My Beautiful Rusty Kettle (Le Creuset Traditional Tea Kettle)

Member Name: eawheeler

Product:	Le Creuset Traditional Tea Kettle
Date:	10/08/07 (595 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Classic design, great colours available and loud whistle.

Disadvantages: Heavy, rusty and limited capacity.

When my basic cheap kettle finally gave up the ghost about six months ago, I was secretly pleased. For a long time I had my eye on the beautiful Le creuset range of kettles and I was eager to buy one despite the high price tag.

I went along to the Ironmonger and had a look at the range. All three kettles offered by Le Creuset are stove top and feature a whistle. The 1.6L 'Kone' Kettle comes in the largest range of colour choices and costs around £40. The 1.6L 'Ogive' Kettle is only available in a kiwi green and costs around £45. The 2.1L 'Traditional' kettle is available in the most popular colours of the brand and costs around £45. I decided to buy the largest of the three in a lovely granite gray for £40 and couldn't wait to get it home to my kitchen.

Using the kettle for the first time took some getting used to. It is made of enamel-coated carbon steel and it is very heavy so pouring water can be quite a strain on your arm. It is also important that the kettle is filled only to a third of its capacity because adding anymore means that as soon as the water reaches boiling point, it violently spits out water. I was a little disappointed after its first use but managing the weight is something that becomes easier with practice and the volume of water I could boil at one time was enough for my purposes. I thought that these two small problems where acceptable because it really is such a beautiful kettle and looks wonderful amongst the other Le Creuset products in my kitchen.

After about six weeks of use more problems started occurring. I put on water to boil for tea which takes about 8 minutes from cold. After about 9 minutes I could see that the kitchen windows where beginning to steam up so I went over to the boiling kettle and removed it from the heat. When the kettle reaches boiling point there is usually a very clear whistling but it hadn't made a squeak. Once it had cooled a little I tried to seek out the source of the problem. The whistle was missing from the top of the spout and had fallen inside the kettle. Easily, the whistle can be pushed back into place but unfortunately just as easily it falls out again.

The worst problem found by far is the rusting. Little brown specks could be seen at the bottom of tea cups and floating in the water. The inside of the kettle has taken and orange-brown colour and small rust bubbles are forming in a few places. Le Creuset suggest that after each use the kettle should be emptied to prevent deterioration but I hardly see this as realistic if you want it to be used for making tea or coffee during the day.

I intend to hold on to the kettle for a few months until we move house and then I'll buy a different brand. I will probably clean it up and use it for decorative purposes as it seems a shame to throw it away. I love Le Creuset but feel very let down with this product and would warn anyone with a desire to buy this kettle to walk away. I had such a loyalty to the brand that I assumed they would provide a very reliable and well designed product and did not think to search for reviews before buying. Big mistake!

Summary: Don't let the great brand name fool you.

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