SWMBO & I still love our five-quid plastic kettle, picked up on a previous visit to the UK. But we would really like to upgrade to a 3KW cordless kettle, one with a stainless steel boiler.

Does such a beast exist? Leakproof?

I've found several "stainless" kettles online, but with many of them only the exterior is totally stainless, and some models apparently suffer from leaks after a year or two where a silicone gasket joins the metal bottom with a plastic upper.

Recommendations? We're specifically looking for one with a UK plug, as our kitchen already has the UK jack for it.

In addition to a recommendation, I'm also looking for someone to actually purchase and send one our way (full reimbursement via Paypal of course).

???

Thanks.

I've been using a 3KW Breville for the past 2 years. Its been flawless. Zero leaks and its used a LOT. Unsure if the burner is stainless though.

http://www.breville.co.uk/products/kettles.html?cat=23&limit=all&p=3

Happy to ship you one if you like.

Mmmm.. most of those look like plastic / polycarbonate tanks, with metal "accent trim". Is that really how they're constructed?

I wonder if any models have a stainless steel boiling tank? Information from the catalogues is very incomplete there, so I'm relying upon people with kettles to pop the lids and look inside.

Thanks

I noticed the same thing when I was having an idle look last night. It looked like at least some of the Russell Hobbs models had steel tanks.

I looked inside. Its all metal. Only plastic is for the water level window. Have to say I've never seen a kettle with a metal trim and plastic insides. Seems like a lot of hassle.

Oh, great then! I suppose this probably means that all of that brand's "steel jug" models are likely to be built similarly.

Super!

Now.. what exactly is a "concealed element" ?

Does this just mean there's a visual cover hiding it from view, so that one doesn't see the scale building up on it?

Most of the 3KW kettles seem to tout that as a "desirable feature", so I suppose it must mean something different.

This is really helpful. Thank-you!

I think 'concealed element' means that it is not in contact with the water directly. The pro is that there is no cleaning of the element required and the cleaning of the water chamber is simplified. The con is that there may be a drop in efficiency due to the element not being in direct contact with the water. Also repairs are questionable, but that's true for all of these boilers, I'm thinking.

Its concealed and sealed under the kettle base (2nd pic). It should never come into contact with water.

I can pop into my local 'Comet' sometime and look inside the current Breville models if you like. I think they will look the same though.

The cheaper electric kettles do usually have plastic insides, and yes, I stay away from those too.

I haven't yet seen any models that don't have plastic somewhere inside (mainly the bottom of the lid), but you can minimize the amount that touches boiling water.

We actually have two electric kettles in our kitchen. My wife is Persian, and therefore a tea drinker. But one unexpectedly nice part about having electric kettles is that it makes it so much faster to boil a pot of water for pasta. We use our largest pot for pasta, and if we start with tap water it takes a very long time to boil even when covered, at least 15 minutes on our gas stove. So instead we put a little in the pot with the gas on high, and fill our two kettles. It cuts the process to about half.

One of our kettles is a 6 cup model from Krups, which we use for water boiling and for when a bunch of guests want tea. The other is a smaller model that I bought from Adagio teas called the UtiliTea. We use that one more often because it has a temperature gauge, which is important for green teas and the like so they don't taste too bitter. It also boils faster for whatever amount of water you put in, probably because of the smaller size.

By the way, if you haven't shopped at Adagio before, it's a great online tea store with very decent prices. Their peppermint tea is my go-to drink when I have a cold. We also have two of these in pretty heavy rotation.

Anyway, here are photos of our Krups and our UtiliTea, respectively, with requested shots of the insides:

I found a rather long and informative discussion of UK 3KW kettles at diybanter.com. Sounds like they definitely don't make them like they used to.

It also sounds like a non-concealed element is probably better, though also mostly extinct in modern 3KW models.

Thank-you, but that shouldn't be necessary. The information I'm seeing here and finding elsewhere all suggests that when they say "steel jug", they actually mean it.

Now I just have to figure out if there's a "known reliable" model out there that we could get. Given how expensive this will be (shipping could cost more than the kettle), it's a bit of a risky shot in the dark.

Cheers

MMm.. m2cshop has a good selection of kettles and seems willing to post them to Canada for a reasonable fee -- postage ends up being about the same as the price of the kettle. Then I'll have tax and duty at this end, so about CDN$100 to land a 3KW kettle.

Think I'll give that a go, once I figure out which model to risk.

Like I said, my Breville is over two years old and going strong. The Kenwood ones just look cheap and nasty. This thing is solid and boils water *fast*.

I have to laugh at the 'noisy' comments. Its a flippin' kettle, used in a kitchen, not a library. And its for two minutes at a time - if that. Nobody complains if their blender is too noisy to listen to the radio whilst in use.

I didn't see a good Breville at that site, so in the end we ordered a Kenwood, and we'll see how that works out over time.

Should be here in a week or so, unless the wildcat postal strikes here (Canada) slow things down.

Cheers