Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 253
 Not really faster than old fashioned stove-top boiling. September 6, 2010
zowee (Seattle, WA USA)
My Breville 1.7 liter Ikon Electric Kettle arrived packed very well and in good shape. The product is attractive; the instructions are nicely done (though there's not much to using a kettle!). Registering the product and opening an account at the [...] website was painless.
The main reason I bought an electric kettle was to have boiling water faster. Well I did a couple of experiments*. Here are the results:
Boil 1.7 Liters water:
--- Breville (Exactly 7 minutes),
--- Covered 2 qt Sauce Pan (7 minutes, 15 seconds)
--- Tea Kettle (7 minutes, 30 seconds)
Boil .5 liters water:
--- Breville (145 seconds)
--- Covered 2 qt Sauce Pan (150 seconds)
--- Tea Kettle (155 seconds)
*Breville time based on when the switch turned off. Tea Kettle based on full whistle. Sauce pan based on observed full rolling boil. Sauce pan and Kettle started on cold burner.
While the Breville was slightly faster than the old-fashioned competition, the differences are minimal. So now I'm wondering if this was worth the $70 price tag, or if any other electric kettle would do better. I doubt it, and I'll probably keep it, for two reasons: 1)the auto-off feature works and is worth quite a lot in terms of safety and convenience, 2) it looks pretty cool - a totally stupid reason but something I'm nonetheless prone to take into consideration.
A note on the retail box - on the back of the box, it says a half-liter of water takes "less than a minute" to boil. On the side of the box, it says a half liter of water takes 130 seconds to boil (that's 2 minutes, 10 seconds by my math, and it took 145 seconds in my test).
I bought this so I could boil water faster to start brewing coffee in my new Chemex coffee pot, with beans ground in my new Capreso burr grinder. I probably could have done just fine with my cheap Krups grinder and a tea kettle, but drama queen that I am, I like making major productions out of the simplest of tasks. I've really outdone myself this time!!
 Nice look, bad quality August 25, 2010
Bill Smart (Clayton, MO United States)
I bought this kettle originally because the top opened up wide enough to clean, the kettle detached from the base, and I prefer metal over plastic. And it has a cute blue light when it's on. So far so good.
We had to send back two of them because when we got them they didn't work.
We've now had it for a year or two. It's become a bit of a game to figure out exactly how to rotate/position the kettle on the base so it stays on/heating. It's been getting worse - a few months ago I thought I was just getting forgetful and not turning it on after filling it. Then I saw the light go out just after turning it on, the motion of the water sloshing around (I guess) breaking the connection. Now it's very difficult to find a position that works, and the slightest touch turns it back off again.
It's also a bit slower to heat water than my last kettle (which is no longer available) but not as slow as the kettle we have at work.
My guess is that the induction connection in the base is just poorly designed. Anyways, guess we'll be buying a new (different) kettle.
Oh yeah, it does get pretty hot.
 I'll never go back to heating water on the stove August 22, 2010
J. Swartz (Oakland, CA USA)
We use this to boil water for making coffee with a french press, for making tea, and for heating water for pasta when the stove's just not fast enough to do it alone. It heats up water very quickly, needs no maintenance (there's always some water in it, no leakage or rusting) and *bings* with a pleasant tone when the water's boiled, turning itself off. There's no chance we'll go back to a regular kettle now.
Amazon's Questionable, "Service" August 18, 2010
Anonymous (Los Angeles)
This is a review of Amazon's service, not one of the actual kettle. I ordered this kettle 5 days ago and not only has it not shipped, but Amazon won't allow me to cancel my order. If I'd known that I'd be left hanging, I never would have ordered from them. Amazon usually has great service; with this order, they FAILED.
Kettle lasted just over a year and died August 2, 2010
iiz
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A nice looking pricey kettle but it has a problematic heating base. Shortly after about a year of use the base's electrical connector stopped functioning making the unit useless as it wouldn't heat the water. The warranty is only good for a year so Breville would not replace or repair. When I contacted Breville they offered me a discount if I wanted to purchase the same kettle but who wants to spend more money on the same kettle after such poor performance.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 253
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