Electric Kettles are appliances which boil water. Apart from boiling water, they are used to prepare tea/coffee, soup, noodles, pasta. They can also be used to boil milk or boil vegatables.
There are electric kettles have the ability to control temperature and hence allows you to heat water to a specific temperature. This is useful for brewing special tea’s like white, oolong tea which require a specific temperature for best results.
What are the benefits of buying an Electric Kettle?
Electric Kettles can boil water faster than traditional methods like firewood or gas stoves. They also take up less energy and make it convenient to manage the items you are boiling. With advancements many electrical kettles are now able to control temperature which extends its applications. Below are the many benefits-
1. They are easy to use/convenient – Just by connecting a cord to the power socket and press of a button, the kettle boils and switches off by itself. No worry of availability of fuel like gas or wood.
2. Temperature of liquids can be controlled – Many electric kettles nowadays have temperature settings in them and are labelled to specific need i.e. Tea/Coffee, Noodles, Warm, Boil etc. Hence you can select the matching setting for the contents you are boiling. For Example – If you want to boil Tea you just need to select the Tea Setting (preset at 80 degC) on your kettle and it does the Job.
3. They heat water fast – Kettles heat water quickly as compared to traditional stoves and hence saving our patience.
4. They save money – Electric Kettles consume less energy as they are based on electricity. Heating with electricity is very efficient compared to the heat loss in gas, wood used by traditional stoves.
3. What are the different features to consider in an Electric Kettle?
1
Heating Power
It is the capacity of the kettle to heat contents as fast as possible. A higher heating power translates to quicker heating. Kettles come with heating power ranging from 1000W to 2000W.
Heating Powers should be selected based on the number of people consuming the content.
See Explanation
Heating Power determines how fast the water heats up. Heating Power or Heating Capacity is specified in Watts i.e. 800 W, 1100 W, 1800 W and so on.
As a rule of thumb, a 1500 W Electric Kettle can boil 1L of water in roughly 3 mins. This would mean that a higher capacity kettle say 2000 W could boil the same amount of water in lesser time.
Heating Power should be choosen based on the capacity of the kettle. For low capacities (upto 1.2l) 1200W should be sufficient and for high capacities (above 1.2L) 1800W would be optimum.
2
Capacity
Is the amount of water you can heat in one go or one session. Kettles come with 1l, 1.2l, 1.5l. 1.7l and 2l Capacity.
Capacity should be choosen depending on the number of people you will be serving from the kettle.
See Explanation
Kettles come with a defined capacity in litres which limits the volume that can be boiled in a session. Kettles come with capacities of 0.75l, 1l, 1.5l, 1.75l and even 2l. Higher Capacities take more time to boil than lower capacities and hence you will have to opt for a higher power inorder to match the time of lower capacity models.
Image shows the maximum capacity of the kettle i.e. 1.7l
That is for example if your 1l fully filled kettle rated to 1500W takes 3 mins to boil, the same will not be true for a similar rated kettle of higher capacity say 1.5l or higher. We will require a higher rating to achieve boiling at the same time.
Lower Capacities (0.75l to 1.2l) would suit a small family of 3-4 people and for higher than that you will need to go for 1.5l and above.
3
Body Material
The inner material of the kettle which is in contact with the heating contents. The inner body are either made up of Plastic, Stainless Steel, or Glass.
Stainless Steels fare the best in terms of cleanliness, durability and food safety. Check the explanation below for the pros and cons between each material.
See Explanation
Inner Body Material plays an important role and each material has its pro's and con's which can be seen in the table below.
Image shows Kettles in three materials (from left- Plastic, Glass, Stainless Steel)
Plastic are found in the entry level kettle because its cheap. Glass are found in expensive kettles and is used mainly for it's aesthesity. Stainless Steel is an fares good in almost all compartments and is best for maintaining and long life.
Kettle's usually suffer from smell left behing by the previous heated contents and this is minimized by Stainless Steel and Glass bodies.
Stainless Steel
Glass
Plastic
Heat Resistant
Yes
Yes
Only BPA Plastics are
Smell
No
No
May leave smell
Easy to Clean
Easy
Easy, but care to be taken to not scratch the glass
Difficult
Protection against fall
Yes
No, as glass is fragile
Yes
Weight
Heavy
Medium Heavy
Light
Full Visibility of Contents
Not Visible
Fully Visible
Not Visible
Price
Expensive
Most Expensive
Cheap
As seen above, Stainless Steel is an all round performer by ticking most of the boxes with regards to convenience (easy to clean, no smell, sturdy), looks, food safety. Glass is more targeted towards aesthetic looks. Not to forget the uniformity glass kettles provide with an all glassy kitchen. Plastics are cheap and have drawbacks like they are difficult to clean, issues of smell, and questions on food safety at high temperature if they are not BPA Type Plastics.
Stainless Steel is the best material overall as it offers good reliability, safety and protection against smell, dirt, heat. Glass should be gone for if aesthetics is the prime importance. Better to stay away from Plastic Kettles.
4
Form Factor
Kettles come in two forms i.e. Standard Jug Form or Cooker Form. Jug form has a narrow mouth whereas cooker style has a wider mouth.
Jug or Cooker type should be based on whether you will be mostly using the kettle for liquid (tea, coffee, water) boiling or whether you will be using it to boil eatables (veggies, egg, pasta). Jug is suited for liquids whereas cooker is suited for eatables.
See Explanation
Kettles come in two form factor, first one being the general jug type and the next being the Cooker type with a wide mouth.
Image shows the Jug Type and Cooker Type Kettle
(Credits - Philips, Morphy Richards)
a) Jug Form – This is the design which most of the electric kettles comprise of and are mainly meant to boil liquids like water, milk, tea. They are easy to handle/pour due to their narrow body and pouring is easier.
b) Cooker Form - This kettle has a wide mouth to the cooker vessel. They can be used to boil liquids, but are designed for boiling vegetables, eggs, preparing noodles, pasta etc. Due to their wide mouth, They are easy to clean, thanks to their wide mouth. This makes maintaining the kettle easier as vegetables, eggs leave smell during heating.
Go for Jug type for liquids or else go for cooker type as it makes cooking activities like boiling eggs, vegetables, noodles easy.
5
Temperature Control
Feature of the kettle to control the temperature of the final content. Kettles may or may not have this feature. The ones having it usually come with temperature presets from 4 , 6 to even 10.
This can be an important feature in case you are brewing tea which require a specific temperature for best results.
See Explanation
Temperature Control is a very useful feature of an Electric Kettle. It allows us to control the temperature of the heating contents. This is very useful when you dont want to only limit yourself to boiling water but would like to heat it to a certain temperature.
Image shows the temperature controls in an Electric Kettle.
(Credits - KitchenAid)
Special Tea's such as Delicate Teas,Oolong, Green Team White Tea and French Press Coffee need temperature below boiling point to come out the best. Hence, this should be a must have feature for such applications.
A kettle with temperature control should be opted for if you will be preparing special teas and coffee.
6
Extra Features
Other features like Keep Warm Function, Dual Wall Construction, Goose Neck Spout are worth the mention. To know more check on the explanation below.
See Explanation
a) Keep Warm Function -
This is a very good feature as an addition where the kettle is able to keep the contents warm. This is best if you want to instantly drink warm water and do not want to wait. Filling the kettle and heating it in 'keep warm' will ensure water is warm for a long period of time. The kettle achieves this by reheating when the temperature of the contents go below a certain point.
b) Goose Neck Spout -
A goose neck spout similar to old traditional kettles, helps in pouring of liquids with great control.
Image shows the temperature controls in an Electric Kettle
(Credits - KitchenAid)
c) Dual Wall Construction -
The dual wall construction helps in insulating the outer body from the inner container. The outer body remains cool even when the inner contents are boiling. This is a very handy feature where you dont have to worry the risk of burning your hands by accidentally touching the body.
Image shows the dual wall construction (Inner SS and outer Plastic)
(Credits - KitchenAid)
4. How do I select the best Monitor for me?
Choosing the right electric kettle should not be that difficult due to the options and possible user requirements. Based on the kettle's available in the market we can categorize them into two categories viz a) Bachelor/Couple and b) Big Family. This is due to the Kettle's capacity being the primary selection factor. The former category will basically be ranging from a 1-3 people and the latter will be 4 and above. We further, have categorized each categories into 1) Water Heating and 2) Cooking. This is due to there is a further requirement as to use the kettle only for boiling or for cooking also.
1
Bachelor/Couple
For Mainly Boiling Tea/Coffee/Water
In this segment consumers will be boiling mainly liquids for a max of 3 people. Since 250-300 ml will be the general consumption of a person. It would be best to go with a 1l Capacity Kettle with 1200W Power. You can select the materials based on your budget. Since SS kettles are available at cheaper rates, better to stick to them.I Jug type should be opted if the kettle is to only boil water as they are compact and are specifically made for it. Whereas, if you need to boil eggs and do some light cooking like pasta, noodles then you will have to go for a cooker type kettle. If you need to For tea's, kettle with temperature control should be opted..
Recommeded Product Specs and the Specs in the "Featured Summary" table may not be the same. Please refer the detailed spec for exact information.
2
Big Family
For Mainly Boiling Tea/Coffee/Water
In this segment consumers will be boiling mainly liquids for a max of 3 people. Since 250-300 ml will be the general consumption of a person. It would be best to go with a 1.7l Capacity Kettle with around 1700W Power. You can select the materials based on your budget. Since SS kettles are available at cheaper rates, better to stick to them.I Jug type should be opted if the kettle is to only boil water as they are compact and are specifically made for it. Whereas, if you need to boil eggs and do some light cooking like pasta, noodles then you will have to go for a cooker type kettle. If you need to For tea's, kettle with temperature control should be opted..
Recommeded Product Specs and the Specs in the "Featured Summary" table may not be the same. Please refer the detailed spec for exact information.
3
Universal
For Boiling,Cooking Vegetables, Noodles, Pasta, Egg
In this segment consumers will be using the kettle to boil vegetables, eggs, cook pasta, noodles etc. For such requirements it is best to go with the Cooker Type Electric Kettle. It offers a versatile service by catering to any type of food, liquid to be cooked or boiler. You can select the materials based on your budget. Since SS kettles are available at cheaper rates, better to stick to them. It is a good idea to opt one with temperature control as you do not have to worry on the temperature setting for diffent types of contents that you are heating.
Bachelor/Couple
Big Family
Universal
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