Breville VKJ142 Hot Cup Kettle

This review is for the Breville VKJ142 Hot Cup, which is a kettle designed to just heat the amount of water that you need.

The aim of this kettle is to boil and dispense only one cup at a time, which has the advantage of being much quicker, and saves energy and time in not boiling water that isn't needed. I bought this deliberately for both the speed and energy issues, and hopefully it'll save at least a little electricity!

Some technical details, the kettle is 3,000 watts, has a 1.5 litre 5 cup capacity, a removable drip tray, cord storage, boil dry protection, and safety cut-out. The kettle weighs 1.6 kgs.

In terms of the product itself, it's easy to use, and takes less than 30 seconds to boil one cup, with the water automatically dispensed at the press of a button. It's easy to fill, which is done just like a usual kettle and it has an easy release lid, and it's also easy to pour. It's maybe a little louder than a usual kettle, but nothing particularly excessive.

The kettle is black and grey, and I think this is the only colour that is available. As expected, the kettle comes well packaged in a relatively small box, and there is a comprehensive instruction manual enclosed, although it's not really necessary to read this to be operate the kettle.

The kettle feels quite robust and comes with a one year warranty, so should be reasonable long-lasting. It's also easy to lift, which makes it particularly suitable for those who struggle to lift heavier products or have problems with gripping kettles to pour the water.

Although it isn't a problem for me, one surprising factor in this product is that you can't change the amount of water that is boiled, so if you only have a small cup you can't boil a little less. This isn't a problem, but is a feature that some might have expected.

At the moment, I've noticed that Amazon have a similar unit with a different dispenser, but Amazon have removed the product from their sale saying that customers have complained that the product wasn't as described, so they aren't selling it themselves. This seems a little mysterious, but when the problem is resolved, this gives another option for those who do need a different amount of water to be dispensed.

The water boils quickly - and when boiling the kettle lights up blue which looks quite effective - and pours at boiling point and especially for those who drink tea, this is the ideal temperature. As a primary coffee drinker this is less important, but it does make an ideal product for those who drink tea.

Any excess water goes into the drip tray, and this is easily removed and can be placed in a dish-washer if necessary, and easily slots back in.

It's not likely that this product will replace as a kettle for many people as many need a kettle to pour more water on many occasions, and so for many it'll be an extra product, which is quite a clever way for a manufacturer to sell an extra product to be put in a kitchen. But for some people, this would make an ideal replacement.

The kettle retails for 69.99 pounds but can be found much cheaper than this. At the moment the kettle costs 34.97 pounds on Amazon including postage, although I purchased mine from Argos during their 20% off kettles sale. Argos say that the retail price is 49.99 pounds and they usually charge 39.99 pounds (mine was around 32 pounds).

In summary, it boils water quickly and efficiently, looks modern and is an affordable price. Might have been better if the amount of water that was boiled could be slightly varied, but overall, this is a recommended product.

(also on dooyoo under same user name)