My new kettle

 

My *acting* kettle "pro tem" because I refuse to be naive and believe that *this* is the immortal one.
It has a bigger spout than the last one, which I wrote about but prolly erased.

https://orphanrocks.blogspot.com/2024/06/topwit.html

The old one holds the record for being the least long-lasting, bought sometime in June, apparently, and dead last week.

Kewl

The new one has a very nice spout (Did I mention how important the spout is?)
It has a temp-management button control panel but no actual thermometer.
I miss the thermometer on one of the other dead pots.
And if it dies or meets an unfortunate end, I'll prolly buy another, purely for the size and the shape.
OK. 

I try rubbing with a paper towel,
but I doubt these things are triple-ply all-clad and I
worry about the sheen (anodized aluminum?) wearing off.
The dull-gray vs the pretty-shiny catchers, hmm
"CLR" cleaner works in minutes as compared to vinegar which takes longer.
CLR+Vinegar is a biggie no-no (they say)

Have you heard of a "Limescale catcher"? It looks a LOT like steel wool.

It's also expensive.
Should I get one? Or research more cheaper options (like maybe 99c steel wool?)

No one answered.

embargoed war/gas prices
 

Guys say it works and guys say it does not work.
I'll totally guess here:

Big-beautiful stainless bottom vs ceramic (e.g.) bottom, 

the collector looks like it's at a dance that never gets any dances 

because the stainless bottom is just too attractive.
(Unless you maybe buy a couple friends it can talk to)

This gets longer, more mumbly daily because Google with its vaunted AI seems to think I want to actually scrub away something, and Google (the bot) always lectures me on the dangers of scrubbing stainless.

Yes, yes OK (stfu), but can a "stainless scrubbing pad" (I can't help the name) double as a descaler?

The reviews, mixed.

A DIY science show blog: Warning: Vinegar DISSOLVES Steel wool!!
It's like, OMG, my expensive descalers will eventually melt away??
Yes, if you follow the advice of advice givers and use vinegar overnight without removing them!!

It does not work, so they bought another.

(Another WHAT??!!)

I'm thinking, *possibly*, um, steel-wool pads 

that you buy from the ninety-nine-cent-store

Aren't actually steel, and/or they're slightly crumbly, 

But I just might be in my "Buses don't make smog" phase, trying to convince myself that teeny tiny little wool-things for 3x the cost, are better somehow.

I really *want* a new surge protector, but I'll settle for 🥲🥲

The stuff I *need* which will drown me til I die, forever.

PS *I* can know stuff, be an expert, or (IOW) be a reddit-type person:

Only heat up the water enough to make your drink, 

beeeecause the hotter the water, 

(we're not going on about store-bought water you lug home and almost die)

(um) the hotter the water the more the calcification, 

which you can see next to where the heating-element gets hottest. 

Don't REheat water, calcification happens twice as fast that way.

Eventually little white fish swim around your water (ew).

I won't go on about steel wool, but maybe the next time you're in a supermarket, a jumbo stainless scrubber (if they say "stainless") would be nice, and they're prolly on sale(?)

Wipe after using, unless you're clumsy, and risk dropping it into the sink or on a floor.

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I'm becoming more and more convinced that these things are the scaled-up versions of those cheaper scouring pads. And I can see maybe why a true kettle (one with a small whistling spout) would want one of these upper-crust versions, just like how mayo comes with EVOO or avocado for only $5.00 more, it's a marketing-thing.
Buy less, pay more, Haute-ball

But My "kettle" is more pot than kettle, with a very wide mouth, that would fit a normal-sized scouring pad easily.
My questions would have to be answered in a year or so:

• Is it too big (interferes with temp control, maybe?)
• Scratchy (being so big) maybe?

I've yet to hit on the exact Martha-Stewart type article telling you to get one instead of those hoity-toity posh versions.

BUT...people try and sell the bigger ones by cramming everything it could possibly do into the title "Kettle descaler scouring pad"