Traveling and Heating Water Cleanly

[databody]

How do you heat water when traveling?

Although many hotels do provide clean and hot water from some source, I'd prefer to have a reliable one of my own. I'm specifically interested in a method that would heat water without affecting its taste/adding toxicity to it!

From what I gather, there are no electric kettles without plastic components that make contact with water (by condensation)--so unless there is one yet to be discovered these are not options.

I've seen "ceramic hot plate"s mentioned on this site but have not seen a specific one recommended--might anyone know of such a product?

So...how do you heat your water (or your kettle I guess) when traveling without negatively affecting the water's taste and toxicity?

[tingjunkie]

According to the last thread you started on almost exactly the same topic, you said you lived in Long Island,NY, correct?

Let's put things in perspective... You live on a radioactive sandbar. To get anywhere on that island, you need to drive in heavy traffic and suck down car fumes. Unless you're drinking really top grade teas, they likely have chemicals and pesticides in them. Unless you eat 100% organic foods from reputable groceries, you got issues there too. Yet, despite all this, you're worried about mythical condensation from plastic that never directly touches the water?

Life is too short. Buy a stainless electric kettle, drink tea you like, and be happy. Too much worrying, on the other hand, leads to health problems.

[MarshalN]

According to the last thread you started on almost exactly the same topic, you said you lived in Long Island,NY, correct?

Let's put things in perspective... You live on a radioactive sandbar. To get anywhere on that island, you need to drive in heavy traffic and suck down car fumes. Unless you're drinking really top grade teas, they likely have chemicals and pesticides in them. Unless you eat 100% organic foods from reputable groceries, you got issues there too. Yet, despite all this, you're worried about mythical condensation from plastic that never directly touches the water?

Life is too short. Buy a stainless electric kettle, drink tea you like, and be happy. Too much worrying, on the other hand, leads to health problems.

Amen

When you travel I presume you're eating at whatever local restaurants can offer. I somehow I suspect they are much more likely to contain dubious chemicals in their food than you would ever get from your tea heated in some plastic container. Soup that's heated in a plastic bag in a microwave, for instance.

[debunix]

For longer car trips, I bring along one of my variable temp kettles from home--plastic in the lid an all; for travel by air, it's usually a small electric kettle that is mostly plastic with a metal heating element. Both can be the start of good tea.

[Bob_McBob]

http://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-Voyage-0 ... 008YQLZOW/

This can be operated without the lid if you're afraid of plastic.

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

http://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-Voyage-0 ... 008YQLZOW/

This can be operated without the lid if you're afraid of plastic.

I have a kettle not unlike the one linked above. As noted, one can boil the water with the lid off and it boils water quickly. I believe my small kettle is a Narita. It's small and efficient. Staying in hotels I dislike using the small coffee pots in the rooms to brew water; not matter what the water always has some essence of coffee from the maker. So I use the Narita if I am traveling and wanting an electric kettle.

There are all sorts of small, lightweight electric hotplates (http://www.naritausa.com/product/burners.html) that can be bought. My parents have one for traveling. You could easily pair a lightweight, flat hotplate with a small kettle of your choice. A quick search turned up multiple, relatively compact, light hot plates. Here are some more (http://www.walmart.com/ip/21582291?wmls ... 10&veh=sem).

When away from the tea room, especially when traveling to spaces that have nice parks or natural settings nearby I prefer to brew outside. I previously worked at R.E.I. and have a number of nice backpack stoves but the one I stick to now is my lightweight Soto canister stove: the stove has a piezo ignition, no lighter necessary (http://www.rei.com/product/862477/soto-windmaster-stove). Even when we fly I bring the ultra small stove head and an ultralight titanium kettle (http://www.rei.com/search?query=titaniu ... version=V5) with its titanium lid. I then pick up the fuel canister wherever I land and travel that way (fuel canisters have been easy to find (they are recyclable after use); I take my stove with me to Taiwan each year and buy a fuel canister once in Taiwan and brew tea in the parks this way). The stove is lightweight, burns well, simmers, is quiet and I can tuck the stove and a fuel canister all neatly inside of the titanium pot. It takes up very little room and my wife and I often brew tea this way; we hike to a beautiful location set out the tea gear, attach the stove, grab some water from a mt. stream, and sit to tea.

This is a link to another stove similar to mine: http://www.rei.com/product/769473/optim ... ing-system

Here's another one: http://www.rei.com/product/787957/snow-peak-starter-kit

Good luck!

EDIT:
Here's a picture of the Soto stove in use on a recent trip to Yosemite National Park with an Evernew titanium kettle (http://www.backcountrygear.com/evernew- ... Qgod3DEAgA) that heats and pours very well.

[Evan Draper]

Radioactive sandbar, awesome

[Neist]

A bonavita kettle only use a very, very small portion of plastic that water can even be exposed to. The rest of the inside is completely metal.

http://www.bonavitaworld.com/products/k-main.asp

It's at the top of the handle, way up in the top of the kettle. It's not a perfect solution, but it's better than some kettles I've seen. It's quite a nice kettle, too.