Precise Heat Electric Water Kettle, 1.5 L

I received the Precise Heat 1.5 Liter Electric Water Kettle on October 9, 2014, and have used it an average of twice per day. I only use filtered water, and after nearly eight months, I have not had any buildup or overheating issues.To turn the kettle on, press the lever-type switch at the bottom, under the handle (it's difficult to see it in the picture on Amazon because the plug is behind the switch). It takes a little while to boil, but not as long as an electric stove. After a few minutes the water is boiling and the switch disengages/indicator light shuts off.I have listed the pros and cons below. The pros are the features that meet my needs. The remainder of this review is how I overcame the few cons.Pros:* No plastic comes into contact with any water or steam* Auto shutoff!!* The kettle is faster and uses less energy than the electric stove* I can boil small amounts of water (usually 12-16 oz at a time)* Comfortable handle for easy, smooth, controlled pour; no splashing* Easy to use; kettle shuts off when you lift it off the base* It's kinda cute!Cons:* There was a metallic smell* The lid gets HOT* There is no buzzer/bell to signal completionMetallic smell: I read the reviews before purchasing, and I was a bit worried about the smell some people reported because I have a sensitivity to smells, and I didn't want my hot water to taste like anything but water. But this kettle seemed to suit all of my requirements, so I gave it a shot. I was able to defeat the odor issue -- it took some work, but I really wanted this kettle to work out:When I deboxed the kettle, I didn't really smell anything. However, after the first round of boiling plain filtered water, there was a very strong metallic smell. I coated the bottom of the kettle with about 1/4" of baking soda, filled with water, and boiled, then emptied the kettle and wiped it out with a paper towel. The kettle still smelled like metal, plus there was a black oily substance that came from the bottom seam around the edge. I let the kettle cool down a bit, filled it 1/4 with water and added a healthy squirt of Dawn and swirled it around until I felt that the detergent was able to get into the crease, and I scrubbed it a bit with a paper towel. Then I repeated the baking soda step until wiping out the kettle produced a clean paper towel with no residue (about 3 more rounds of boiling), and by this time there also was no metallic smell and all of the Dawn was rinsed out. I did it again for good measure, then I boiled plain filtered water one last time. Clean water; no odor!HOT lid: Another issue I read about in other reviews is the lid. It isn't attached to the kettle, but is required for the auto shutoff -- and it is all metal, so it gets very hot. To close the lid completely, you have to push down on it to sort of snap it into place. The problem with this is if you want to remove the lid so you can fill the kettle again, or let it dry between uses. It's difficult to remove the very hot lid without splashing yourself with hot water. I get around this by not snapping it into place. I simply set it on top of the kettle so it's mostly on, especially toward the handle, but not snapped into place. This allows the auto shutoff to function, and lets me take the lid off before pouring. You need to use a hot pad to take the lid off - the handle gets HOT! I'm thinking of covering it with black Sugru so I don't need to use a hot pad, but I do really like the looks of the kettle, so I may not do this.No bell/buzzer: For me, the auto shutoff mitigates the lack of a bell or buzzer notification. There is an audible click when the switch disengages -- if you're not too far away, you can hear it. I tend be within 10-20 feet of the kettle while it's boiling, and I can hear the click even with the tv on. The combination of the click and the fact that the appliance is off has eased my mind about not having a bell or buzzer to notify me of completion.I was originally worried about this because I had a constant fear that I'd forget I had water boiling on the stove and leave the house with a burner on. With this kettle, the worst that can happen is I forget that I was boiling water and I need to turn on the kettle again.And finally, a minor detail that doesn't quite rate as a con for me, but I felt it worth mentioning: The heavy duty cord is very thick and stiff and can unbalance or tip the kettle. It comes wound around the bottom of the base and and must be unwound, so it's difficult to get it into the position you want. The benefit of this is that it the cord is sturdy and won't easily fray, so if you can wrestle it into a decent position, you're good to go.If your requirements and concerns are similar to mine, I definitely recommend this kettle!

So when I decided to finally get an electric kettle I spent way too much time searching on Amazon and reading reviews of what should be a very simple, no-brainer consumer decision. As it turns out there are all sorts of complications concerning what materials come in contact with the water in these devices and this kettle from this obscure brand appears to be the ONLY product on the market that is just plain and simple stainless steel inside.So I bought this one and it works great. I've been using it several times per day for almost two years and I've never had a problem.I have no complaints. It's simple and perfect. Well, I wish it were pink or maybe somehow more beautiful, but most of the time when I gaze upon it I find it very attractive and nicely matching my other stainless appliances. It sits next to my large stainless Big Berkey ceramic water filter and some glass pitchers as my "water station" and it's plenty elegant. Overall, I would estimate that 70% of the time I consider this kettle to be very handsome and elegant and 30% of the time I find it drab and generic and boring and marred by black plastic parts. I do have a particular dislike of black parts on devices, or black straps on bags and that kind of thing. It's a miserably boring color. But all my other stainless appliances have some kind of contrastive black parts too, so they really do look quite spiffy together and I'm glad my life is pleasant enough to even think about such trivia.Other reviewers mention the metal getting hot, and, well, yes that's true. My stove and all my pots also get hot when I apply heat to them. I don't see this a flaw in the product. In the occasional case when I use the kettle immediately again and it's still very hot, I find it rather easy to remove the lid and use it. If you're above the age of 10 and have deeply internalized the wisdom of not touching very hot surfaces, you will have no problem operating this kettle using the parts that don't get hot--the black handle and the little knob on the lid--or deploying auxiliary technology like a towel or silicone mitten.The fact it hasn't failed yet does raise the second, lesser, economic complication with this class of devices, the issue of fancy electronic features that can fail much faster than the primitive electric heating component they all share, which accounts for the endless, dizzying mix of extremely positive and extremely negative reviews most models receive. If this thing breaks sometime, I'll buy an exact replacement. I'm certainly tempted by the gooseneck spout and controllable temperature of a Bona Vita model, but the fact is this simple spout pours perfectly well, and the lack of contact with plastic or silicone and the lack of fancy electronic features to prematurely fail are two killer features that will continue to trump all competition.UPDATE: I've had this for almost 4 years now and I've used it a few times per day with no problems of any kind! It's simply one of the most successful purchases I've made. I just inspected it and couldn't find any rust, corrosion or signs of wear. It cleans up like brand new with Bar Keeper's Friend. If this broke tomorrow, I'd get another one in a heartbeat. I usually only boil one cup of water at a time for infusions, but it's not rare I boil a liter or so.

I bought this because it is indeed all Stainless inside the kettle (I am concerned about leaching plastic of any kind, BPA free or not). It is made in China (something about Made in China, China National Headquarters USA...whatever that means). I can tell you it comes in an all white box with no label, so does that mean it's just some generic factory in China? Well, if that is the case, it will explain the shoddy workmanship. Please keep in mind that with this electric kettle, you cannot immerse in water and soap is not recommended. The recommended before use cleaning is to boil it twice and discard. Well, the first time I did it, I get black flakes in the water. I assume this is whatever material that is used to polish the stainless? Boiling it several times cannot remove all of it. I see chunks of it between the crevice at the bottom of the kettle where the bottom and sides meet. I'd have to get a knife to remove it and that right there is poor workmanship. They don't clean these properly in the manufacturing process and thus I determined this unusable for it's intended use. I also found that it took approximately 10 minutes to boil a full pot and it does not have a "noise" indication except the lever releases up. I decided that electric kettles are cheaply made and I don't want to risk my family's health by exposing them to glues, plastics,silicon, etc. I ended up buying a stainless kettle stove top kettle, the Le Creuset 1.2 Quart Stainless Steel Demi Tea Kettle which while made in China, showed good workmanship. I found that it only took 10 minutes to heat up over my gas stove. So, here I thought buying an electric would be faster and I just needed to do it the old fashioned way.