# Kitchen appliances that are rare in your country **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999 "2005-01-10T05:23:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/41 "2005-01-10T20:56:25Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > Here’s what I meant by [vegetable peeler](http://allrecipes.com/advice/ref/ency/terms/9030.asp) . It’s the one that you put in the drawer and never use, I’d get a cramp from that type!!! Go with the one listed prior to this one in the thread. Since the euro’s don’t seem to have these in their “arsenal”, what do you use instead? I’d imagine knife work for that task would be wastful and/or tedious. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/42 "2005-01-10T21:05:36Z")
Butler, that’s my favourite kind of vegetable peeler! What are you peeling that you have time to get a cramp from that? ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/43 "2005-01-10T21:42:41Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > … > Mine is a T-fal and because of it I now boil water whether I need it or not several times aday.I loves it! That’s cool. They must have dropped the “e” in Tefal out there in the US because we have Tefal here. [http://www.tefal.co.uk/tefal/products/family/index.asp?category\_id=400&dept\_id=430&mscssid=KMUVNRB070M18M67JGVAFB354AMFFUHC](http://www.tefal.co.uk/tefal/products/family/index.asp?category%5Fid=400&dept%5Fid=430&mscssid=KMUVNRB070M18M67JGVAFB354AMFFUHC) ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/44 "2005-01-10T22:01:20Z")
I finally up-graded to an an electric kettle a couple of weeks ago after my old “on the stove top” kettle, inherited from my great-aunt and at least 40 years old, fell apart. The new electric one cost me the princely sum of $19.95 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/45 "2005-01-10T22:05:31Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Rice cookers are ubiquitous in Vancouver, **matt**. Pesky two solitudes. 😃 > > I’ve never seen a waffle iron, though. We had one. It weighed a ton and the first waffle was always kinda fucked up. But I sure loved eating them! ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/46 "2005-01-10T22:17:11Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Butler, that’s my favourite kind of vegetable peeler! What are you peeling that you have time to get a cramp from that? When I cook, I cook big! Besides, I find that type tends to bend too easily. I like the one with the big black handle, and the “comfort grip.” Now, my favorite type are the ones with the blade on the end, perpendicular to the shaft. ---
**Author:** ![chaparralv8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@chaparralv8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaparralv8)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/47 "2005-01-10T22:41:03Z")
> [@Galanthus](#): > > I suspect electric kettles are rare in the states because of the voltage difference in household supplies. > > 110 V at 13 amps gives you 1.43 KW max power. My kettle ( and I suspect most kettles here ) is 2 KW. > > However you Americans do have the advantage that a wiring fault isn’t likely to kill you … What’s the standard voltage/amperage over there? ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/48 "2005-01-10T23:04:56Z")
American chiming in. I have an old [Russell Hobbes](http://www.russell-hobbs.com/) “Sovereign” electric kettle that I bought a few years ago. It’s rated for 1.7 liters and 1800 watts. In a timed test, it boiled water for a small (approximately 0.7 liters) pot of tea faster than my 1100 watt microwave was able to bring a single large mug (perhaps .25 liters) of water to a boil. And I happen to have a [ground fault interrupter](http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/gfi.html) on the circuit that my electric kettle plugs into; so even if I do something deliberately stupid, it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll die from kettle electrocution. Are GFIs common outside North America? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/49 "2005-01-10T23:31:24Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > Probably only what passes for a cup of tea. Unless the water is actually boiling you are not going to get it right. I agree! A couple of my mom’s best friends are English, and she learned to make tea from them, and I learned to make tea from her. The way most Americans make tea is just awful. Getting baristas at cafes to make it any other way is a real trial, too. It’s no wonder people here are more fond of coffee - they’ve never had tea prepared properly. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/50 "2005-01-10T23:46:00Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > I’ve got a stick blender and use it quite a lot, more than the regular counter-top blender, as a matter of fact. (I’m in the US, BTW) What the hell is a stick blender? ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/51 "2005-01-11T00:02:46Z")
> [@pasunejen](#): > > What the hell is a stick blender? [This](http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=11433685) is a stick blender. You can use it to make smoothies in the cup or to blend things in a bowl or pan. Easier to use and clean than a big countertop blender. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/52 "2005-01-11T00:39:51Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > [This](http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=11433685) is a stick blender. You can use it to make smoothies in the cup or to blend things in a bowl or pan. Easier to use and clean than a big countertop blender. Oooo, I like. Perhaps sometime far off in the future when I can stock my kitchen with more than rudimentary appliances, I will buy one. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/53 "2005-01-11T06:23:46Z")
Oh, yes, crockpot style slow cookers also appear to be relatively rare in Aus. ---
**Author:** ![Galanthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Galanthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galanthus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/54 "2005-01-11T10:12:49Z")
> [@chaparralv8](#): > > What’s the standard voltage/amperage over there? My ring main is 240 Volts and the main fuse is 21 Amps, the kettle it self has a 13 Amp fuse in it’s plug. While it’s nice to be able to boil a kettle of water really fast it’s also quite dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/55 "2005-01-11T11:08:15Z")
I lived in France for a year in 1994. Electric kettles were hard to find- stove top models were more common. I put this down to the French preference for coffee over tea. What was more surprising was the total lack of smoke alarms. We trawled through a large out-of-town hardware store and found nothing. The staff of the store were bemused as to why we would want to buy a device that would detect a fire. I put _this_ down to the French preference for smoking cigarettes 24 hours a day. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999/56 "2005-01-11T14:54:23Z")
I lived in France in 1994 too and I found electric kettles everywhere! I think I bought mine at the Monoprix. Everyone I knew had one because nobody had a stove. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitchen-appliances-that-are-rare-in-your-country/283999.md?page=2)