fast as greased lightning (Breville Lightning Kettle)

Member Name: kimking

Product:	Breville Lightning Kettle
Date:	24/10/03 (1251 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: keeps water hot

Disadvantages: long cord

I had just got home after a long tiring shopping trip. All I wanted was a nice cup of tea. Mmmmm. I went into my kitchen put the kettle on and POP! Why is it that kettles always wait for you to want your cuppa most before they decide not to work? Well after trying all the usual things (unplugging it, plugging back in, shaking it and then banging it on the work top) Before throwing it in the bin in disgust. I had no choice but to buy another.

My search took me to Argos after looking at many different makes, I settled on the ?Breville lighting?. It seemed all singing and all dancing. The main thing that attracted me to the kettle was that it had a keep hot facility I thought this sounded very handy. It cost me £34.95 at the time. (January 2003)
The kettle was packed in a box, which contained the kettle, the base and a quite informative instruction leaflet.

The kettle is cordless and sits on a white, round, 18 cm plastic base, which has 80cm of electric cord attached. There is a small round connection point, which is risen up from the base by 2cm. This is where the kettle sits and draws it electricity from. There is place to wind any surplus cord that isn?t required so to aid safety. The base also has six little lights, which are only visible when they are lit.

The kettle its self is approximately 25 cm high and like the base is white. It has two large windows, shaped like someone has just cut them out roughly. There is a measuring facility on the clear part of the window to help judge how much water you have put in. The kettle its self is quite light and weighs about 1.2 grams.

It has a very sturdy handle which stays warm while the kettle is connected to the mains with rubber down the back of it to aid a good grip. This I think is very safe and easy to hold even for the weakest hand. The lid is hinged with two large buttons to open it. There is no chance of the lid falling off and it opens quite easily when the buttons are pr
essed. On the top of the kettle handle are not one but two buttons a large one and a small one. The buttons and rubber on the handle is grey.

In side the kettle is a flat round metal plate. This conceals the 3000W element to heat the water and can heat the smallest amount, just as long as it is covered. Being flat it is so easy to clean.


There is a removable washable filter, to help collect all those little hard scales that some people have the misfortune of getting with hard water. This removes easily from the kettle and has little grooves to help you replace it properly. To wash the filter you just rinse it under a warm tap and brush with a soft brush. You must make sure when you replace it that it clicks into place then it wont fall out when your pouring the boiling water out.

As I have said there are two buttons on the kettle handle. One is to switch it on and off. Although it is automatic and normally switches its self off but if you don?t need the water quite boiling you can switch it off via the big button when you want. The small button is to keep the kettle hot after it has boiled. After it has switched its self off, you just press the small button and it stays just below boiling point at 77c. We find this very handy indeed in the mornings. In our house we all get up at slightly different time so the first one down in the morning fills the kettle right up boils it, then leaves it on the keep warm mode. Then when the next person wants it, it takes just a couple of seconds to reach boiling point. Then they leave it on keep warm for the next person. We would not want to be without this feature now has it is so handy. You can leave it on the keep warm feature for a maximum of 12 hours. But this you have to switch off your self.

Inside the kettle, just behind the lid is a blue light. This comes on while the kettle is heating the water to boil. It illuminates the entire water chamber to a beautiful electric blue, which loo
ks very impressive when the kitchen lights are out. The blue light is not lit while on the keep warm mode, only the red lights on the base, which stay on while the kettle is boiling. When in keep warm mode the red lights flash.

If you are careful in the use of your kettle it should never boil dry but as we all know even the most careful of us can have accidents. A boil dry fail-safe device protects the kettle. This will automatically turn the kettle off and keep it switched off until you put at least enough water in to reach the minimum fill mark. While it is in the fail-safe mode it will light the blue and the red lights as a warning that it has boiled dry.

I tested the speed of the kettle on boiling. Filled to the minimum level, Two cups (which does mean two cups not mugs. I found this measure filled one & a half mugs) took one minute two seconds to boil. The maximum, which holds 8 cups, took 3 minutes 51 seconds. The actual capacity is 1.7 litres.

Personally I find this the best and most useful kettle I have ever bought. I would recommend it to anyone. If I was asked for any concerns I think in all honesty the only one I could think of is, that children might be attracted to the kettle while it is boiling due to the attractive blue light. However, as you can shorten the electricity cable by winding it around the underside of the base I suppose it is up to you to make sure as with all dangerous things in the kitchen, that they are made safe.

Thanks for reading.

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