The Best Electric Kettles (2022), Tested and Reviewed | Epicurious

The long, slender pour spout performed exactly as a gooseneck should: emitting a fine, even stream of water. Gooseneck kettles tend to be on the smaller side, and this one is no different with its 1-liter capacity. While not quite as hi vis as a glass kettle, the water level line is easy to see while filling. The Oxo’s big win, though, is in brew time. It managed to heat 4 cups of water in a speedy 4 minutes, whereas others, like an older favorite from Bonavita, can take close to 7 minutes. Before the release of the Stagg EKG Pro this was our favorite gooseneck kettle and we still recommend it, especially at a price that’s half of the Stagg Pro.

OXO Brew Adjustable Temperature Electric Pour-Over Kettle

$105

at Amazon

Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Kettle

Fellow’s original beautiful gooseneck kettle elicited audible sighs of admiration when we unboxed it in the test kitchen, and there’s no doubt about it: The Fellow Stagg EKG is a fine piece of industrial design. We loved the sleek, matte black finish and the minimalist, turntable-esque design of the square base with its smooth radial knob and bright digital temperature readout. Though it wasn’t the fastest to boil, clocking in at 6 minutes 40 seconds to reach 212°F, the Fellow Stagg EKG was in line with other kettles we liked. We were impressed by additional features like the generous manual temperature control (at 135℉ to 212°F, it offered one of the widest in the field), the one-hour temperature hold setting, and the built-in “brew stopwatch” that allows you to monitor how long your brew has steeped. The kettle performed consistently and accurately during temperature tests and the slender spout yielded a nice, even pour. Both product reviews editor Noah Kaufman and associate director of commerce Emily Johnson have had it in their kitchens for the past few years and report that it holds up well, even with frequent use. It’s about 25% less expensive than the Stagg EKG Pro, and ultimately we just thought all the new features made the Pro a better choice.

Willow & Everett Gooseneck Kettle with Temperature Presets

We also tried—and quite liked— the Willow & Everett Gooseneck Kettle with Temperature Presets While it doesn’t offer the same degree of manual temperature control and the build quality is nowhere near as solid as our favorite gooseneck kettles, this model from Willow & Everett was a close competitor in our tests and, with a host of excellent Amazon reviews, seems like it could be an acceptable alternative. We particularly liked that the touch-sensitive temperature preset buttons are labeled with suggestions for use (pour-over coffee, white tea, etc.) and that gooseneck provided smooth, easy flow.

Willow & Everett Gooseneck Kettle with Temperature Control

$50

$39

at Amazon

Cuisinart PerfecTemp Stainless Steel Electric Kettle

The Cuisinart PerfecTemp Stainless-Steel Electric Kettle is a great budget pick, but it didn’t come in as the winner because the Hamilton Beach kettle performed just as well and was around $30 cheaper. Still, the Cuisinart PerfectTemp Stainless-Steel Electric is an effective, fast kettle with a variety of preset, one-touch temperature controls, a high-quality finish, and a great pouring mechanism. You wouldn’t go wrong buying it.

Cuisinart PerfecTemp Stainless Steel Electric Kettle

$100

at Amazon

Bodum Melior Gooseneck Kettle

We also tried the pour-over Bodum electric kettle but found the lack of distinct temperature settings (and the somewhat cheap-feeling materials) to be a deal breaker.

Corvo EKG Electric Kettle

The other model we tried from Fellow, called the Corvo EKG electric kettle, looks identical to the luxury one featured above except without the gooseneck spout. Instead it features the standard pitcher spout, which makes it easier for filling up pots of water but harder for precision pours. It is beautifully designed and would look great on your counter—and has the same manual temperature control and ability to maintain temperature for a long time as the Stagg. It’s a great kettle, but its small size makes it less appealing to cooks who want an all-purpose kettle for cooking as well as making coffee.

Fellow Corvo EKG Electric Kettle

$165

at Amazon

Smeg ‘50s Retro Electric Kettle

Like all products made by the iconic Italian company Smeg, the ’50s Retro Electric Kettle is super cute and comes in eight colors. But the body of the kettle is a little bulky (not heavy, but slightly awkward to maneuver) and the pitcher spout wasn’t as easy to control as some of the other non-goosenecks we tried. It’s also expensive with an $160 price tag. The kettle did heat up water in a flash, however (about 4 minutes 30 seconds), so if you’re looking for a very specific aesthetic or you have a kitchen full of Smeg products you’d like to add to, this kettle is a good choice.

Breville Crystal Clear Electric Kettle

The Breville Crystal Clear Electric Kettle boiled 4 cups of water in record time (just under 4 minutes), and the namesake crystal clear body revealed that it reached a seriously rolling boil before the automatic-off feature clicked in.

Breville Crystal Clear Electric Kettle

$100

at Amazon

Oxo Cordless Glass Adjustable Temperature Kettle

The Oxo Cordless Glass Adjustable Temperature Kettle won in the general kettle category in 2021 and is a wonderful kitchen appliance. It has many similar features to the Zwilling but was outpaced in features and design.

OXO Cordless Glass Electric Adjustable Temperature Kettle

This sleek kettle from OXO is easy-to-use, allows for total temperature control, and brought water to a full boil faster than all of the electric kettles we tested for our product test.

$105

at Amazon

$105

at Bed Bath & Beyond

Bonavita Digital Variable Temperature Kettle

The Bonavita Digital Variable Temperature gooseneck Kettle is another strong performer and former winner. When it comes to heating water it’s still a great choice and we recommend it without reservation. The interface and design just can’t compete with what Fellow or Oxo have to offer in the gooseneck department though.

Bonavita 1.0L Variable Temperature Electric Kettle

$130

at Amazon

Bonavita Cosmopolitan

The Bonavita Cosmopolitan, which had a borosilicate glass body and improved controls, was still not as fast as the new Oxo gooseneck kettle.

Chefman Electric Kettle

The Chefman is a good budget kettle with handy preset functions for different types of tea and a multicolor light display. We also thought the removable tea infuser would delight tea lovers, but seeing as it’s much slower than the Hamilton Beach model, which is just as affordable and offers the same range of functions, we felt that this one fell short.

The takeaway

Buy the Zwilling Enfinigy Cool Touch Kettle Pro if you’re in the market for an all-purpose kettle that can ably handle all sorts of kitchen tasks—filling teapots and French presses to making hot water chocolate cake—and look good doing it. But if making artfully calibrated coffee or tea is a big part of your daily routine—or you’re just interested in having more control over the process—the Oxo Adjustable Temperature Pour-Over Kettle or the Fellow Stagg EKG are the best gooseneck kettles for you.

Why own an electric kettle?

You may think that an electric kettle is exclusively useful for making a batch of coffee or several cups of tea. But think about how many times you have watched a big pot of water, waiting for it to boil so you can cook pasta. If you had an electric kettle, you’d have boiling water ready faster.

You can use your electric kettle for soup, veggies, and anything else that needs hot water.

Whenever you need hot or boiling water for anything, you can use your electric kettle. Tea and coffee are a given, but think beyond that: Blanching vegetables? Making soup? Cooking corn? Poaching chicken? Boil your water in your electric kettle and then pour it into the pot you need. Electric kettles are constructed to boil water faster than a pot or stovetop kettle.

You can safely boil water without watching it.

Though they say a watched pot never boils, a pot of water on the stove can boil over if you don’t watch out (except this one)! An electric kettle will never do that. Most electric kettles have an auto shut off when the water has reached a full boil. Which means you can fill it with a liter of water, turn it on, and leave the room to do something else. No worry, no mess.