Chef’sChoice 677 Cordless Electric Kettle Easy Pour Lightweight 1500 Watts and Faster than Microwave No Mineral Build-up with Concealed Heating Element Brushed Stainless Steel, 1.7-Liter, Silver

My wife loves a good cup of tea and in the past, we just left the kettle on very low heat on the stove. The other night I came home to the smell of gas. The breeze had blown out the flame and my wife, who had a really bad cold, was upstairs and could not smell the gas.Time to get something a bit safer while we still had a house! After some research, we ordered this electric kettle (to the joy of my wife's British friends who think we are barbarians for not having one.)I was astounded at how fast this thing heats water, maybe 5 minutes for a mostly full pot from tap-cold to full rolling boil.The automatic shut-off works perfectly (and has a small light so you need not guess if it is off or on) and we no longer need to worry about errant gas fumes and whistling kettles.The kettle is well-made, attractive and seems to be sturdy and definitely works a treat. Get one and you won't be disappointed. Needs a three-prong outlet, so make sure you can use it first. Sides do get hot but the handle stays properly cool and the safety lid works very nicely with no drops or leaks that I have seen.Update, March 2012: About two years after the original purchase, the kettle died. We replaced it with the same model and that one has been going strong to this day. There's almost never a day it does not get used and other than cleaning it with vinegar once in a while to get the minerals out, it just keeps on chugging.Update Squared, March 2017. That replacement one is chugging along. Gets used once or twice every day without exception. It just works and works well and I know no higher praise for an appliance.The stainless steel is a bit grungy looking on the outside these days but we're anything but a "Better Homes & Gardens" house. The lid closure works just fine, nothing is loose or wobbly anywhere.My wife even does hard boiled eggs in it using Alton Brown's method.Good stuff, well made and at a fair price.4-2019 The Death Of A TeakettleToday we buried our kettle. It started leaking a few days back. Around the "ob/off" switch. Not a lot but enough to be dangerous and to make a mess on the counter (That's how we found out.)Thus we ceremoniously cut off the power cord and gave it up to be recycled. Sic transit calor mundi.It had served us well for nigh unto a decade of more than daily use. Sadly, the model has been discontinued the the "newer" model does not seem as well rated so I have found a new kettle to warm our hearts, our tea water and to boil our eggs. Watch for that review soon wherever fine reviews are available.

So I cannot yet speak to the durability questions. But convenience is superlative. I have been boiling water on stove tops for a pot of tea for nearly 40 years now, and this beats the stove top hands down! It is the best method I have ever used.It is fast. It is easy. It shuts off automatically. It shows you how much water is inside. The lid remains shut while pouring, and it does not drip at all. It wastes no heat, but directs it all to the water. There should be no mineral build up. It is solid and secure (unlike the plastic one it replaces that failed and leaked all over after three months.)I can see no downside on this yet. I have this at my office desk, fill it up in 4 minutes later have boiling water. The base remains plugged in on my desk, the pot is put away. I will be buying another one for home. And probably a couple as gifts as well. Saves time and money, is convenient and easy to use. Perfect!1 year update:I have now purchased 4 of these. I use mine daily at home and at the office; my sister loves hers, my daughter loves hers. There is no bad taste, no buildup, no nothing. And hot? It is barely hot.....I just don't get you people. Are you sure you got this one? Mine still works flawlessly. Still love it.No plastic one I ever had lasted more than 6 months without burning itself. Both of mine are going strong after several hundred pots of tea.2014 Update: All four that I purchased get heavy use and continue to chug along after five or six years. They continue to boil rapidly (about seven minutes for the whole quantity) and make life easy. A perfect tool.

As other reviewers have explained, this electric teakettle does an excellent job of boiling water in a jiffy. I completely agree that it's a 5-star model at an affordable price. It boils water fast. It doesn't take up a burner on my always-overloaded stove. And I particularly like that the kettle comes off the base, so you don't have a cord trailing around. If you're looking for a teakettle; you don't need to read more -- this one does the job.However, I chose THIS particular model because it was the kettle (or seemed to be the kettle) that Alton Brown referred to in his Gear book. And in that regard I'm just an eensy bit disappointed.You see, I'd been resisting buying one of these gizmos because, gosh darn it, I don't NEED another single purpose item in my kitchen! I just _wanted_ one. Alton's book gave me the excuse I needed to indulge myself: he said an electric kettle was good for boiling water, but it's even more useful for keeping stock hot for risotto and it's great for hard boiling eggs.You just put the eggs into the carafe, cold from the frig; add water to cover; when the water boils, let the eggs just SIT there for 15 minutes. Cool them under running water and voila! hard-cooked eggs with no ugly green yolks. This works fine on the stove, of course, but you have to keep an eye on the water, to watch for it to come to the boil; since the kettle turns off automatically when the water boils, it's safer and more convenient. Or so I thought.I've boiled water in the kettle, but I haven't managed to do the egg thing. The top is simply too small to put your hand in (at least while holding an egg) and I'm not thrilled about the idea of rolling a raw egg down the sides. (Cleaning this gizmo isn't something I look forward to doing, especially with cooked-on egg.) So I've continued to use the stovetop for boiling eggs... and I don't make risotto all that often.On the other hand, I DO use it for making tea -- so I've no complaint about the kettle doing what it's advertised to do!It's a great kettle, but if you're looking for a multipurpose tool, you may want to look at other models.