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Kenwood SJM100
by blissman70
Most people like a good cup of tea, or maybe a strong mug of coffee to keep there brain alive for a few hours more, just to get them through the day.
Well, I'm one of those people who like both tea and coffee and, even if I do say so myself, I can make a good cup of tea that not only refreshes but tastes nice as well.
One thing ... that is needed to make a cup of hot tea, or coffee, is a good kettle so that you can have that refreshing brew more or less on tap, so to speak.
Sadly though my love of tea, and coffee, has led to me having gone through more kettles than I care to imagine, seeming to break them by just staring at them the wrong way... and the same goes for toasters too, but don't get me started on that as we'd be here all day.
Anyway, quickly back to kettles. As I said, I have had the pleasure, or misfortune, to have had to buy a lot of kettle during my tea loving life. Some of them being cheap and cheerful whilst others have cost almost as much as a share in the Nescafe company itself.
One kettle that I used for a while, I can't remember how long but if I recall correctly it was a good 14 months, which for me is not too bad at all. But once it started to fail it failed fast. Anyway, the kettle that I am talking about, and is now sadly in the great big small kitchen appliance heaven in the sky, is form a very well known company called Kenwood, with this kettle itself being called the Kenwood SJM100, (which is not to be confused with others of similar numbers for the name).
Firstly, for those that have a fashionable kitchen and want to know if it will fit into your professionally designed kitchen, let me tell you what it looks like...
It's a standard looking kettle with a metal body that stands tall at about 160mm high, and having a diameter of about 220mm, although the spout does stick out a further 20mm.
The entire kettle weighs in at a good solid 1.25kg, when it is empty of course, so it's not too heavy to pick up yet it's not too light to blow over in the wind.
The metal finish itself has a dull effect look to it, with a black handle and a black bottom which then sits on a black base.
As any other kettle this one has the lid on the top being held in place by a hinge system which bounces up on the flick, or more the press of a button, which is on the top of the handle.
The handle itself is a good size, catering for the larger hands out there. Next to the handle, slightly to the left as you stare admiringly at the handle, there is a lovely clear plastic water level guide which has cup levels etched up the side, giving a rough indication as to how much water you've actually put into the kettle itself.
Underneath the handle there is the all important 'trigger' switch, or more the on switch, which is a good size piece of solid plastic that slides up and down with ease, and glows a lovely blue colour when it is switched on.
As for the inside. The drum, or kettle, or container, or what ever you want to call it, this can hold 1.6 litres of water and has a neat looking water filter covering the area where the water will come out through the nicely shaped spout. The spout itself is designed to pour the right amount of water out at one time as long as you don't tilt the kettle too far forwards. Sending hot steaming water all over the place, which can be dangerous without a doubt.
The kettle sits on a round base, which allows the unit to spin around a full 360° so there's no danger of catching wires and possibly tipping the kettle over. Then, to aid in hiding the cable away, shortening it so that it's just long enough to go from the plug socket to the base, there are three lovely 'arms' on the underside of the base so that the cable can be wound around them in order to keep it neat and tidy, whilst only having the right amount out.
And that's the kettle and what it looks like. There are other versions but this is the SJM100.
Are there any special features..?
Well, it's a kettle so you'd don't really expect that many special features, but it does have a couple.
It offers an Eco feature, which means that it can boil a single cup of water for a single brew, although many kettle I have used offers this facility as the element on the bottom are all concealed, as is this one, so that the smallest amount of water will be heated evenly.
To stop any chance of boiling nothing but air, in case you forget to put water into the kettle, there is a boil dry safety feature which automatically switches the kettle off when the water drops below a certain level.
It has rapid boil action, although I have seen quicker. But then again, I have seen slower too.
The filter is easily removes, pulling it out of the top, and is simply washed under a running tap.
What about filling it up..?
You can either pour water into the kettle via the spout as it is wide enough to accommodate your average tap, plus, doing it this way the filter can help filter any 'stuff' from the water and stop in going into the kettle, hence the name 'filter'.
I actually prefer to pop the lid open and fill the kettle that way as it's a lot quicker and save splashing water all over the place. The way I see it is that the filter will work when I'm pouring the water out once it has boiled.
My opinion...
Kettles. Kettles. Kettles. And toasters, mixers, in fact most small kitchen items that I tend to use quite often, just don't seem to like me. I don't know why. Maybe it's the fact that I over work them? Or maybe I've got an electro field surrounding me that makes all small electrical devices break down as soon as the warranty has run out.
And this kettle was no exceptions. I think it lasted a few weeks longer than the warranty, which is not too bad in my kitchen.
But whilst it did work it actually did work quite well. Nice and fast without taking up that much room on the worktops. And as the kettle could spin happily on the base it could be picked up from any direction.
It stood tall and, with it's lovely dull metal finish, it didn't look out of place at all in my kitchen against the black tiles and slightly lighter black, speckled with white bits in it worktops.
The on/off switch is nicely placed at the bottom and is smooth to flick down with my thumb, making clicking it on a breeze.
The handle is a great size and, even though it is hollow, it feels solid in the grip so I don't have the sudden scare that it's going to fall apart and drop boiling water all over the dog, again... (only kidding, honest, it was the wife not the dog, so that's alright then??).
The rapid boil is not too bad, in fact, call me Mr Sad-man, (I've been called much worse, usually by my boss), but I did a timing test. A kettle full of cold water from the tap took just over two minutes to boil and switch off,
NOTE:
Times did vary slightly as for some reason the automatic switch off took different times as the water began to boil, at one point it took that long to switch off that I thought the kettle full of water was going to evaporate
The filter is simple to take out, as long as you remember to let the water cool before touching anything at all as you will scold yourself, and believe me, it hurts a wee bit.
But once the filter is pulled out I run it under a tap, maybe a bit of a brush over with a soft brush, or even a lime scale remover treatment, although that is not something I do on a regular basis as I find that the taste of the water is a little 'dodgy' for while. Then I simply slide the filter back into place using the notches as a guide so that it fits in correctly and helps cut the kettle off when it boils.
And speaking of 'dodgy' tastes. As with all new kettles this one did have the usual 'tinny' taste for a few boils, which I almost got used to. But that taste did subside over time, which was nice.
What more can I say about what is really a kettle?
Not a lot really, apart from the fact that it does exactly what it is designed to do, boil water so you can have a brew.
So what about the price then..?
This kettle is quite pricey, for a kettle that is, as it sells for nearly £40.00, which is double what I like to pay these days as me and kettles just never get on.
Would I recommend this kettle then?
If it is on sale for about £25.00 then go for it, you won't be too disappointed as it should last a while, possibly longer than it lasted me anyway. Sadly if it is priced higher than that then I'd say look elsewhere as you may find a better kettle.
So, if you want a nice cup of tea or coffee, firstly, don't go to Mc Donalds as theirs taste like dirty dishwater that a rat has bathed in with his friends on a Friday night out in Soho. Instead, make you own using this kettle to quickly boil the water that you need.
Simples... (makes a sound like a meerkat.... Or is that copyright yet?)
İBlissman70 2012
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