Café Brew Collection Stove Kettle

I purchased this glass tea kettle for use with my Bodum Chambord 12-cup coffee press. Although I am not a "coffee snob" I do like a very good cup of coffee, and the best coffee (and tea) is made in glass because there is no chance of tainting your coffee with metallic substances or Teflon. This kettle is easy to use and easy to clean (you can even put it in the dishwasher if you like). It comes with a heat diffuser for use on electric ranges, but I suggest using it even for glasstop ranges as well. The whistle works well, but is a little more throaty than the high-pitch whistle on your standard metal tea-kettle. I use a probe thermometer and place it in the whistle hole, and let the water get between 200-205 degrees Fahrenheit - which is the proper brewing temperature for the best cup of coffee. The kettle has a clean, retro design and is very well-constructed. Some reviewers have noted that the handle heats-up. I believe this is most likely because they are using the "big burner" on their stove and not the smaller one that is the proper size for the tea kettle (thus the handle is over the outside of the burner and causes it to heat-up). So just make sure to use the smaller, more appropriate-sized burner to prevent over-heating the handle. Regardless, the handle is pretty strong, and the entire kettle is solidly-built. The kettle is made in Germany, according to the documentation that comes with it (though the company is based in the USA). I use glass almost exclusively for all of my cooking (like Corning Visions pots and pans, this Kettle, and so on) and if I can offer some suggestions to make sure your glass cookware (like this kettle) last you a lifetime, make sure that the outside is clean and dry when you place it on the burner, and turn the burner on low temperature for a few minutes and then turn it to medium to heat-up. Gently easing-up the temperature like that allows the glass to expand slowly and prevents cracking (which happens when you heat fast - though only rarely). Another tip I mentioned earlier - always use the heat diffuser! You probably won't need it for gas ranges, but for electric and glass-top ranges, use it to be on the safe side. When you take the pot off of the hot burner - DON'T place it on a cold burner or on the counter - this causes the glass to contract quickly and could possibly cause it to crack eventually. Instead, place it on a folded, dry towel or on a pot holder or two. Let id cool before you rinse it or clean it. All-in-all, this kettle is an EXCELLENT buy! The level of quality of craftsmanship is superb and for the price - it's unbelievable!

This is a GREAT whistling kettle. I like it so much, I bought a second one on the off chance I dropped one and broke it. Here are the highlights: It holds 12 cups of water. The lid is removable. The glass is heat resistant, laboratory quality boroscilicate. The handle is heat resistant. The whistle is gentle, not ear piercing. The glass is marked with the minimum amount of water for heating, as well as at the 6 cup level. The handle stays cool on my gas stove. You can see when the water begins to steam, form tiny bubbles, and boil. This is handy for brewing green tea, or when heating water for a manual drip or press type coffee maker, where you do not want boiling water, but you do want it very hot. It comes with a little wire "star" for use on a conventional electric range. It is unnecessary to use it on a gas range, but with an electric, put the wire "diffuser" on the burner coils, and then sit this pot on top of it. I use a gas range, so I sit the kettle right on the grate. I use the smallest burner, and I make certain that the flame is NOT licking up the sides of the kettle. If the flame is too high, it will do that, and chances are good that you will burn your hand when you grab the handle. You might also MELT the handle...not a good thing. So keep the flame reasonable. One person mentioned the Norpro 144 Heat Diffuser as a solution to keeping the handle cool. Perhaps that is the case with an electric range, but on a gas cook top, it actually spreads the heat over too wide an area, wider than the diameter of the glass kettle. Because of that, heat will rise directly to the handle. I bought the Nopro based on that advice (it was in response to a question posted about this kettle), used it once, and burned my hand when I grabbed the handle of the kettle. So if you use a gas range, do not use the Norpro 144 Heat Diffuser. It will just take longer for the water to boil, and you will need a pot holder to hold the kettle. Dislikes? Only two, and the first one is nit-picking. The top must be removed to pour the water. Hinging it would be more convenient (but that might make cleaning it in the dishwasher harder). Second: forget a 96 oz (12 cup) capacity. This kettle holds just about 64 oz (1/2 gallon). Seriously, if you don't do anything like boiling the pot dry, or dousing it with cold water as soon as it comes off the stove, this tea kettle should last a long time. Actually, the glass is thermal shock resistant, but why tempt fate?

I just pulled this tea kettle out of the box and boiled my first cup of tea. My last tea kettle was metal and recently rusted. When I poured my last cup of tea, it had brown particles floating in it. Yuck!!! No more metal tea kettles for me! So I went searching for something clear like glass that I could see the water in and found this German-designed wonder. After reading the numerous reviews, and using it once, just a few suggestions... 1) If you have various size burners on your stovetop, always use the smallest one to prevent the handle from getting too hot. Alternatively, position the tea kettle slightly off center so the handle is further away from the heat source. For a gas stove, you want the flames directly under the kettle without coming up around the edges, which can lead to melting of the handle or lid. Also, make sure to only use low or medium heat. 2) Always use the included trivet if you have an electric coil stovetop. It diffuses the heat between the tea kettle and stovetop to prevent the tea kettle from breaking. You don't need it for gas, glass, or ceramic stovetops. 3) Always fill the tea kettle to at least half full to minimize the chance of it boiling dry. Also, don't overfill it, or it could boil over. 4) Always position the lid so the lid lifting handle sits over the tea kettle handle. This will prevent it from being directly exposed to the stovetop heat and potentially melting. 5) Stay close by when using the tea kettle because the whistle isn't that loud when it's boiling. I could only hear it from the next room when the house was quiet. You won't hear it from the next room if you're playing music or the tv is on. 6) Always remove the lid before pouring because you can't pour water out of this tea kettle with the lid on. Also, when you take the lid off, make sure not to leave it too close to the burner or it might melt. 7) Clean the tea kettle regularly to keep it sparkling like new. It is dishwasher safe. Also, make sure no food particles are on the outside of the tea kettle before using it or those particles will become a caked-on mess that will be difficult to clean later. 8) If you can, always keep a back-up tea kettle on hand. The day will inevitably come when you drop and break it, melt the handle or lid, or lose the lid. This tea kettle is so inexpensive that it makes sense to get two and set one aside for later. Also, please note that this tea kettle holds 12 "German" cups. A German cup is roughly 5 ounces. So the tea kettle can safely hold 60 ounces, or 7 1/2 "U.S." cups since U.S. cups are 8 ounces.

I went with this glass kettle because I didn't want to try and judge the quality of the metal ones (for flaking, metallic taste, etc) from the picture online. This is also a great price, so I figured if it didn't work out, I'm only out a few dollars. And it turns out I love it! Every kettle has good reviews and bad reviews. The bad reviews that I read about this kettle mainly had to do with the handle getting hot or being loose. I have had no problem with the handle getting loose, and I shake it around every once in a while to make sure. I've been using this kettle for a few weeks now (on my glass stovetop) and I have absolutely no problems with the handle. I use it on a small burner, and the handle barely gets warm. Using a larger burner may make the handle get warm, just because of the radiant heat, and the directions suggest an oven mitt probably for that reason. My knuckles do get near the glass when grabbing the handle, but with a little bit of care and after getting used to it, I am comfortable with it and have not burned myself. Just don't be stupid. Read the directions, only heat it over medium/high heat, and don't shock the glass with any fast temperature changes. Take it off the heat after it whistles and remove the lid before pouring. Don't heat empty or nearly empty glass. Some of the design elements that I find strange are the measurements on the side. Only 3, 5, and 7 are labeled, and there are dashes for 4 and 6. But it has a 12 cup capacity, so why not label the whole thing? Especially since you shouldn't overfill it, or underfill it. That's a minor thing though, and although I would've designed it a little differently, it doesn't really bother me. Also because of the shape of the kettle, when emptying it into your cup you have to turn it almost all the why upside down. This is only a problem because if you do it too fast, the steam could burn your hand as it goes by. But with a little bit of caution, it's not a problem. Again, just don't be stupid. I am very very happy with my kettle, and love to watch the water convect and boil through the glass. It's super easy to clean, and doesn't have a metallic taste (obviously), and has no paint or anything to flake off or deteriorate over time with washes. Glass made in Germany, kettle made in China.

I started shopping around for a glass kettle since my old kettle started to rust. For about $10, this Medelco kettle seems like a good candidate. Positive : - All glass. Unlike Stainless Steel kettles, if there is any rusts, you will see it. This is why I chose this kettle. Negative : - The bottom of the kettle is smaller than smallest head on my electric range. This means that significant amount of heat will be loss dissipating around the kettle and range. Comparing to my old kettle, I can feel much more heat around the kettle. At high setting, it takes much longer to boil the water. - With significant amount of heat dissipating around, it means that the lower part of the handle will get hot. I can usually get by by holding the upper part. But in several occasions when I left it on the range too long, it gets too hot and I need a oven mitt to pick it up. -- The lid handle can get too hot sometime too. - You must take off the lid in order to pour water. This could become a problem when you're not too careful when opening the lid. Try not to lift it up since hot steam will hit your hand. Flip it to the side does the trick. No more steam straight into your hand. - The "whistle" is not loud at all. Sometime the noise of boiling water is even louder than the whistle. If you just left it on the stove, and not paying attention, you might not hear the whistle at all. - It's a glass, so there's no other way around this drawback. In case you want to boil several batches of water, you have to wait for the kettle to cool down a bit before pouring in cold water. Otherwise, the glass will break. With all negatives, I still think this kettle is worth the price and the fact that I don't have to worry about rusts trumps all the negatives. Sure, it's a different kind of kettle and there's a limitation. But for the price and some adjustments on your part, this is a good kettle.

Inexpensive, kind of cute in a retro way, simple and effective. I really angsted over this purchase, read a lot of reviews and finally decided to give it a try. I couldn't be more pleased. For 20 years I had a Bodum stainless steel kettle. I loved the way it looked and worked and when it finally burnt itself to smithereens (no whistle), I saw from reviews that the newer version didn't have the same quality. I probably would have paid for it anyway if it was made well. After all, it is something you look at all the time and use every day. But more than $50 to boil water was alot for style without value. I had to find something else so I started from stratch in thinking about what I wanted. I wanted a whistle but not something so cumbersome that I would not use it consistently. I wanted glass for the pure taste of the water with no metal overtones or impurities. I was concerned that the kettle would break easily. But I thought about how I enjoy using double walled glass cups for tea and coffee and they are beautiful and amazingly sturdy. Finally, I was concerned and confused by what some people wrote about the handle getting hot and being bothered by having to remove the cover (which creates the whistle when boiling) before pouring. I finally decided to try anyway, thinking that even if it is a big mistake, it wouldn't be a big expensive mistake. I have owned the kettle now for almost a year and I think it is a great little kettle. It doesn't take up a lot of space. It is light-weight. It boils water in a flash. You can see what's happening in a glance. The water out tastes just like the water you put in. I don't even think about taking the top/cap off when it boils-- just something you do without thought. It may look fragile but it has held up fine to normal use. The handle is not too hot to my mind, but I don't turn the flame up fully 'cause you don't need to for a fast boil. (I don't know how it would work on an electric stove. The kettle comes with a wire heat diffuser for electric stove use and that seems like a bother.) I love my kettle!

This is my second review of the Medelco 12-Cup Glass Stovetop "Whistling" Kettle. My first review was rather negative and I am clueless regarding that one's disposition, but after some use I have a more positive take on this kettle. First, we were coffee snubs grinding our own Starbucks beans. Then Starbucks introduced Via and other single-serving freeze-dried coffees. Most recently we tried the Tasters Choice 100% Columbian sold by Amazon and found it to be good except for the metallic flavor coming from an old stainless kettle. Now, with this glass kettle there is no more metallic flavor and instant Columbia is very good. Also, being able to see the contents is very nice. I ignore manufacturer warning not to leave the glass kettle on the burner after it begins to boil, and this has not proven to be a problem. Doing this may make the glass more likely to crack or break at some point but we are careful wit it for that reason. Unlike what others have reported, the handle does not get hot when this is used on a glass-top range. We do heat water on 75% power (manufacturer recommends 50%) to hasten boiling but the glass is so efficient that reaching the boiling stage does not take long. Once boiling starts it maintains hot water even on the coolest level of the burner. The whistle does little in the way of whistling--more like hissing-- and you do have to remove the top to pour water from it, but these drawbacks are minor in comparison to the other excellent attributes of this impressive and inexpensive glass kettle. April-2012 Update: Before making this my last review of this great product, I wanted to remove doubts I may have expressed previously. This Medelco glass kettle is holding up well even after continuing abuse (we fill it with hot water and turn the burner on 3/4 power to minimize wait time even though the instructions warn not to exceed half power. We also leave the kettle on the warming burner for hours even though the instructions say remove it from heat after the water comes to a boil.) This kettle is touch enough to last through our abuse so we would gladly order another, once we have managed to destroy this one! The whistle I complained about previously has proven to be a virtue instead. This whistle top makes a fairly mild (not too annoying) whistle that lets you know your water is ready but doesn't jerk you out of your seat to make a dash to shut it up! We like it! UPDATE: I'm hanging with the five-star rating I gave this in December 2011, after having purchased this excellent glass kettle in November that year. After almost a year and a half of once or twice daily use, this inexpensive glass kettle is still doing the job quickly, and still it is abused with higher than recommended glass-top burner temps without stress cracks or breakage. Even after frequently being left on a hot burner contrary to the manufacturer's instructions. This glass kettle is a great buy!

I really love this pot. I had a similar one for years but unfortunately broke it. This one did not disappoint. Looks nice, the size is just right for me, works well on the ceramic electric stove top, instructions and markers at the pot are useful. Highly recommend it.