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(More customer reviews)Designed by Toshiyuki Kita, this Zojirushi electric water kettle is as perfect as we could find on the marketplace as of early 2010. The competitions don't come close in design and in features and so it was an easy but very time-consuming choice for us. I did benefit a lot from reading the reviews on Amazon and so even though eventually we found a better deal elsewhere I decided to post this review here.
----Pros----
The water boiling compartment is essentially all stainless steel. It was the number one criteria for us. We live in a hard water place and our apartment building does not have a water softener, so we need to boil vinegar in it to remove any deposit. Stainless steel means the taste easily rinses off. This cannot be said for our previous plastic kettle in which the vinegar taste stays on a lot longer.
The heating element is concealed and the bottom surface is flat except at the rim. This makes cleaning a snap. Contrast this to exposed heating element in the form of a coil where we couldn't even reach the bottom easily in the past. We also find that the deposit tends to sit at the bottom to form larger pieces of "flakes". There is still some powder in the water to be sure, but flakes are easier to deal with (for one they don't get poured out so easily).
The opening is wide---four and a half inch in diameter to be precise. Cleaning is easy since the whole hand can go in. Filling is also easier.
The lid "locks" securely when filling. After you lift the lid pass a certain degree, you feel it passes a snap and the lid stays open even if you tilt the kettle. Contrast this to some designs that use a simple free-falling hinge.
The flat bottom actually means the "minimum water level" is very low. Contrast this with a certain "doom at the bottom of a glass kettle" design.
Cordless is great. I don't know how wide the patent is but every single cordless kettle I have seen uses the Strix patented connector.
Circle-shaped... this design combines naturally with a cordless design, but it is not universal. We almost bought a rectangular (square) kettle with a square base.
The on/off switch will turn off automatically when you lift the kettle from its base. So the next time when you put it down the kettle won't continue to boil. (We want to prematurely stops boiling primarily when brewing green tea. It's not a big deal but it's a pros for us.)
Starting from room temperature and after boiling one pot of water, the plastic on the outside is only warm to touch. This is because the plastic outside is only a housing and no water touches it directly. In our previous plastic boiler, the outside can get hot enough to feel a burning sensation.
----Cons----
It's still has plastic in the water "channel" in the lid part of the kettle. The sprout is also plastic, and the seal between the lid and the bottom compartment is silicon. So if you really need to avoid plastic at all cost, this is not it.
Stainless steel is not transparent and you cannot see how much water is left from the outside. Frankly this is the only thing we miss but we decide metal is more important than transparency.
The "open/close" switch on the lid does not mean total seal. I hope we didn't get a lemon but when our kettle is held at 90 degrees or more, the water will drip out even in the closed position. Well, technically water _must_ be able to come out anyway since there is a steam vent, which is also is also how this boiler stops: it checks the amount of vapors passing through.
I feel that the steam vent is too close to the handle. In more than one occasion I have felt the steam when I tried to grab the handle. It also means that in practice you want to close the open/close switch to make sure all steam goes into the vent but not the sprout, or else your water will boil longer than designed. No big deal but some energy can be wasted otherwise.
Being stainless steel in the inside, it weights more than my girlfriend prefer. But it's already way lighter than the glass and the die-cast kettles we've tried at the shops.
The water volume is just a bit more than 4 cups (precisely it is 1 liter). I often wish it is larger but then it will get heavier. At the current size it's a decent tradeoff, but how about coming out with a 1.5L model?
Due to the lid design you have to tilt the kettle almost 90 degrees before water comes out, even when the kettle is at its maximum capacity. It's great for safety but it may not work well for those with arthritis. On this note I also mention that the handle is hard plastic so it may not be the easiest to grip for aging hands.
The sprout is surprisingly small and so water comes out rather slowly. My girlfriend remarks it has a "zen" feel to see water coming out slowly and steadily. I use it to train my patience in the morning. :P
Another speed related issue is the wattage. It's rated at 1300 watt "only" and we used a 1500 watt before this. It was a bit slower but we got used to it quickly. We do note that the power cable is a lot cooler in this one. In our previous kettle we almost thought the plastic would melt one day... (and the tip is, again, close the sprout switch to make sure all steam goes through the vent.)
The lid can be awkward to operate. It took us some time to get used to and some more to train ourselves to open it with just one hand. It's a small "tab" that you push on one side to lift the other side, and then you grip the lifted side to lift up the entire lid. I am sure it's a great safety feature... all our tea friends took more than a few seconds to figure out how to open it. :P
One year warranty is a bit short. But in the three months we have had it I cannot imagine anything that can go wrong.
Finally, yes, it's made in China. But I am just jotting it down for completeness. It's not a cons to us by itself.
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Zojirushi CK-BAC10 1300-Watt Electric 34-Ounce KettleBoil up to 34 ounces of water in just five or six minutes with this 1300-watt electric kettle. The unit comes in handy when making instant coffee, tea, hot chocolate, instant soup, and more. It features a durable stainless-steel interior with a concealed heating element for easy cleaning and protection against corrosion. To ensure the water doesn't boil away, the unit shuts off automatically once the water reaches a full boil. Other safety features include a cool-touch body, a locking lid and spout to protect against accidental spilling, and a lid design that minimizes the amount of steam that escapes from the steam vent. The kettle lifts off its corded power base for easy pouring and can be set back onto the 360-degree swivel power base from any direction. Other highlights include a wide opening for simple filling, an on/off switch on the handle, an illuminated "on" light, and cord storage in the power base. Made in China, the electric kettle measures 6-3/4 by 9-1/2 by 9-1/2 inches when on its power base, and it carries a one-year limited warranty.
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