Saturday, November 2, 2024

The Best Electric Kettles (2024), Tested and Reviewed

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Like the Oxo’s standard-spout electric kettle, the base of this gooseneck model features easy-to-read instructions for changing between temperature units and adjusting the temperature, plus a guide for selecting the best temperature for different kinds of coffee and tea.

What we don’t like about the Oxo Adjustable Temperature Pour-Over Kettle

Like the standard version of this kettle, the gooseneck lacks any presets. But it recalls the last temperature setting you used when you turn it on, so at least there’s that.

Temperature range: 140ºF to 212ºF
Material: Stainless steel
Dimensions: 12″L x 8.4″W x 7.9″H
Capacity: 1 liter
Weight: 3.6 pounds
Wattage: 1,500 watts
Warranty: 2 years

How we tested electric kettles

All electric kettles have one job in common: to boil water, preferably quickly. So to test how quickly each one did its one job, we timed how long it took to bring four cups of 72ºF tap water to a rolling boil. If the kettle had presets for lower temperatures, we used an instant read thermometer to measure the accuracy of those temperatures. Because some kettles had customer reviews complaining of a metallic taste to the water, we tasted water from each one too. We also washed each kettle.

Fellow’s kettle tells you exactly what the current temperature is and begins holding temp automatically.

Noah Kaufman

Here’s how else we judged the kettles:

Power

Using a stopwatch, we measured how long it took each kettle to get four cups of 72ºF water to a rolling boil.

Accuracy

For kettles with presets for tea or with variable temperature settings, we used an instant-read thermometer to ensure the displayed temperature was accurate.

Pour function

We looked for kettles that felt nice in our hands, even when full, and were easy to hold while pouring. More importantly, we looked at the flow of the piping-hot water. Does the water rush out or pour out smoothly and evenly or did hot water splash all over the place? When considering a gooseneck kettle, a precise pour and consistent flow is even more important.

Ease of use

Is the kettle easy to fill? Is the control panel intuitive or did we have to read the manual to figure out how to use it? Is it easy to clean? Does the manual offer tips or instructions for descaling the kettle after a certain number of uses?

Features

Does the kettle have presets or variable temperature control? Does it chirp or beep when it reaches the target temperature? Does it hold that temperature automatically (or even at all)? Does it recall the last settings we used? Are there other features that make coffee or tea brewing easier or more pleasant?

Materials and construction

While function is paramount, we also considered form. We want gear looks nice, especially if it’s going to live on our countertops.

Taste

Enough user reviews had complaints of off or metallic-tasting water that we felt it was important to taste the water from each and noted unusual flavors, if any. (It turns out most just needed to be washed before they were used though.)


Other electric kettles we tested

Standard spout | Gooseneck

Ninja Precision Temperature Stainless Steel Kettle

Ninja KT200 Precision Temperature Electric Kettle

Ninja’s Precision Temperature Stainless Steel Kettle has a sleek brushed-stainless steel exterior and a digital interface that displays temperature as it heats water from your starting temp to your target temp. You can manually set the temperature from 105ºF to 212ºF in five-degree increments (until you reach 210ºF then the next increment is 212º). There’s also a boil button as well as one-touch preset temperature controls for coffee and five different types of tea (black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong, and herbal). It brought four cups of 72ºF water to a rolling boil in 4 minutes and 15 seconds—only fifteen seconds slower than the Oxo kettle. It also offers a nice little beep to let you know it’s reached temperature and to warn you that the auto shut off is about to kick in to keep it from boiling dry. Frustratingly, the keep warm setting shuts off when you remove the kettle from the heating element. This is in contrast to most other electric kettles, including our top pick, which will keep the water to temperature for up to 30 minutes or more, regardless of how many times you pick it up. When you can find it on sale, it’s a great budget option. But at the suggested retail price, it costs about as much as the Oxo and lacks some of its better features.

Fellow Corvo EKG Electric Kettle

Fellow Corvo EKG Electric Tea Kettle

Fellow’s Corvo EKG electric kettle is basically the base model Fellow Stagg EKG kettle, but with a standard pitcher spout instead of a gooseneck spout, so it’s not something you’d want to use for pour-over coffee. Like the Stagg, the Corvo has a beautiful, minimalist design, with a single knob, a flat backlight temperature display, and two switches hidden on the back (one engages the keep-warm function and one switches between fahrenheit and celsius). But with a .9-liter/30-ounce capacity, some home cooks might find it too small to work as a general-purpose kitchen kettle—especially when you can get something much larger with similar features for a lot less money. That said, if you only ever need to heat a little water and you want something that will perform well and look really great on the counter, this is a great little kettle. (There’s also a pro version of this kettle with more features, but it costs more and has the same limited .9-liter capacity.)

Zwilling Enfinigy Cool Touch Kettle Pro

ZWILLING Enfinigy 1.56-qt Cool Touch Electric Kettle Pro

We love the look of Zwilling’s Enfinigy line, which includes toasters, coffee makers, blenders, scales, grinders, and other gadgets and appliances. Many perform really well in the kitchen too, including the Cool Touch Kettle Pro. This electric tea kettle is quiet, easy to clean, and in our testing it boiled water quickly and demonstrated precise temperature control. There are six presets—including one for warming baby bottles—plus a keep-warm function. The outside is also cool to the touch, even with boiling water inside. However, it’s pricier and less customizable than the Ninja, so unless you need a one-touch bottle-warming feature, you’re paying for looks with this one (but hey, we’re not here to judge).

Breville Crystal Clear Electric Kettle

Breville Crystal Clear Kettle

Breville makes a lot of really impressive small appliances for the kitchen, and in our testing, the brand’s Crystal Clear Electric Kettle boiled 4 cups of water in just under 4 minutes. We enjoyed watching it reach a rolling boil through that crystal clear glass too. But this kettle has some limitations that kept it far from the top spot. There’s no keep-warm function so as soon as it reaches a boil it shuts off. There are also no temperature settings—when you turn it on, it boils the water, shuts off, and that’s all she wrote. At the time of publishing, the clear glass Oxo electric kettle is practically the same price, and has far more features.

Wolf Gourmet True Temperature Electric Kettle

Wolf Gourmet True Temperature Electric Kettle

The brand name Wolf Gourmet is synonymous with high-end kitchen appliances, and they’re easily identified by their deep-red knobs—which this luxe electric kettle definitely has. It also pours nicely, boils pretty quickly, and otherwise accurately heats water to the desired temperatures. It’s one of the only standard-spout kettles we tested that offers the ability to set the temperature in single-degree increments, and we kind of like that of the four presets there isn’t one for coffee since a kettle with a standard spout isn’t necessarily designed for coffee anyway. The double-walled stainless steel body keeps the thing cool to the touch even when it’s boiling water, but it also doesn’t allow you to watch your water from across the kitchen like you would with a clear glass kettle. Unless you’re dead set on that iconic red knob or you need the ability to completely remove the lid, you can get the same performance and features for quite a bit less money with the more affordable Oxo we recommend.

KitchenAid Electric Kettle

KitchenAid 1.25-Liter Electric Kettle

If you’re a tea drinker who wants the ease of an electric kettle and you want something cute and you don’t care all that much about what temperature the water is since you’ve been boiling water in a vintage kettle on the stove for all these years anyway, then this KitchenAid electric kettle might be right up your alley. It sure is cute, and that’s pretty much all it has going for it since it has no temperature settings. Though it boiled water quickly, the opening is small, which makes it kind of tricky to fill. What’s even worse is that the fixed handle (read: it doesn’t fold down to either side of the kettle) covers the opening. But did we mention that it’s cute?

Smeg ’50s Retro Electric Kettle

SMEG 50’s Retro Style Electric Water Kettle

Speaking of cute… Like all of its large and small kitchen appliances, Smeg’s ’50s Retro Electric Kettle is very cute and comes in a variety of fun bold and neutral colors. Unfortunately, the body is bulky and the small spout makes it somewhat awkward to pour from, even for a general use kettle. Though the pitcher is opaque, there’s a slim see-through water-level indicator tucked under the shiny chrome handle, and a removable filter can be removed to clean off any mineral buildup from hard water. But this is another one of those pricey kettles that just does one thing: boils water. It’s just too expensive for something with no presets or function for controlling the temperature—unless of course you just want that retro look in a specific color.

Hamilton Beach Glass Electric Kettle

Hamilton Beach 1.7L Electric Tea Kettle

Hamilton Beach makes a range of pretty good, pretty cheap small appliances for the kitchen, including coffee gear, and this Glass Electric Kettle is one of them (the brand’s now-discontinued single-serve coffee and tea maker was not). It heats quickly, and while you can’t set specific temperatures, the user-friendly control panel—which is built into the top part of the handle—has six presets for different teas, French-press coffee, hot cocoa, and of course, boil. An automatic keep-warm function will hold the water at the target temperature for up to 30 minutes and boil-dry protection senses when the kettle is empty and will automatically shut off to prevent scorching. Over the last few years of testing, we’ve seen the price on this skyrocket to as high as $80, but at $50 (the price at the time of publishing) or less, it’s definitely a good budget pick.

Cosori Original Digital Glass Kettle

COSORI Electric Kettle Temperature Control with 6 Presets

Cosori’s standard electric kettle looks a lot like the Hamilton Beach kettle, with a glass carafe, a control panel built into the top of the handle, and a blue light that glows when the kettle is heating the water. But in our testing, we found that the temperatures were generally off by about five degrees—the biggest variances in temperature of any model we tested. This kettle also requires you to hold down the Start/Cancel button to engage the keep-warm setting, which isn’t particularly convenient or intuitive.

Peach Street Electric Glass Kettle

Peach Street Speed-Boil Water Electric Kettle

The Peach Street electric glass kettle has a 1.8-quart capacity, ten color options, and a very accessible price tag. For something that has only one function (boil) it also has a lot of five-star reviews on Amazon. After testing it, we’re somewhat skeptical of all the praise considering it took about a minute longer to reach a boil than the 3-minute claim and the spout made for an awkward, slightly dangerous pour that doesn’t direct the water where you think it will. But if all you need is something that will boil water and you don’t want to spend a lot of money, it’s…fine. But pouring from it will require some care and take some getting used to.

Amazon Basics Electric Kettle

Amazon Basics Electric Kettle,

Like Hamilton Beach, Amazon’s house brand offers a selection of good-enough affordable kitchen gear that gets the job done (and another really awful single-serve coffee maker). True to its name, this Amazon Basics electric kettle is very basic, but it boils water quickly and a blue light will turn off when the kettle does so you know it has reached the boiling point and has shut off (there’s no keep warm function). The 1-liter capacity might be a little limiting for some home cooks, and the opening is somewhat small, but if you just need something that will boil water quickly and you’re on a budget, this is a decent option at a very accessible price.

Cuisinart PerfecTemp Stainless Steel Electric Kettle

Cuisinart 1.7-Liter Stainless Steel Cordless Electric Kettle with 6 Preset Temperatures

The Cuisinart PerfecTemp Cordless Electric Kettle is another 1.7-liter kettle with preset buttons built into the top of the easy-to-grip handle. It also heats quickly, pours well, and has a high-quality stainless steel finish (versus the clear glass Hamilton Beach kettle). That said, it’s currently twice the price of the Hamilton Beach and like that one, won’t allow you to set a specific temperature beyond the push-of-a-button presets. For the price of the Cuisinart, you could get the Oxo, which offers far more temperature control.

Chefman Electric Kettle

The Chefman Electric Kettle has a removable, optional tea infuser that we initially thought might appeal to tea drinkers who want to brew their tea right there in the kettle. But the infuser feels gimmicky considering the fact that there are no temperature settings for various types of tea (just an on and off switch) and even if you’re looking for something really budget friendly, this machine doesn’t heat water as quickly as the Hamilton Beach—which does have multiple temperature settings.

Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Kettle

Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Gooseneck Kettle

There’s so much to love about Fellow’s original gooseneck kettle. Like our top pick (which is the Pro version of this one), it’s gorgeous and minimally designed, yet packs a lot of features into a small, sleek base. The manual temperature control allows you to adjust the temperature in single-degree increments from 135ºF to 212ºF, which is a wider range than comparable kettles and the one-hour temperature hold setting is generous too. It also features a “brew stopwatch” that gives you the ability to monitor how long your coffee has steeped when making a pour-over. Many of our editors have also used this kettle at home for years without issue. The only reason it’s not our top gooseneck kettle pick is because the Stagg EKG Pro has more features, including (but not limited to) a clock, an adjustable temperature-hold timer, and altitude adjustment.

Timemore Fish Smart Electric Gooseneck Kettle

TIMEMORE Electric Gooseneck Kettle with Temperature Control

Tinemore may not be as well-known as Fellow, but they make some great gear for pour-over coffee, including this gooseneck kettle. In fact, it offered the best pour control out of every single kettle we tested (yes, it poured even more precisely than Fellow’s gooseneck kettles). We also really appreciate the sleek square base and minimalist style, but we got really frustrated trying to set the temperature to 200ºF using the touchscreen slider. After trying many mornings in a row, we gave up and left it at 198ºF. Not a huge deal and 198ºF is not out of range for a pour-over coffee, but an electric kettle is supposed to be easy to use and the technical difficulties kept the Tinemore out of the top spot.

Bonavita Digital Variable Temperature Kettle

Bonavita Digital Variable Temperature Gooseneck Electric Kettle

Though it lacks labeled preset buttons, the simple control panel of Bonavita’s stainless steel electric gooseneck kettle allows you to manually set the temperature in one-degree increments from 140ºF to 208ºF. There’s also a Boil button to reach 212ºF and a Preset Temps button that lets you toggle through a few different standard temperatures for tea and pour-over coffee. The presets can’t be reprogrammed, but the machine will remember the last temperature you set it to and automatically set it as the target temperature the next time you turn it on. The backlit LED display shows you the temperature of the water as it heats in real time, and a Hold button will keep the water at up to 208ºF for up to 60 minutes. Unless you read the manual, there’s no way to know that you can switch from Fahrenheit to Celcius by holding down the + and – buttons at the same time for three seconds (a nearly-identical looking model lacks the Preset Temps buttons and instead has a button for switching between temperature units.) The Bonavita also doesn’t heat as quickly as the Fellow or Oxo gooseneck kettles, which is why it’s no longer a top pick. But it’s still a really great electric gooseneck kettle, especially if you get it on sale.

Bodum Melior Gooseneck Kettle

Bodum Melior Gooseneck Electric Water Kettle

The Bodum Melior Gooseneck Kettle is a good-looking gadget that’s available at an accessible price. The cork handles look great contrasted against the matte black finish on the kettle we tested—plus they’re nice to grip and always cool to the touch. But for a gooseneck kettle from a brand that, a decade ago, was to specialty coffee as Fellow is today, it’s kind of shocking that there are no temperature settings. In fact, there are no settings whatsoever, just an analog switch near the bottom of the kettle (not on the base) that when flipped up, will heat the water until it’s boiling. But you don’t want boiling water for pour-over coffee; it should be between 195ºF and 205ºF and in addition to settings, this kettle lacks any sort of temperature display. If you simply want an affordable kettle that looks cool for the sole purpose of getting water to a rolling boil, it will do, but if you require any sort of precision or presets, definitely pass on this one.

Willow & Everett Gooseneck Kettle with Temperature Presets

Gooseneck Electric Kettle with Temperature Control & Presets

This budget-friendly gooseneck kettle is nothing fancy and lacks many of the features of our favorite models, but it heated quickly and the gooseneck spout allowed for a smooth and easy flow in our test pours. Unlike the similarly-priced Bodum, this kettle has a basic control panel with preset buttons for different types of tea and coffee, as well as boil and keep warm settings so it could actually be used for pour-over coffee.

Govee Smart Electric Gooseneck Kettle

Govee Smart Electric Kettle

Do you need a smart gooseneck kettle with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth features that you can program from your phone? Probably not. But you might want one that you can connect to your smart home device so you can say, “Hey Google, boil water.” (You know, once you’ve already put water in the kettle.) If that sounds appealing, you can also use the Govee app to set precise temperatures, schedule it to start up, and activate the keep-warm function. But buyer beware: if you don’t connect it to your smartphone or use the app, you’ll be limited to the less-smart presets that are built into the base, which are buttons for green tea, oolong tea, coffee, and boil.

Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle

COSORI Electric Gooseneck Kettle with 5 Temperature Control Presets

Cosori’s electric gooseneck kettle is fine, though certainly not perfect for pour-over coffee considering the water rushed out of the gooseneck spout so quickly. Beyond that, the five presets are limited when similarly-priced water kettles offer more precise temperature settings. It also took a little longer to reach the target temperature than comparable gooseneck kettles, but we did appreciate that this one chirped at us when it got there.

Additional testing and reporting by Wilder Davies and Noah Kaufman.



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