Its my temper that is boiling as well as the water! (Breville JK112)

Member Name: Meggysmum

Product:	Breville JK112
Date:	12/06/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Heats water

Disadvantages: Pours it everywhere

I purchased this as a replacement for my old kettle about 4 months ago. I decided to review it as I am not terribly impressed.

I purchased it at Argos and I think it was about £24 at the time. This appeared to be at the higher end for normal jug kettle (as opposed to the fancy matching ranges).

It is a white kettle with a silver-grey lid and handle and a clear strip up the side so you can see how much water is in there. There is a push button on the top of the handle to allow the lid to open and a switch at the bottom which is depressed to turn the kettle on. It sits neatly on a white base which has about a 24 inch lead attached. The element is concealed at the bottom and it is 3000watts. the kettle is marked in cups and goes up to 8 cups so is a good size.

When the kettle is put on the base it is illuminated a lovely shade of blue which is quite pretty and it becomes red when the kettle is switched on. It does sound a bittle like a rocket launch when you first turn it on, very noisey! I have found that it boils quite quickly, certainly better than my old kettle. I live in a hard water area and the kettle does contain a filter to stop lumpy pieces of scale falling in your tea. I find this works well. The kettle does seem to scale up quite easily but that is my fault probably as I am not good at remembering the descaler.

The main problem with this kettle is its complete inability to pour its contents out of the spout. The water comes out all the way around the lid. The only way to counteract it is to pour extremely slowly. I make tea in a pot regularly for four people and generally the water pours out all over the worktop. I hate this as I feel it is dangerous around my children and my daughter is now old enough to use a kettle but I always have to remind her about the very slow poring that is necsssary.

The other issue I have is that the lid is hinged and opened by the button on the top for filling. However since we have such a scale problem I am used to scrubbing inside my kettle occasionally but it is not possible to get your hand or a cleaning brush in to remove the lumps of scale that collect at the bottom. The excess water coming out of the sides of the lid means that the lid also gets scaley quickly and I have to keep scrubbing that or the lid wont close.

All-in-all for a well known brand and a reasonable price I have been very disappointed. I keep hoping it will break so I can have an excuse for changing it but for now I will have to put up with it and just be slow and careful!

Summary: Don't buy it

Reliability:
Ease of use:
Design:
Installation:
Picture quality:
Sound quality: