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From Philips to Swan, these are the best kettles, tested and reviewed by our experts
For a long time, a kettle’s job was simple: boil water. Fast forward to today, and choosing the best kettle for your kitchen means considering a raft of clever features, from temperature controls and coffee and tea settings, to keep-warm functions and built-in filters that promise to banish limescale and purify your water.
But do you really need your kettle to have more settings than your car? And which features are actually worth paying extra for? We’ve boiled down the options to help you find the best kettle for your budget and brewing needs.
Before you think about adding a new kettle to your online shopping basket, it’s worth giving your existing kettle a professional clean, to see if it isn’t already up to the task.
“Descale your kettle using a product such as Oust, which is specifically designed for kettles,” says Sophie Herrmann, spokesperson for the brand. “Doing so will remove limescale debris from the internal coils of the kettle and result in shorter boil times. If you live in a hard-water area, descale every three months, and every six months in soft-water areas.”
You can clean your kettle without using any fancy cleaning products, too. “Fill the kettle halfway with a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar. Bring it to a boil, then let it sit for 20 minutes before pouring away,” suggests Dean Davies, professional cleaning expert at Fantastic Services. You can even use lemon to spruce up the exterior of chrome kettles. However you choose to clean your kettle, keeping it in pristine condition is essential for a decent brew.
We drank a lot of tea, along with coffee, but we didn’t just look at each kettle’s ability to produce the perfect cuppa. The speed at which they boiled, their noise levels, the ease with which settings could be tweaked, and how easy they were to lift, pour and refill were all examined. These are the one’s that even Polly would approve of.
It’s important to keep your kettle in good working condition by descaling every eight weeks or so. Not only does this help the kettle element to boil more efficiently, it also prevents chalky residue finding its way into your morning brew.
Here’s the best way to descale a kettle without any expensive products.
To clean out tougher limescale, try leaving the kettle filled with equal parts distilled white vinegar and hot water overnight.
Whether an electric kettle is more energy efficient than heating up water on the stove really depends on the model. If the kettle switches off immediately when the water is boiled, and allows for a low minimum level of water, to prevent you heating up a big batch of water unnecessarily, it might be the more energy-efficient option.
Bosch’s styline temperature selector kettle proved temperature-control kettles don’t need to be over-complicated – there was nothing we didn’t love about this kettle, and it was refreshingly easy to use. Tower’s bottega stainless steel kettle bags a spot in our round-up thanks to the appliance’s reassuring sturdiness, speedy boiling and vintage look. Meanwhile, Russel Hobb’s quiet boil kettle offers a silent but deadly affordable kettle.
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