The water from the tap has a certain amount of calcium in it, it’s not fat. That act of boiling water will make it so a some of the calcium carbonate will precipitate out of the water onto your kettle. This can come loose over time and with use of the kettle and form little flakes in the water. It’s nothing that’s not already in the drinking water and is perfectly safe
Kitchens can be very greasy places. Do you ever cook food in a pan near your kettle? It could also be from whatever container you poured the hot water in.
What container is the water in? If it is a mixing cup or glass cup, there will likely be residual fats that linger after washing. There are also various grease,s fats, and other lipids in you water pipes, faucets, and the kitchen air since particles linger around. Everything in a kitchen will start to develop a small film of grease if it isn’t cleaned constantly. It’s not harmful and you have been consuming it for literally your entire life
Looks like a glass jar to contain water. Previous tenants could have used them to store literally anything so yeah, residual fats doesn’t sound that surprising now that I think about it.
Maybe I should be paying more attention to the stuff around me instead of only while I’m overseas 🙃
Something else I’ve noticed about my own kettle that might be contributing. I store my kettle very near or sometimes just on my stovetop. If you fry anything nearby, even with a wipe down/cleaning you can still get small amounts of fat splatter on enough of the kettle that some of it may be making it’s way into the spout or underside of the lid that then gets mixed in by the steam inside when you boil water next.
Could you explain how fats would end up in kettles? Since tap water should be the only thing going in
The water from the tap has a certain amount of calcium in it, it’s not fat. That act of boiling water will make it so a some of the calcium carbonate will precipitate out of the water onto your kettle. This can come loose over time and with use of the kettle and form little flakes in the water. It’s nothing that’s not already in the drinking water and is perfectly safe
Kitchens can be very greasy places. Do you ever cook food in a pan near your kettle? It could also be from whatever container you poured the hot water in.
It’s a rented apartment, so very likely the previous tenants have cooked near the kettle
What container is the water in? If it is a mixing cup or glass cup, there will likely be residual fats that linger after washing. There are also various grease,s fats, and other lipids in you water pipes, faucets, and the kitchen air since particles linger around. Everything in a kitchen will start to develop a small film of grease if it isn’t cleaned constantly. It’s not harmful and you have been consuming it for literally your entire life
Looks like a glass jar to contain water. Previous tenants could have used them to store literally anything so yeah, residual fats doesn’t sound that surprising now that I think about it.
Maybe I should be paying more attention to the stuff around me instead of only while I’m overseas 🙃
Something else I’ve noticed about my own kettle that might be contributing. I store my kettle very near or sometimes just on my stovetop. If you fry anything nearby, even with a wipe down/cleaning you can still get small amounts of fat splatter on enough of the kettle that some of it may be making it’s way into the spout or underside of the lid that then gets mixed in by the steam inside when you boil water next.
Yeah I forgot about oil particles (?) being ever present in kitchens
Should be, but did someone boil milk at some point?
I wouldn’t rule that out, no idea how many tenants came before us. They could have boiled orange juice in them for all I know
Comments you can taste.
In a kettle?!
Bet you can guess what went into our kettle when I lived with a prior partner.
I hope you’re doing better now. LOL