This isn’t a review, rather, a plea. I’m losing grip on all hope, having searched for years, please can’t someone help me find an electric kettle that doesn’t taint your tea water with plastic, rubber, or silicone? I don’t care if the entire outer part is made of plastic, just don’t want any in interior parts that touch water, including washers, hinge parts, spout parts, water-level indicators, filters, etc.
The thought of bit of BPA soup in every sip of tea, coffee, and instant soup is, well, a bit nasty. Maybe I’m too vulnerable to alarmist mumbo jumbo, but all that toxic stuff leaching out of plastic… probably leaches out faster and in larger quantity if boiled in water, yes? Plus most of the stuff nowadays comes from China, you can’t tell me that the good people running the factories on the other side of the Pacific prioritize things like public health and safety.
I’ve done my fair share of review cross-referencing on Google, Froogle, Epinions, Amazon; even looked at U.K. websites (cuz I hear they drink a lot of tea…), but have only found a handful of kettles that even come close :
– Hamilton Beach 40898. All stainless steel inside, but according to reviews, it’s got some faulty pouring and reliability issues, which makes it not such a great value.
– Capresso H2O. All glass except for a silicone/rubber washer that seals the heating element to the glass, which is the basis for some people experiencing foul tasting/smelling hot water. Ummm, don’t want silicone soup in my tea, either.
– Russell Hobbs. The quintessential (and original) British tea kettle company is historically known for great products, most of which are unavailable in the U.S. (Amazon only lists one, the RH13552). Russell and Hobbs were the inventors of the automatic electric kettle and the coffee percolator, and had a hand in designing a host of other small home appliances. Sadly, the company was sucked up by Salton in the early 2000s and production was moved from England to China. Boo, hiss.
– Zojirushi water boiler/warmers. Seemed promising since the brand is reputable and every Asian household I’ve ever been to has one with hot water on-the-ready. But what’s the deal with the non-stick interior (talk about boiling your water in unnecessary materials), at any rate, from my experience, just-boiled water makes for tastier hot beverages than water that’s been kept hot for a long time. And while I’m sure the products are very well-built, I’m kind of looking to spend under $100.
So, if anyone has first-hand experience with a good electric kettle that won’t taint your water with BPA, impart funny smells/tastes, has a semi-reliable lifespan of over one year, pours reasonably well from the spout (no backsplash or dribbles, you’d be surprised), and doesn’t cost (too much) over $100, please, share the love!