Also, I have an irrational dislike of tea kettles, so it's really my own fault.

Get one of those electric tea kettles that turns itself off when the water boils.

I have a $60 Le Creuset teapot. No whistle.

I just did the same thing! The spout cover is crappy and doesn't nest against the spout like it should, so sometimes it doesn't whistle. I just ruined ANOTHER TEA KETTLE. Argh.

I'll have to look into the electric ones...sounds a lot safer, matildaben.

No counter space + no storage space = strong fear of any large item that serves only one purpose.

a stove-top kettle? These have all sorts of uses apart from tea (boil water for rice, veggies, anything really - it boils quicker than an open pan because of the in-built lid) and can just sit on an unused hob when not in use (and if you're using all the hobs it can sit temporarily somewhere else, or even hang up??). Some of them also whistle when they're boiling.

No counter space + no storage space = strong fear of any large item that serves only one purpose.

I keep my teakettle on the back burner, and just move it out of the way when I need the burner. But then, I think it's pretty, so that may not work for you.

Do you have a microwave? You can heat the water in a mug in the microwave, just stick a wooden stirrer in it or something to give the bubbles a nucleation site.

Bummer about the water boiling away, but...Yay Neko Case!!

My mother loves her electric kettle. The water boils *so* fast.

I love my electric kettle. I was just thinking recently that it's the one kitchen appliance that I use every single day. I don't know how I lived without it.

Also, yesterday? I flooded the kitchen by leaving water running in the sink.... AGAIN. This is like the third time. It doesn't take much, because it's a pretty small sink, and a very cheap unit, and the blasted sink doesn't have an overflow hole, just the bottom drain. Mopping. For. Hours.

Also, I have an irrational dislike of tea kettles, so it's really my own fault.

Hmm, if it's an irrational dislike, you could probably try therapy or something. I have a rational liking of tea kettles. I find my small stainless steel one doesn't take up much space, and is perfect for tea for two. Although, I am a sad lonely man, so I just end up drinking two cups of tea myself, which is okay because though my life is poor in romance, it is rich in anti-oxidants.

Gah, sorry about the double box in that last post. That's what I get while trying to post while pretending to listen to a customer on the phone.

I keep my teakettle on the back burner, and just move it out of the way when I need the burner. But then, I think it's pretty, so that may not work for you.

I think that's the issue. They take up more room on the stove than I like. My little stove-top Moka pot sometimes sits there, but that's small enough it doesn't get in the way of the other pots and pans. I do a lot of cooking, most of it on the stove, and even just finding someplace to set the Moka pot is a pain.

Former roommates used to have a kettle, and they'd leave water in it, and I'd just look at it and think, "Ewww, gross germy water, trapped in a covered pot." There seems to be something unhygenic about kettles. Like they're going to breed mosquitos or something.

Like I said, irrational.

Also, no microwave. Fairly rational dislike of microwaves.

I find it's easier to just avoid boiling water.

Sun tea it is, then!

Well, since you're forgetting about it, time is obviously not a factor. So I'd suggest a trivet, and then a large fresnel lens to focus the sun's rays (bonus points if you can mount it on a moveable arm, a la Terry Gilliam) and let it do its thing.

Purely from curiosity, what do you have against microwaves? In general, or just for boiling water?

Oops, I meant to also note that you would place this trivet within eyesight, so that you'd know when it was boiling. Since you don't need the kitchen apparatus for heat, you can do it just about anywhere (hence the need for trivet).

Another option: set a loud timer for however long it will take for your water to boil.
Purely from curiosity, what do you have against microwaves?

I wonder this, too. You're not the only person I've encountered with no love for the microwave. I don't do any real cooking in mine, but it often comes in handy.

You know how hippies who are all into raw food talk about how cooking destroys the natural energies of food?

I basically feel the same way about the microwave. It's not a healthy, sexy, sensual means of creating what should be a healthy, sexy, sensual thing -- food.

It's RAYS. That I CAN'T SEE. Going into my precious FOOD.

I don't even like electric ranges, really. Fire is good.

When I have been in places with microwaves, I have used them for things like heating milk for coffee, or melting butter for baking. But I really don't like them. (Especially for boiling water, since they then get the mug all hot, too, and boiling water on the stove doesn't even create any dirty dishes, so why bother to burn my fingers?) And they heat inconsistently, or unexpectedly, leading much to boil over or not heat through.

I've so far seen only one instance where cooking vegetables in them worked (and it could have been accomplished with a steamer); leftovers reheated in them seems floppy and limp; and I've not really come across any other compelling reason to have a giant machine beaming rays at things in my kitchen.

I love the trivet idea, by the way.

Another option: set a loud timer for however long it will take for your water to boil.

I think that's probably what makes the most sense for me. Normally I set the water to boil while I'm doing last night's dishes, so by the time I finish it's boiling, and I haven't left the kitchen and forgotten about it. But I ate out last night, so no dishes this morning.

Proving, of course, that eating fish and chips at the Irish pub is a bad, bad idea in so many ways.

The electric kettles are the most efficient way of heating water to a boil. so any other choice is just hastening our eventual demise at the hands of Peak Global Oil Warming.