Tea for ten (Breville JK46)

Member Name: berrydelight

Product:	Breville JK46
Date:	04/10/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, sturdy, good features

Disadvantages: Being unable to remove the filter

"Kettle's broken" innocent enough words uttered by a fellow colleague who clearly had not anticipated the pandemonium that would break out among ten tea addicted staff members. It begin with the women laughing gaily as they joked about whether it was switched on at the mains, followed by the men with their tools trying to raise some life out of our long serving Russell Hobbs. A dear friend who's passing was mourned. We survived for a whole two hours before the issue of a new addition was brought up, it felt like a legitimate mourning period so I was dispatched to our local supermarket, Morrisions with instructions from the boss that it was not to be too expensive and instructions from my colleagues that it was to be a fast boiler with a large water capacity.

Torn between these two seemingly different criteria and unable to check out Dooyo's recommendations first I was forced to make an impulse decision. The selection of Morrisons kettles was wide and varied, I spotted the Breville kettle which on the box is sold as Fastboil Jug Kettle (on the manual it state model JK46) and costs £18.99. I thought this was a fair compromise, any cheaper and it looked like I would be back again in a few weeks and more expensive would undoubtedly see my boss turn purple.

**Looks and features**
The kettle is white and substantial. It leans slightly to the one side caused by the generous spout which later proves useful for the 'jug' element, although its not about to win any style awards it looks good. The kettle comes away from the power base, convenient as you don't have to negotiate wires as well as water. The product has a fast boil 3000w concealed element and twin water windows so you can clearly see the water level and if so inclined watch your water boil. The on and off switch illuminates blue and the kettle features a removable, washable anti scale filter. The kettle holds a maximum of 1.7litres or 8 cups. I think you would be pushed to get a larger one and as of yet I have not had to fill it up twice to accommodate everyone in the tea run. The power cable is wound inside the power base which means you can have it a length to suit your plug points keeping the whole appliance compact and neat.

**First Use**
The instructions stay that the kettle should be filled to maximum and boiled, this process is to be repeated three times. Normally I ignore such things but the strong smell of plastic after the first boiling was a good enough prompt that maybe these were one set of instructions I should be following! After its three boils it was all ready to go. To boil when full it takes approx 2 minutes.
The water boils rapidly and when done the illuminated switch goes off. I thought the noise levels were average. The jug element and large shaped spout makes for really easy pouring and the kettle is wipe clean which is handy in a communal kitchen. All in all a successful first attempt!

**Additional bits and bobs**
The instruction manual advises that the kettle keeps on litre of water at 90 degrees for five minutes, an energy saving device so you don't have to reboil. It also gives very straightforward instructions about how to remove the limescale filter. The filter is designed to limit the lime scale in your drinks and also on the kettle's element so occasionally needs to be washed. One problem was that I couldn't remove the filter even with the instructions, more likely to be my failings than the kettles but it felt like it would break if I tried any harder. The kettle also has a one year guarantee if used for domestic purposes only.

On the whole a solid new addition, easy to use, attractive and a good price.

Summary: A good kettle

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