OXO 1479500 Good Grips Classic Tea Kettle, Stainless Steel, Silicone, Silver

Product Information

Decide whether you’d like a model that also has an infuser for use with loose and blooming teas. There are tea kettles that have built-in infusers, as well as pots that have removable infusers. You’ll even find units with an infuser basket that can be placed directly in your teacup. Some of the problems others write about could be avoided by reading the directions that came with the kettle: I have been using the OXO daily ever since, typically twice a day to make tea or heat water for drip or instant coffee, and find it a satisfactory replacement for my old kettle, and in a couple of ways better.

Electric kettles are primarily made from three materials: plastic, glass, or steel. Each one brings a different aesthetic to your kitchen and also affects the weight of the kettle. If you're worried about a kettle being too heavy, it's probably best to go the plastic route, though there are some great lightweight options in the glass and steel department. Tea kettles come in many different sizes, though the ones we tested ranged mostly from 1 to 2 quarts. In general, electric kettles tend to have slightly lower capacity than stovetop ones (and our top-rated electric kettle is also the smallest one we tested). What's important is to match your kettle size to your needs. If you usually make a single cup of tea or fill a small French press, you might not want a huge kettle taking up space on your stovetop or in your cabinet. If you often entertain large crowds, however, it’s nice to be able to serve everyone without waiting for a second batch of water to boil. Since it isn't intended for soup (get a saucepan or soup pot!) or other liquids, there should be no need for it to fit in a dishwasher. (I don't have one of those, except me.) Pouring at Half Capacity: We repeated the above test, this time filling each kettle with .75 quarts of water, and observed if this changed how far we had to tilt the kettle, how hot the kettle was to touch, and if it poured with precision and control. Cheyenne Elwell has been writing about coffee (and lots of other food topics) for The Spruce Eats since 2018. She runs a coffee blog called Baked, Brewed, Beautiful, and she tested the Cosori and Fellow Stagg kettles at home prior to our Lab testing.

3 More Electric Kettles We Like

If you own any OXO Good Grips items, you know how well they work. If you’re OXO Good Grips curious, now’s the time to discover how excellent they are for yourself. You’ll find an expansive range of OXO kitchen utensils, home devices and OXO food storage containers available at Lakeland. Whatever your household needs, we’re confident we’ve got an OXO Good Grips solution to make life simpler. The OXO Good Grips promise Overall, pouring is smooth. Like most kettles, the last couple ounces can dribble a bit, however. We found the 2-quart capacity large enough for anything we used the kettle for, from tea to pour-over coffee. Be careful of teapots that sputter water before you open the spout. The water will be hot enough to scald your skin. OXO have come a long way since Sam Farber designed that first OXO peeler. Today, you’ll find a wide array of OXO kitchen utensils available at Lakeland, from saucepans with comfortable stay-cool handles and Good Grip garlic presses to easy-to-use soft handled can openers and these fantastic multi-purpose fruit preparation tools.

Note that this product is a tea KETTLE, not a tea POT; it is really not intended for making (i.e. steeping) tea, or for heating soup or other foods, etc. It is best used just to heat or boil water. That's what I use it for. I either make the tea or coffee in a cup or a ceramic pot. Electric kettles need to be regularly cleaned inside and out to keep them looking nice and working properly. You can easily remove smudges and stains from a kettle’s exterior by wiping it with a soft cloth and cleaning product of your choice. A combination of vinegar and baking soda is great for removing tougher stains, but dish soap works, too. This should be done every week or so to keep your kettle shining. A fit for most kitchens, this model is a great value buy. The Cosori Glass Electric Kettle has a 1.7-liter capacity, which is comparable to standard stovetop kettles, so you can fill your teapot or French press completely. It's also equipped with a reliable automatic shutoff to safely prevent dry boiling. There’s only one thing about the controls on this kettle I don’t like and am surprised with. OXO is known for their grippy handles and control surfaces, so I’m really surprised they didn’t put a grippy surface on the control dial for when you rotate it. It’s just plastic, and as such is a bit harder to grip, and can be slippery if your hands are wet. This is a minor thing, but one area where I think OXO forgot their design ethos. Otherwise the base is nicely constructed. The lights are bright but not annoyingly so. The flashes vs solid of the light ring around the control dial help understand the modes the kettle is in.

The Best Electric Kettles, at a Glance

OXO Good Grips began when its founder Sam Farber was cooking with his wife Betsy. Sam noticed how Betsy was struggling to use a peeler with her mildly arthritic fingers. He had a moment of inspiration.

If you typically make one cup of tea at a time or own a small French press, you might not want a large kettle taking up counter space. But if you're an avid tea or coffee drinker, or if you need to brew beverages for multiple people, it's worth purchasing a bigger (and likely heavier) kettle. Oxo Brew Cordless Glass Electric Kettle: This glass kettle heats up fast, and its lights look neat, but we found it bulky and somewhat awkward to use. It also didn't hold its heat as well as other kettles we tested.We found the heatproof handle on the Susteas kettle to be very effective, but it doesn't fold down, which makes it take up a lot of shelf space. (On the other hand, it looks nice enough to live on the stovetop.) With that huge capacity, this kettle is fairly heavy and awkward when full, and we found that it doesn't hold heat for very long. The shape of the kettle is awkward looking to me and not one I am fond of. The finish as well is brushed stainless steel, and I believe it would have made a much classier looking kettle had it sported a polished finish, despite its unconventional shape. According to Shunan Teng, the founder and CEO of Tea Drunk, one way to make better tea at home is to use hotter water for high-quality tea and lower-temperature water for subpar tea. "Hotter temperatures bring out the flavors in better tea," she says, "and lower temperatures dilute the flaws in lower-quality tea. With bad tea, the bitterness and astringency would come out with higher temperatures." Can you heat milk in an electric kettle? the lid leaked steam around the edge and could burn your hand on the handle. (The solution was to take the kettle off the burner, reducing the steam pressure, and use pot holders on both the cap and the lid.) It also occasionally blew the cap off.

Ease of use: As we performed the heating tests, we noted any difficulties with filling and transporting the kettle, as well as with the controls for electric models. We specifically evaluated pouring by using a full kettle to fill a mug on the counter. Models that splashed and spilled lost points, and more accurate spouts gained them. The spout opening is oval and the whistle spout lid is round, so the lid isn't a good fit for the spout, and when the water is really boiling, some steam leaks around the edge. Unless otherwise specified, it’s not a good idea to brew tea inside a kettle. Tea kettles are pretty much solely designed to heat water. Placing tea bags or loose-leaf tea inside a kettle can leave stains and lingering smells, and the acids in tea can potentially damage the kettle itself. Pouring hot water over tea in a teapot is a superior alternative that will produce a much better flavor. Also attached to the handle of the kettle when you take it out is a simple half fold information card (I assume to provide information when the kettle is on display at a department store). It echos much of the box’s marketing info and some basic instructions for use. The most popular method to clean a tea kettle uses simply water and white vinegar. Just fill your kettle with equal amounts of both, bring it to a boil, and then dump out the water-vinegar mixture. Once the kettle is cool, scrub the inside with a non-abrasive cloth or brush. Finally, rinse the kettle thoroughly (or boil plain water in it) until all traces of vinegar are gone. This process is suitable for both electric and stovetop kettles and removes any potential limescale buildup. It’s important to thoroughly clean inside a kettle at least once every three months; otherwise, mineral buildup can alter the taste of your tea or coffee, and it may prevent some electric kettles from working properly. Other household products like baking soda and lemon juice are effective descaling agents, too, and many household cleaner brands sell descaling solutions in liquid or powder form.Of course, all those lovely features (along with the Zwilling brand name) are things you have to pay for. The kettle also can't go in the dishwasher like many stovetop models, though its stainless steel interior is easy enough to wipe down with a soapy sponge. OXO Good Grips have long had a widespread appeal and anyone who likes to make life that little bit easier will love these inspirational products. So why not join the OXO Good Grips fan club and see why they’re relied upon to lend a hand in kitchens all over the UK. Taste Test: After three rounds of boiling and discarding water, we boiled another batch in each kettle and tasted them, one by one, to see if there were any off-flavors present. We tasted no difference in the water. Value: After concluding all of our other tests, we revealed the retail prices of the kettles. Stovetop kettles are generally less expensive than electric ones, so we looked at the categories separately, comparing individual prices to the average for each type. Users are not advised to heat milk in a kettle, whether it’s a stovetop or an electric model. Milk often leaves residue inside kettles that is difficult to clean and prone to an unpleasant smell. It can also damage the heating elements of an electric kettle and, in some cases, void the warranty. Heating milk in the microwave or in a pot on the stove are better options than using your kettle.