Customer Reviews

Krups 54-Ounce Electric Kettles

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have used electric kettles for many years and they are the best way to boil water -- they are faster and more energy efficient than the stove-top kettle and you don't risk burning them when you forget that the kettle is on the stove. My old electric kettle died and I started looking for a new one.

An electric kettle is a simple device and could be made to last for many (i.e., at least greater than 10 years). Unfortunately, manufacturers are making things as cheaply as possible and charging premium prices. You will find as you read the reviews for most kettles that people complain about the quality of their construction and their correspondingly low life times.

An electric kettle should boil water quickly, should be easy to clean, should (in my opinion) be stainless steel throughout and should not have features that are obviously made to break. I don't mind if the kettle gets hot to the touch - I just use the handle to touch it just as I would a stove top kettle. This Krups kettle does boil water quickly and it is fairly easy to clean (and does get hot). This said it still has flaws.

1) The inside top inch(or so) of the kettle is made with plastic. The lid is also plastic and must be aligned just right before it will properly fit. Why couldn't the lid be stainless steel and just fit on in any direction as with most stove-top kettles?
2) The lid also has a plastic mechanism for opening the plastic spout cover. This mechanism is annoying and is made in such a way that it will break in a few years leaving a spout that stays shut.
3) The water level indicators are made of plastic and run the length of the kettle on both sides (as you can see in the picture). Water levels are somewhat of a convenience if you don't want to open the lid and look in, but they are a weak spot in kettle design being a likely place for a leak to occur. Other water level indicators trap water and create a good environment for mold to grow. The Krups design does not have that problem.
4) The base of the kettle is cheaply made. It is the standard Chinese 360 degree design. If you read reviews of kettles with this design you know that they fail after a few years. Pending failure shows itself when you have to rotate the kettle to get it to have an electric connection. Slowly the places that work are harder to find and finally it just stops working. That's what happened to my old kettle. This should not happen. The mechanism is very simple and should be able to last forever. I checked with Krups and they want almost forty dollars for a new base if the one you have stops working (it's part number 620029, if you're looking for it).

My ideal kettle would be made of stainless steel, would have a hidden element, would be easy to clean, would have no water level indicator and would have a well built base and electrical connections that are not designed to fail in a few years. Anyone know of such a kettle in the US? (there are many like this in the UK). In the meantime I suggest that we all complain to the manufacturers and demand more for our money. If enough of us write to their customer "service" departments maybe they will pay attention. I would pay a lot of money for a well built kettle, but that's not what we are getting.

At almost $70 I think this kettle is overpriced and not sufficiently well-built to justify the price. I'll keep searching....

I always used a stove-top kettle, but I kept hearing how much people love these little electric kettles. So after shopping around a bit I settled on this one because of its appearance and mostly metal construction. The metal construction was a must for me, as I dislike the taste of plastic in my water. The stainless steel finish goes well with the rest of my kitchen, and it really is one of the more attractive kettles when you see it in person compared to others.

I'm definitely glad I bought it, it works wonderfully. As advertised, it boils water very quickly. It is fairly quiet when it boils, and shuts itself off (very much unlike my former stove-top kettle!). It holds plenty of water for a large pot of tea or coffee. I like the construction of the lid, which stays put when heating / pouring, but is easily removed with a slight turn.

Not sure what all this fuss is about regarding burning oneself on the pot. It is a metal kettle that boils water, you should expect it to be hot! Maybe I'm just used to a stove-top kettle, but if you hold it by the handle like a normal person you won't be in any danger of hurting yourself.

Pros:
It looks good and it works as advertised
Cons:
It's very loud.
It takes a long time to turn off after the water's already boiling.
The outside gets scalding hot when the water boils (just like boiling water in a metal pan).
The filter in the spout keeps falling out when emptying the kettle for refilling.

When I was looking for an electric kettle a couple of things were important to me - material, size, and wattage.
MATERIAL: I do not heat food up in the microwave in plastic containers for concern about possible leaching of chemicals - I always heat in glass. So how is boiling drinking water in a plastic kettle any different? I couldn't totally decide, but I did decide to be on the safe side and get one out of metal to avoid possible plastic risks... When our old plastic kettle finaly died, I wanted to make sure I replaced it with a metal one. This one is great!
SIZE: The volume is the standard size (I don't think they get any bigger than this really).
WATTAGE: I think this is also the top wattage available. (The higher the wattage the quicker the water will boil.) I looked at all the ones I could find - also on other websites and I'm convinced I made the right choice with this kettle.

I was initially concerend about a review that said the body gets hot - but silly me, of course it gets hot - just like a pot on the stove does, too. But it's easy not to touch the metal (the handle works just fine and there's no risk of burning yourself that way) so don't worry about that.

I also use this to heat not only water for tea, but also the water before I put it in the pot for making noodles or soups or anytime I'm going to be cooking with hot water - it is SO much quicker than just trying to boil the water on the stove (and more energy efficient, too!)

I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because there are a few slight "issues" I have with the design (like the filter screen that will fall out if you tip the kettle totally upside down without the lid on (yeah, why would I want to do this?) and the "closed spout" that doesn't really close totally but then you get left with a stupid button on the handle that you can squeeze to make the spout open even further - I don't really understand what the point of this is... But I did a LOT of research and decided this was THE kettle to get and I don't regret it in the slightest and I truely am convinved I got the best one that is available in the US!

This is a wonderful kettle. It heats quickly, looks good, and is easy to clean. It's quality is excellent. The filter in the spout is a nice feature. I hesitated to buy it because of the price, but no regrets. You will be happy with the purchase.

Was disappointed in the quality of this Krups Electric Kettle. The base is made from cheap plastic and the top portion of the kettle contains much plastic as well. I purchased a Breville electric kettle a few months prior to this purchase and will be sending this Krups back and getting another Breville. Some company needs to come up with a totally stainless steel model (lid and all). Breville model is more elegant, better design, and has less plastic exposed to boiling water and steam.

The Krups FLF3 Stainless-Steel 54-Ounce Electric Kettle worked for 2 months before the kettle's lid broke. The lid jammed onto the top of the kettle. Took some time to remove it.

I always hear that Krups have good designs. Guess it's marketing thing. Don't think I'll be a customer in their future.

We love this kettle. So convenient for heating hot water and yet contemporary looking on your counter beside your coffeepot, espresso machine, smoothie maker, whatever. Heats water very quickly! Gets the water VERY hot and keeps it hot for a little while. We also like how the cord coils under the pot itself to keep extra cord hidden and out of the way. Uses go far beyond tea because it makes so many cups at a time, you can use it for heating water for in recipes, making hot cereal, oatmeal, instant soup, etc. I'd totally recommend this to everyone and would purchase it as a gift for someone anytime. Worth every penny!

Krups makes the handsomest kettle available, and it boils water in 2-6 minutes depending on how much it's filled. The heating-element-type smell was gone in a week. (After pouring a cup of "white tea," I realized the smell did not transfer from the pot to the water anyway.) The switch could be sturdier, but maybe it will last just fine -- who can say. In any event, we're saving time and saving energy with this cool kettle.

I was originally interested in this kettle because my house mate has a similar Krups kettle (the plastic FLF2). I thought this stainless steel kettle would be more attractive, which it is, but it also has the horrible problem that it becomes too hot to touch once the water is hot. The plastic model is safe to touch even when boiling, but the stainless steel model simply heats up too much to be able to use safely.

Other problems:

- The cord on the base is too short - something like 8".
- Not suitable for the elderly as there is a complex pouring mechanism involving a small trigger underneath the handle that must be pressed in order to allow water to flow.

I highly recommend that people interested in this item choose the black plastic version instead.