Tea Kettles (stovetop)

What's a good stovetop tea kettle? Should have a whistle, convenient to operate the spout, and the handle should not get uncomfortably hot.

Reply to
RPS
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I can't recommend a good one, but I discovered a very bad one when I bought my last tea kettle. I bought it at Target a year or so ago - I can't find a brand name on it, it's not their own brand. It seemed very attractive and nice in the store - I don't use a tea kettle that much, so I wasn't looking for anything fancy. But once I got it home, I discovered that in order to pour out of it, you have to remove the whistling cap from the spout. While boiling steam is coming out of the spout. This requires fast fingers and an oven mitt, which is really stupid - I can't imagine who designed it!

I keep wanting to buy another one, but since I don't use it all that often (I don't drink tea or coffee), it seems a waste to spend another $10-$20 on an item that isn't broken, exactly, just inconvenient. That's a fair sum of money to me.

Karen

Reply to
Karen Wheless

That's a stupid design. I have seen many inexpensive ones that have a mechanism under handle which lets you open the spout.

You might consider getting one of these and giving/selling yours to someone who doesn't want a whistle (presumably the spout cover can be detached and thrown away).

Unfortunately I don't have the make or model #, hopefully other posts in this thread will make specific recommendations.

Reply to
AKT

A kettle (electric or stove top) is an essential part of a British kitchen, and the most used thing in it other than the floor. The best non-whistling kettle I've used was the Aga one, but it is big and heavy, and not worth the money if you only use it occasionally and don't have an Aga... Other than that, any kettle that doesn't leak is good. If you must have a whistle, look for a nice cheap one with a mechanism for opening the spout from the handle.

My own kettle is an electric one. It's glass... Looks good, but a pain in the bum as it dribbles when you pour! Trouble is that it was expensive and other than the dribble, it works well. Try a few for pouring before you buy! One day I'm going to smash this thing if it drips scalding water on my feet again!

Reply to
Kate Dicey

I wish I remembered manufacturer's names for you. We got a fancy tea kettle some time ago. It cost somewhere around $40.00, looked way cool and worked the way you describe with a whistle. It lasted less than a year at which point the bottom burned out. It had been made so poorly that the metal at the bottom started leaking. We replaced it with the cheapest model at Walmart. This is an ugly green thunky thing with none of the silver designed grace of the previous one. This one still works.

--Lia

RPS wrote:

Reply to
Julia Altshuler

On 5/7/2004 1:39 AM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

My wife and I drink a fair amount of tea. We have a stainless steel, copper bottom, Revere Ware kettle. The handle is some type of bakelite with a lever to open the spout. The inside is "tinned" and it has a whistle. We have had the kettle for almost 5 years and have used it on a coil type electric range and at present a glass top range. The only negative on this (and just about all of them) is cleaning around where the bakelite comes up against the spout. I have to use the point of a knife to get in the tiny groove. I don't know the cost now, but when we bought it, it was about $15 (US).

Reply to
Ted Campanelli

RPS asked in message news:070520040041377438% snipped-for-privacy@no.spam...

You forgot to mention price-ceiling; how much are you willing to spend? How long/much do you plan on using it?

My personal choice is the Simplex copper (coil-bottomed). It's 1-3/4 quart capacity holds enough water to make a pot of tea and several individual portions. The raised body (coils) allows it to heat water more quickly than traditional kettles. The copper is /striking/ to look at and not too difficult to clean when it gets spattered. Most importantly, the handle doesn't get HOT after the water heats! It also has a whistle that can be heard throughout Castle Ranger and into the garage if I'm out-and-about tinkering.

The Ranger

Reply to
The Ranger

Copper kettle- $35 at Home Goods.

trent

Reply to
trent

That's what I have. I can't even remember how long we've had it. Maybe

12-13 years. Still works. Has the mechanism for opening the lid, so you don't get fingers scalded. I don't recall using a hotpad to handle it, either.

Dawn

Reply to
DawnK

I'll second the Revere Ware kettle. We've got a small one and it's served us well for almost a year. We had 2 OXO Good Grips kettles - one we bought and the whistle stopped working after about 6 months, so they sent us a replacement one, and the whistle stopped on that one also. The OXO kettle was pretty cool - weighted so the spout opens when you tip it, the whistle was harmonic (instead of the shrill "tweeeeee" that most are), but it just didn't keep working the way it was supposed to (we need a whistle so the kettle doesn't boil dry while we're doing something else other than watching the kettle).

brian

Reply to
Brian or Sharon Beuchaw

You might want to consider a cordless elctric kettle, with an automatic shutoff.

Sheila

Reply to
S Viemeister

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Philips Electric Kettle HD4651 Price: $34.99

had this thing for over a year of daily use, works perfectly, love it

Reply to
Sofia

I thought the OP specified stovetop.

Reply to
AKT

Mine looks like this........

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Great kettle and cost me $11.00 when I bought it (including tax) several years ago. I will never use another.

Reply to
Jaime

This is not what you asked for, but I suggest you consider an electric kettle, non wistling. They turn off automatically, they're portable so you can bring it to the dining or living room, and they don't make loud obnoxious noises. There a bit more expensive but very convenient.

Reply to
Jon A. Solworth

We've been REALLY happy with our hotspot boiling water dispenser. It might not meet the needs of the particularly picky, as the water is 10-15 degrees below boiling, but a number of our favorite teas do not require 212 degree water (and, after all, there are yuppies in Denver).

Martin

Reply to
Martin Golding

OXO Good Grips.

Like everything else I've got from them, exceptional quality. Good handle & other parts as well.

Instead of a whistle, the sound it makes is like a train whistle (2-tone).

I make a pot of iced tea each day in it & love it!

Van in Albany

Reply to
Van

I'll second that suggestion... I've got the same model and use it quite regularly in the cooler months.

The Simplex copper kettles come in several models. The one described above which I also have is for a gas stove only. It also comes in a model with a flat bottom for electric or gas. The kettle either comes in plain copper, or in chrome plated copper. I've seen the four variants: copper/gas, chrome/gas, copper/flat bottomed, chrome/flat bottomed.

The whistle can definitely be easily heard, even if it is a bit shrill. The whistle is in the removable cover. The spout doesn't have to be opened... there is a automatic ball in the spout that holds the steam for the whistle whichs rolls out the way for pouring.

Reply to
wff_ng_6

Darn good question.

In addition to all other desired features, I would like one with a WIDE lid, so that the kettle can be opened for cleaning inside.

The water in this part of Dallas is full of alkaloids that soon form waterstones. The kettle has to be boiled with vinegar and scrubbed a couple of times to remove the waterstones. The vinegar looks like sewage once the stone dissolves. It's dreadful.

So, here, cleaning the insides is important.

-- John

Reply to
John K. Taber

Sounds like one of the more recent Revereware kettles. They're lovely, but both of us in the family have a tendency to be out of earshot when the whistle starts. After the third kettle in a year, we went out and bought a Sunbeam Hotshot. :-)

Reply to
Blanche Nonken

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