Windermere kettle
Encyclopedia
A Windermere kettle is a form of steam-operated tea urn or samovar
installed on some steam launches. They are a metal vessel containing a few pints of water. Inside the vessel is a steam heating coil. When hot or boiling water is required, the valve is opened and steam from the boat's propulsion boiler is passed through the coil, heating the water. Their exhaust is either overboard or up the funnel, as convenient. Windermere kettles are rapid boilers and can heat enough water to make a pot
of tea
in only a few seconds.The temperature achieved is sufficient for a proper cup of English tea in a teapot, i.e. boiling, rather than American tea made with luke-warm water and a teabag in a cup.
Their name is derived from the popularity of steam launches on Windermere
, a lake in the English Lakes, during the Victorian and Edwarian periods. Many of these launches were equipped with such kettles.
Samovar
A samovar is a heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water in and around Russia, as well as in other Central, South-Eastern, Eastern European countries,Kashmir and in the Middle-East...
installed on some steam launches. They are a metal vessel containing a few pints of water. Inside the vessel is a steam heating coil. When hot or boiling water is required, the valve is opened and steam from the boat's propulsion boiler is passed through the coil, heating the water. Their exhaust is either overboard or up the funnel, as convenient. Windermere kettles are rapid boilers and can heat enough water to make a pot
Teapot
A teapot is a vessel used for steeping tea leaves or a herbal mix in near-boiling water. Tea may be either in a tea bag or loose, in which case a tea strainer will be needed, either to hold the leaves as they steep or to catch the leaves inside the teapot when the tea is poured...
of tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
in only a few seconds.The temperature achieved is sufficient for a proper cup of English tea in a teapot, i.e. boiling, rather than American tea made with luke-warm water and a teabag in a cup.
Their name is derived from the popularity of steam launches on Windermere
Windermere
Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...
, a lake in the English Lakes, during the Victorian and Edwarian periods. Many of these launches were equipped with such kettles.
Misconceptions
- The water used is fresh water added separately to the vessel. It is not condensed steam, nor does the steam mix with it. Boiler steam is contaminated with lubricants, sometimes with chemicals for feedwater treatmentBoiler feedwaterBoiler feedwater is water used to supply a boiler to generate steam or hot water. At thermal power stations the feedwater is usually stored, pre-heated and conditioned in a feedwater tank and forwarded into the boiler by a boiler feedwater pump....
, and is definitely not potable.
- The water used is not drawn from the lake. Although Windermere has famously pure water, so pure that it used directly as boiler feedwaterBoiler feedwaterBoiler feedwater is water used to supply a boiler to generate steam or hot water. At thermal power stations the feedwater is usually stored, pre-heated and conditioned in a feedwater tank and forwarded into the boiler by a boiler feedwater pump....
, it is still not considered wise to drink it untreated.