Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 40898 Cool-Touch Cordless 8 Cup Electric Kettle

5 star:		(121)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Most importantly, my wife loves it, and she is a gadget-phobe. I just bought a second one for my mother.

We have been using it for two months now, and no problems so far.

After my usual exhaustive search, I selected this tea kettle because it had the best combination of features.

PRO:
- All metal: stainless steel liner and no exposed heating element to accumulate scale buildup. The lid is plastic but it doesn't come into contact with the water. I really didn't like the idea of boiling water in contact with plastic.
- Cool touch exterior for safety and also it insulates the water inside, keeping it hotter after the kettle shuts off upon boiling.
- Nice balance for the handle - I find the electric kettles with the handle on the top to be much more difficult to lift and pour. This one has the handle on the side - much better.
- Wide mouth top is easy to fill and clean. The lid pivots in the middle - too hard to describe so I added a clip from the user manual. Easy to remove lid to clean, though as others mentioned it does get in the way a bit when you're filling the kettle.
- As with many other kettles, it is cordless -- the kettle lifts easily off and on from the corded base, and you can hide any extra power cord inside the base.

CON (none of these matter to me or my wife):
- No water level indication, but then if there were you would probably have connections that could leak over time and potentially plastic parts in contact with water.
- Water temperature is not adjustable.

I've had the Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Tea Kettle for two years and I've had no problems with it. I love it for the following features:

Pros
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- Stainless Steel
The most important reason I got this kettle is that its interior is made of stainless steel, not plastic. Boiling water in plastic just doesn't sit well with me what with the talk about the health hazards from harmful chemicals (e.g. BPA, DEHA) in plastic leaching into food and drinks.

- Seamless Metal
Inside and out, I simply can't find a a metal seam - the kettle is a one-piece stainless steel construction and have absolutely no joints where pieces of stainless steel are welded together. There is, therefore, no need to worry about the water being contaminated by lead from solder.

- Quick Boil
It boils 40 oz of water, the maximum capacity, in 4 minutes. (I actually timed it. Boil times will of course vary depending on altitude and the initial temperature of the water.)

- "Cool" Touch
When boiling water in the kettle, the exterior of the kettle is warm, not hot, so you don't risk getting burned.

- Wide Opening
The wide opening makes it easy to fill it with water and to clean.

- Easy Plug In and Plug Out
To "plug in" the kettle to the power supply, simply sit the kettle on the base unit. Similarly, simply lift the kettle to "unplug" it. It's a one-handed operation, and there's no cords or plugs to mess with.

- Spring-Loaded Lid
The spring-loaded lid flips open with the press of a button on the handle. The lid can also be easily detached by pressing a button on it to release a catch.

- Auto Shutoff
When the water starts to boil, the power button pops up, the green LED indicator turns off, and the kettle automatically shuts off. There is also an audible "click" as the power button pops up.

- Looks
The kettle looks attractive with its simple curves and brushed stainless steel finish.

As for Cons, there's just one for me:

Con
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- Hard-To-See "Max" Water Fill Mark
The interior has a "Max" mark to indicate the maximum water level but it's not easy to see it. Work-around: The lid is hinged in the middle, so when it is flipped open, the bottom half of extends below the rim of the kettle. It so happens that the bottom of the lid lines up with the "Max" mark, so you can use the lid as a marker for gauging when the water level reaches the mark.

Conclusion
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The Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Tea Kettle is attractive, easy to use, and boils water quickly. I don't think you can go wrong with this one.

[Update June 9, 2011]
I'm really pleased with how durable this product is -- I've been using this electric kettle for well over 4 years now, and I've had no problems with it. I hope to enjoy using it for many more years to come!

One of the best features about this kettle is that the all metal interior is seamless! No metal stamped or welded together unlike other stainless steel kettles out there. Guarantees me of no leaking and no grooves to corrode or collect junk. The other great feature is that the entire lid can be removed leaving you the ability to insert your whole hand in to clean the interior. There are no sharp edges either! The flip open lid allows easy filling. I've been searching and researching for a long time, and this was the best $40 spent! My old stove top kettle is out in the recycling bin!

I bought this kettle a month or so ago. I agree with other reviewers that it's a well built appliance that boils quickly and doesn't impart any taste to the water (that I can detect). I chose it because of it's steel container, having read too much about chemicals leaching out of plastics. But it won't pour! The darned thing must have been designed by an industrial artist to look cool, and I bet they didn't build a prototype and check it out before launching into production. I've tried everything to get it to pour cleanly, but it always trickles water back down the outside of the canister and all over the counter or table top. I've tried removing the plastic filter, pouring quickly, slowly, etc, but nothing prevents a pool of hot water that has to be wiped up afterwards. It seems to be inherent in the shape of the lip. The only thing that minimizes(but doesn't prevent) the problem is to open the lid and pour extremely slowly. It's really a major irritation with an otherwise pleasing product.

Finally, an electric kettle which doesn't have plastic parts soaking in the boiling water, leaching chemicals you can smell and taste! I had a very hard time finding one that didn't pollute the water this way...

The important thing, it seems to me, is that there are no plastic parts below the water line - this kettle is seamless stainless steel inside. There is plastic on the inside of the lid, but it doesn't come into contact with the water much, so there is far less opportunity for nasty chemicals in the plastic to transfer into the water.

Beyond all that, this is simply a nice kettle... the brushed finish and styling looks sharp, the lid mechanism seems to work well, and the double-wall is a great idea for preventing burns and also being energy efficient. Less heat loss means it'll take less electricity to boil, and keep the water hot for longer. Common sense engineering. I also like the fact that the cord coils up inside the base, so you only have as much cord sticking out as needed.

Since I just got this kettle, I can't yet say how well it will hold up, but I'm hoping for the best.

I really like this kettle. Its main plus, for me, is its seamless metal interior (other than lid). For those who complain that it has no water level gauge--kettles that have them generally have plastic in contact with the boiling water, which many people prefer to avoid. It also boils the water very quickly.

However, the description of the product as having an 8-cup capacity is misleading. If you fill the kettle only to the max fill line, you're putting about 5 cups of water in it. If you filled it to the rim maybe it would hold 8 cups (closer to 7 cups, I think), but the directions clearly state that you shouldn't fill it above the max fill line, and the odd lid would be submerged in the water (while open) if you filled it above the max fill line.

I had many kettles over the years. Maybe way too many and they kept braking on me. My wife and I decided to switch electric kettle after many accidents with conventional kettles. We would frequently fry them since they would have no water. We were skeptical to go the electric kettle way, b/c most of them are made of plastic. This one is different. It is 100% stainless steel except a small piece of plastic on top, which technically does not get in touch with water. The main advantages for us are:
1) It shuts off automatically.
2) It lasted for more than a year now. We use it heavily several times a day.
3) Since we use purified water there is no deposit usually. But after a while (few month time) sometime one can see a thin layer of deposit (which usually means a time to change your filter elements). The advantage of this kettle is how easy to remove to top cover (it is removable) and easy way to wash the surface with abrasives. My (male) hand gets to all places in kettle chamber without any problems. This way we always stay with consistently clean boiled water for our tea.
4) Some people mentioned the it does not have temp sensor or water level. If it would it would have plastic lining. So, I consider this as an advantage. Buy yourself an inexpensive thermometer (needle) to monitor temperature in the tea pot before actually mixing with tea and you'll get the best consistency possible - this is very important for green teas, especially those made with steaming process.
5) Some complain that "Hard-To-See "Max" Water Fill Mark". It is not a problem for me as I consistently overload and NEVER had any problems with it.
6) It looks nice on you kitchen especially if you are in black and stainless steel interior.
7) I never got any burns with this kettle and I can put it safely on my dining table or on wooden tea desk. This is a big advantage for us.

! Although it is not an issue for us, the electric cord is very short and this could be a problem for some people.

I am so sold that I consider getting one more for my office at work!

There are lots of pluses... The double insulation keeps the outside less than dangerously hot. It also means the water will heat up a tiny bit faster than uninsulated kettles.

The water almost never touches plastic; an important consideration to some. The underside of the lid is plastic and so is the frame around the scale filter. Still, the contact is minimal. The tall, thin design means it take up less counter space than other models.

The surprising (to me anyway) "minus" is that when you take this pot off its base the switch stays in the on position. All the other cordless electric kettles I've used shut off when you lift them up. The result is that the only two ways to turn this off are to remember to flip the switch or count on the kettle to turn itself off when the remaining water boils or the pot runs dry. It's not a big deal but for the price Hamilton Beach could have included an interlock (like they do on other kettles they make).

BTW, I feel that honest, effective reviews take the place of first-hand experiences that are lacking in online shopping. I've always appreciated the help I've gotten from other reviewers and continue to return the favor as best as I can. If you thought this review was helpful please let me know by clicking on "Yes" button where it asks. If there was anything you thought was lacking or unclear leave a comment and I'll do what I can to fix it.

This electric kettle has been great. It's all stainless steel on the inside, except up where the lid is, and the hot water doesn't touch those parts. It was important to me that I not get plastic, rubbery parts in my boiling water, and all of the other stainless steel kettles I looked at had something questionable touching my water. Not so on this one.

It doesn't take up much space on my counter top. It doesn't heat up my house. It doesn't leak unless I overfill it. The only issue I have with this kettle is that the fill line is on the wrong side, where you can't really see it unless you detach the lid (you don't want to do that). I can sort of see the line, but not easily. And, you can really only fill it about 1/2 way. I don't mind though. It's a small price to pay for everything else. I would recommend it.

I bought this because it's steel inside and out (prevents the plastic smell) and has a wide opening on top so it would get cleaned easier. The first time it boiled the water fast and the automatic shut off kicked in a few seconds after the water hit the boiling point. The second time the automatic shut off failed and when I tried a third time this sorry excuse for a product wouldn't even turn on! What a waste. It's a shame the quality is terrible because it's a good concept.