Tuesday, June 30th, 2009...9:06 pm
The Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Tea Kettle Review
Over on INeedCoffee, I posted Avoiding Plastic – 3 Stainless Steel Electric Kettle Options. In the article, I decided to trade in my plastic electric kettle for a stainless steel one. I wanted an electric tea kettle that had no exposed plastic parts and ended up purchasing the Hamilton Beach 40898 Cool Touch Tea Kettle. Here is my review.
When the Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Tea Kettle is shipped, the lid is not attached. For me it was not intuitive how to attach it. I misplaced the instructions and ended up calling the Hamilton Beach support line. I spoke to an apathetic lady that seemed to have no clue what product I was calling about. I repeated the name several times to her and got no help. Eventually I figured out how to snap the lid onto the kettle on my own.
To connect the lid, it must be vertical and set down so the right edge of the lid evenly dissects the center of the open space. Push it down until it snaps. Don’t be tempted to discard the lid. I attempted to boil water without a lid and discovered that the heating element does not turn off. In order for the kettle to stop boiling water, the lid must be fastened and closed.
Hamilton Beach Cool Touch with open lid. This is how you want to pour. To fasten lid, it needs to be completely vertical.
The Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Tea Kettle does have a plastic lip where the water could be poured from. I use the word could, because you can bypass the plastic by pushing the button and opening the lid fully while pouring. This prevents the water from making contact with the plastic. Just be careful not to have any exposed fingers over the lid area or hot steam could burn you.
The Cool Touch has a nice feature that allows you hide excess power cord underneath the base. This will keep the cord from taking over your kitchen counter. See the photo below.
Hiding excess cord underneath the heating element.
The Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Kettle has a green light indicating when the kettle is powered on. Using green makes more sense than Bodum’s use of red.
Green means Go or ON.
How fast does this kettle heat water? The Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Kettle brought 16 ounces of water to a rolling boil and powered off in just 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This is the exact time I got from the Bodum plastic kettle. That is smoking fast. I usually stop it before it hits 2 minutes. It is louder than the Bodum plastic kettle, but I like that, as I am starting to use sound as an indicator of water temperature. I want hotter water for French press coffee and cooler water for green tea. The louder the kettle, the hotter the water.
Other than Hamilton Beach’s phone support and the lid assembly, I love the Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Tea Kettle. Hopefully, you won’t have trouble installing the lid and never need to dial up the support line. I highly endorse this product.
Hamilton Beach 40898 Cool Touch Tea Kettle runs about $60 on Amazon and can heat up to 64 ounces.
11 Comments
July 1st, 2009 at 4:48 am
I’m not a big tea drinker, but I liked the review. It’s almost enough to make me think that I need this for the rare occasions when I do drink teas.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:37 am
Don’t forget French Press coffee.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I use a thermometer and heat water to 90° C for french press. Does the Hamilton Beach kettle have any place I could insert the probe?
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:57 pm
You could slip it in at the top, but you might need to heat more water than you want, because it is 64 oz. You might like the Adagio model better. 3 settings to dial in temps.
http://www.ineedcoffee.com/09/electric-kettle/
July 21st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Well researched site – love the kitchen gadgets! – Will look to incorporate some of your ideas into my site. Thanks!
October 9th, 2009 at 4:14 am
My sister owns one – I love having coffee with her in the morning. She uses a one-cup glass filter cone and cup. We each have a cup or two of as-fresh-as-you-can-get coffee. The advantage of using the filter cup is drinking coffee the strength you prefer. To each his own. Cheers!
October 25th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Hi. On Amazon, some found that the Hamilton Beach stopped working for no apparent reason – after a few months or 2 years. I like the idea of a no-plastic kettle AND the idea of cool touch on the outside so you don’t burn yourself. But the reliability concerns me. Now that you’ve had the kettle for several months, can you update about whether it keeps working well? If not, it is a Breville for me. Thanks, susan.
October 25th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Susan M -
Both me and a friend bought one. They are both working perfectly, however mine is showing some slight “rust like” discoloration at the bottom. Using a paper towel and baking soda I am able to remove it easily. Not ideal, but I will be moving to a less damp location next week. Perhaps it will go away.
If you do get the Breville, let us know your thoughts.
December 20th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
So the lid is plastic and the hot steam condenses on the lid and drips back into the water. Less plastic but the hottest part is the steam…too bad. Is all stainless or glass impossible?
December 21st, 2009 at 6:35 am
Good question. I didn’t even think about the steam. A tea shop here in Seattle has what *I think* is glass, but now I want to take a good look at the lid.
The percentage of plastic in the kettle is dropping. We still might not be at 100%, but we are almost there.
December 31st, 2009 at 9:51 am
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