Electric jugs

When you buy an electric jug, don’t get one that is much larger at the bottom than the top.
Because you will never conveniently pour out that boiling water into a cup, as it will trap in the bottom of the kettle. You will need to refill that kettle more often, and hence waste power.

5 Likes

Welcome @slicker!

I agree, I’ve got one which looks like the kettles of old, very wide base, and to get that last cup of hot water out I nearly have to tip it up-side down!
But one good feature is that it will always have some water in it in case of accidental turn on, which can lead to scorch marks inside the base before the auto-turn-off is set into action. :slightly_smiling_face:

6 Likes

Try changing your grip to palm up when you grasp the handle and it will be much easier to turn your hand over and empty it.

5 Likes

That can be problematic for those with dexterity issues such as arthritis but a good idea for those who don’t have such issues.

7 Likes

Quite right. I am likely to suggest such trials though because sometimes they provide an Ah-hah moment. We all tend to get locked into certain psychomotor routines because most of the time it is the least effort. But there are reasons to experiment from time to time.

For example, some people are so strongly hand biased their non-dominant hand is almost useless. However, aside from the genuinely ambidextrous, many can use both hands for many tasks and performance is improved with practice. Why bother?

There are some cases where turning around to always use the same hand is impossible. So for the one handed some tasks become a huge burden. If doing a repetitive task you can reduce sore muscles and possible RSI by changing hands. Many people can benefit from attempting various methods of doing straightforward physical tasks.

I have had people working for me who would not try changing hands and then complained of sore muscles at the end of the day. I asked them why and was usually told it felt too strange and clumsy. When I said it will not feel so if you practice all I got was a shrug.

Some tasks are customarily done barse ackwards in my view. For example using an axe your handedness is according to the hand nearest the head. That hand does the lifting of the head preparatory to the swing but the lower hand, nearest the body, provides most of the control and a good deal of the power during the swing, especially towards the end of the swing. So it looks to me that your better hand ought to be the lower hand so if your are right dominant lift the head with the left. That is described as the left-handed way and few people do it that way because that isn’t how you are taught. The same applies to a mattock or sledge hammer. Chopping, digging or thumping will all be easier if you can do it both ways.

My point is that some movement habits are instinctive but some are from convention and can be modified by practice and it is worth the effort.

4 Likes

I replaced my dead electric jug with a much smaller one. Easier to lift. I detest those with the narrow top/lid, its a ridiculous design. If push comes to shove in the future, I’ll do what I did when I was in between jugs this last time, and heat water in the microwave oven, in the mug I intend to use, or in a MW safe jug for the teapot.

4 Likes

Thank you @syncretic. Although it’s still impossible to get all of the water out unless tipping the kettle upside down, it is a lot easier to pour, as my forearm gets to lean against the side of the kettle and that strengthens my grip.
:slightly_smiling_face::slightly_smiling_face:

3 Likes

Doesnt that burn you? I could not do that with mine (metal, the last one was plastic but still v hot.)

I saw a few weeks back on some website or other, a gadget into which you put your kettle/jug and its on a kind of pivot, so you don’t actually have to lift the jug to pour, but rather just tip it in place. I’ll have a hunt around for where I saw it. Might have been independent living specialists or similar. Mind you, I might feel tempted to just have a small urn instead.

Look for a cool touch one :slightly_smiling_face:

Here’s the tipper I was talking about… ugly darned thing…

Think I’ll just get an urn next time :slight_smile:

1 Like