes hot water
  it's useful in the same way that a rotary hammer drill is useful for drilling through masonry, i'm going to assume you probably don't drill through much masonry in your life, therefore you don't need it.
  Americans aren't stupid or daft, we just dont fucking need them. 95% of the time we need hot water, its for cooking, or coffee.
  If we had a kettle it would literally just be landfill.
  you're effectively asking someone who doesn't eat toast frequently why they don't have a toaster, it's a silly question.
  
  But my electric kettle only cost me $10
  
  Also: Microwave. Apparently, lots of people heat their water in the microwave. (See pinned comment here.)
  
  I will admit as a kid when I wanted tea I used to just fill a mug with water and stick it in the microwave for a minute.
  
  +1 for the account name being on topic
- I thought this one was also to do with their power being on a lower voltage so Kettles take longer?
  But it's still super weird. ¯(ツ)/¯
  
  It's not. Boiling water with 110V power works just fine.
  
  Electric kettles are are slower on 110 but way faster than electric(non induction) stove
  
  We have keurigs now 🤡
  (They can dispense plain hot water)
  
  Ah the company that convinced people that adding DRM to coffee was okay because they made it "easier" to make coffee (meanwhile I've faught far more with every kurig I've encountered than any $5 drip coffee machine I've ever encountered)
  
  We mostly use it like a regular coffee machine though, with the cups you can fill yourself. No DRM used here.
  
  Looks like it depends on the model for if it has DRM of not. Here's an article from 2015 where they said they were bringing the DRM back and this reddit thread has some users discussing their history of sometimes putting in DRM on the machines and sometimes not.
  The same reddit thread also points out that Nestle got onto the bandwagon of disposable plastic cups with DRM tied to their brand of coffee maker, so as usual, fuck nestle too
  
  Is there a generic (non-brand) name for these boiling-water faucets? (That's not a mouthful like "boiling-water faucets"). I think we call them quookers here, which is also a brand name, and I slightly dislike that practice. I mean, "brand name for generic thing" is very common, but the brands and things differ per country, so it's like a layer of jargon to decipher.
  
  I dont think there is. There are, however, actual instant hot-water dispensers you can install as an extra sink faucet and they are amazing.
  
  Yeah but anything that comes out of a keurig always tastes kinda sludgy.
  
  Clean your keurig
  
  Oh I don't own one... they make crappy coffee anyway.
  
  Only if you are a coffee snob who spends entirely too much on coffee machines. Its all relative.
  
  not that much slower, it's mostly dependent on the amount of water. We just don't drink tea (the main reason for a kettle) and coffee makers are basically just kettles so...
- They are common among US tea drinkers, but coffee seems more popular.
- The stove top kettle might get a comeback since modern induction stoves are faster than an electric kettle. I'm about to get one and look forward to having one less appliance on the table.
  
  I'm not sure it's that much faster but we recently switched to a stove top kettle for our induction stove. It's one less thing that needs to be plugged in somewhere. Also, the kettle makes a very cool sound! :)
- coffee makers (basically everyone has one) are basically just a kettle
- I actually find this cute. Like we're all out camping and someone wants to make a brew. Adds an element of magic to making a simple tea.

689 comments