I came to the world of electric kettles fairly late. I was raised with a stove top kettle and thought it the best way to manage my hot water needs (plus, I’ve always liked the way they looked sitting out on a burner). But then in the fall of 2011, I went to visit my sister. She had a relatively inexpensive electric kettle that boiled water at miraculous speed. There was no ten+ minute wait for a pokey stove to heat and transfer its warmth. I was sold.
Soon after I got home, I ordered my first electric kettle. I got this
Soon enough, I was using it multiple times a day. It served up hot water for morning cups of coffee and tea. In the afternoon, I’d use the cooled water in the kettle to help feed my sourdough starter (boiling helps evaporate out any chlorine in the water supply that can harm or kill the sour bacteria. Just make sure the water is under 100F when you add it to your starter). During dinner prep, I’d heat water to hydrate spoonfuls of Better Than Bouillon or to speed up soup making.
I also found myself turning to the electric kettle during canning. As you know, I make a lot of small batches of preserves, and often I make three or four things in succession (I like to take advantage of a hot canning pot). These small batches range in size from two half pints to four or five. If I don’t plan well, I can wind up trying to process jars without having enough hot water to cover. Instead of adding hot tap water and hoping that the pot returns to a boil quickly, I can keep the kettle hot and top off the canning pot immediately. It has sped things up immeasurably.
This summer was also the first time I had the electric kettle during tomato canning season. I do the bulk of my tomatoes whole, peeled and packed in water (makes for a shorter processing time) and with an electric kettle, having that hot water takes no time at all.
Thanks to the kind folks at Hamilton Beach, I recently upgraded my electric kettle to their programmable model (my previous kettle was also made by HB, but I bought it with my own dollars, long before I started teaming up with them for giveaways). This guy allows you to select the temperature to which your water heats. That makes it particularly great if you have fussy coffee habits (I say this lovingly and as someone who regularly weighs her beans to ensure a close-to-perfect brew), drink green tea, or live at high elevations where water boils at lower temperatures.
It also has a outside fill indicator (the trade-off is that there’s a small amount of plastic inside the kettle to allow for this) and pours far more smoothly than my previous kettle. I also like the fact that it has a timer, so you can schedule the moment you want it to switch on to boil. With a fast boiling kettle, it’s not really entirely necessary, but I have been enjoying the luxury of walking into the kitchen each morning to a just-boiled kettle of water. It’s the little things.
Finally, the giveaway. Hamilton Beach has generously given me eight of these Programmable 1.7 Liter Electric Kettles to give away to my readers. Here’s how to enter.
- Leave a comment on this post and share your water boiling habits. Stove top kettle? Electric tap in the sink? Microwaved mug? If you don’t do hot drinks, what gets you moving in the morning?
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Friday, February 15, 2013. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog over the weekend.
- Giveaway open US residents only.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: Hamilton Beach gave me one Programmable Electric Kettle for review and photography purposes and they’re providing eight additional units for this giveaway. They did not pay for inclusion on the blog and my opinions remain entirely my own.
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my waterboiling habits depend on whether I’m at work (electric kettle) or home (stovetop kettle or microwave).
I am of the Red Kettle on the Stove Top at all times. My cheif complaints boil time and boiling it all away because I missed hearing the asmathtic train whistle.
Our burners take forever to boil the canning pot. It’s so bad we actually use a camp stove outside for big batches. This would solve our problem for small batches. And we could stay inside!!
Stovetop or microwave
I do it the old-fashioned way — on the stove, in a kettle — but after using a roommate’s electric kettle once, my eyes were definitely opened. What a great giveaway!
I’ve been mulling over giving up some counter space to an electric kettle. I currently use a stovetop kettle to heat water for my french press in the morning and my cups of tea throughout the day.
A programmable kettle! Very cool!
I currently boil my water on the stove top.
I have a pretty, but not efficiently functional, stove top…it is turquoise! Would love an electric one.
I’m generally a stovetop kettle kind of guy, but I’ve been known to use an electric kettle as well.
Microwave….and its either never hot enough or too hot… DOH!
Ooh! Every morning my husband gets to wake up to coffee ready to drink and I fill the kettle and wait for water to boil to make my tea, I’m so excited to know that this can be programed!
I have been using a stove top kettle but have been looking at electric ones. A programable one would mean that I could have a few extra minutes of sleep and my favorite tea before my 8am class on mondays.
I have a kettle on the stove. If I’m really lucky, I remember to turn the kettle off before I walk away! Having an electric kettle that’s smarter than me probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.
We use these at work all the time. They are terrific for tea, instant noodles, oatmeal, soup and also for aroma therapy! Put in a cinnamon stick or two and your space will be wonderous to all who enter.
Stovetop kettle.
Up until very recently we had an instant tap. It has been replaced with a sprayer nozzle and I am lost without it! It drives me crazy to have to wait for hot water on the stovetop.
I’ve bought three stovetop kettles in the last two years, all of which have been failures in one way or another — too hot to pick up, faulty whistler, random broken pots — so this electric kettle situation intrigues me.
At our house, we drink tea in the morning and are still using a stove-top kettle. The long wait for boiling water is ridiculous…although it does allow time to do any dishes left over from the previous night and general tidying up.
I do both stovetop and microwave depending on the situation, but this would be cool to have!
Kettle on the stove, but our stove only has 2 burners (w/a grill), so I need an electric kettle!
Love my electric kettle … use it for tea and cooking applications that require boiling water quickly. Would love a programmable electric kettle. Once I tried electric kettles they spoiled me for stove top. Great for extended travel too . I love a cup of tea in the evening after a long day of exploring
I have been dying to find an electric kettle. Right now I use a pot on the stove
Traditional kettle on the stove top. My mother has recently started using an electric kettle and loves it.
I have a red electric kettle that has seen better days. The top won’t close anymore, but I still love it.
Sauce pan.
Tea kettle at home, microwave at work. This looks very great for adding water to soups and sauces.
I like my chai tea at 120 degrees – it would be lovely to program the kettle to get it exactly the right temperature. I currently use the microwave.
We usually boil water in an old enamel pot on the stove.
Stove top — but I need the instant gratification that would come from combining this with my French press.
What a great way to make everyday treats (like tea) easier. I’m constantly wanting hot tea or needing 1/4 cup of boiling water for my buttercream icing. Right now I’m using a sauce pot on my stove. I always forget and end up having to start all over!!
Cool. We’re stovetop kettle the way here. We have a nice one from Joyce Chen. But it’s not speedy!
Whistling teakettle on the stove — but I love my mom’s electric kettle.
I usually boil it on the stove, but it takes so long. Having one of these would make it so much easier.
I am a multiple-cups-a-day tea drinker, and I make pour-over drip coffee in a Chemex. I’ve had some form of electric kettle since my dorm days, when it was otherwise impossible to make a nice pot of tea or coffee. I have lived without one after a badly-packed breakup move, but these are one of life’s little luxuries that I’d love to have again.
I sometimes use a stove top one, and sometimes use an electric (but all plastic) one. If I’m sure I just want one mug of something hot, I’ll microwave a mug of milk or water. I also don’t like the idea of boiling water in an all-plastic vessel, so I’d love to win one of these!
Stove top kettle all the time at home. If I want a lower temp, I just turn it off and wait a bit. Sometimes that works, and sometimes I just forget it and then have to boil again. At work I have a sad little Sunbeam ultra-basic electric pot. It works great, but is all plastic and doesn’t automatically turn off, which often ends in me boiling off most of my tea water.
i use an electric kettle, but it’s plastic and not wonderful. it seems to take it FOREVER to heat water. i think i actually timed it once and it was well over 4 minutes. doesn’t stay hot long, either.
i drink all kinds of tea. sometimes instant cocoa, but not often. my latest obsession has been kombucha tea. ty for the opportunity.
I learned about electric kettles on a trip to England in 1994. I had never seen one and was impressed with how great it was.
I have had the same electric kettle for many years now, to long. I have used it to boil hot water for Ramen noodle soup, a few years ago I stayed in a Brooklyn sublet which had no gas so it was used to boil pasta. Now I use it for my daily cup of tea, which is way better than making pasta in it and occasionally to top off a hot bath when my cold water runs out. They are so great.
I either boil my water on the stovetop in a kettle, or heat it in the microwave. I would love to do away with using the microwave. I only use it because it is so much faster than the stovetop. The Hamilton Beach electric kettle looks awesome and would be a welcome addition to my kitchen!
We have one of these at work. My daughters are drinking lots of loose leaf tea and this electric kettle would be great for the before school preparation. I do love my Calphalon stove top kettle but this would be a welcome addition.
I have a stove top kettle which I use, it’s in dire need of replacing too so this would be awesome to win!
We ditched our microwave about five years ago, so our water is heated on the stove. If I’m doing large canning batches, I’ll throw a huge pot on the grill. We’ve just moved and will be starting over with the garden this year, so I see more small batch canning in my future. This would be lovely! I’m also thinking it would be perfect when re-hydrating my dehydrated vegetables!
We use an electric kettle but it’s nowhere near this fancy!
My electric kettle – a Braun model found at a Goodwill store in grad school – also saves my life during canning. Oh to have one with a programmable temperature! Mine is always a guess and check for coffee.
Our water boiling habits are started to get laughable..errr pitiful. In the morning we use a french press to make our coffee so we fill a small pot with water and stick it on the stove top and wait. Nothing worse than waiting for the first bubbles of boiling to happen when all you want is coffee NOW. Especially when you’re trying to get out the door by 630 to get to class on time. Eep.
(PICK ME!) hahaha <3
I just use a pan or a tea kettle. Love this idea.
I work from home most days and after my morning cappuccino, it’s tea for the rest of the day – tea bags, loose tea, black, herbal, red roobios – you name it, it’s in my cupboard.
I have a very serviceable English stove top kettle, but after years of kettle-destroying use, I was considering purchasing an electric one; one that would not be so routinely subjected to flame, grease accumulation and such.
A while ago, I bought cheap electric kettle for work and the next thing I knew, everyone came to visit my office for an afternoon cup of tea
I never know there was a programmable one. Pretty cool!
Wow – never thought about all the ways one might use boiling water if it were right there at the ready. We do stovetop mostly and microwave occasionally. Love the idea of aromatherapy! I’m going to try mint right now.
I will either use stovetop or microwave depending on how quickly I need hot water. I used to have a whistle kettle but I realized a pot worked just as well.