Chefman Electric Tea Kettle With Temperature Control

We have been using chefman electric kettles for over a decade now, and actually purchased the previous version twice, we liked it so much. So when our most recent one finally gave up the ghost, I was sad to see that it had been discontinued, but was perfectly willing to switch over to the “new and improved” model.

What a let-down.

It’s beautiful, and has a nicely small footprint, and the different colored LEDs for different functions are neat, but that’s about all it has going for it.

The “keep warm” function…doesn’t. I’ll boil a kettle, make a cup, then come back an hour later to make another one, only to find that the temp has dropped down to 140. So it doesn’t hold temp any more than if I’d just turned the thing off and let it cool naturally.

When the water is between 165 and 185F, the thing makes a sound like a distant tornado siren. It’s loud enough that it drives the dogs nuts, which is a real adventure when I’m trying to be quiet while getting ready in the morning.

The base gets HOT. Not the kind of hot you expect from an electrical device that’s literally boiling water right above it, but hot as in I actually burned my fingers moving it after it shifted when lifting the kettle off of it.

Finally….the beeping. Even if everything else worked perfectly, the beeping would be a deal breaker. Specifically, the way it beeps every few seconds after reaching temp, letting you know that it’s ready to steep. It does this for 5 minutes, before finally switching over to “keep warm”. Which again, it doesn’t. Keep warm, that is. I’m never going to steep tea in this kettle. They desperately need an option to turn off the steeping prompts. Or only prompt for steeping on the temperatures that have a tea associated with them, and add a second option on each of those temperatures for just heating water, like they do the “212 – boil” setting.

You can mute the beeping by holding the down arrow + start/stop, but that takes away the notification that your water is up to temp. I like knowing when my water is ready, so…choose the lesser evil, I guess.

Maybe I got a lemon. Most reviewers don’t seem to have any of these issues. But I don’t know for sure, because I’ve reached out to Chefman twice over the last week and a half for product support, and haven’t heard a peep.

Like I said, I used to really like Chefman, and their products, but both of them have really let me down with this bloody awful kettle.

I love this kettle and use it often. Everything about it is great, except that if I fill it to 7 cups (which is 1 cup from max fill) it will boil out the spout.

I bought this unit because:
* I was looking for a kettle with temperature adjustment beyond the standard presets
* I wanted one that heated fast
* I wanted water level indication WITHOUT plastic in contact with the water

It works well and delivers on the above points. I recommend this kettle.

Here are some other comments:

* I think the LEDs work well and are a nice feature. White for standby, Red for heating, Green for at setpoint or keep warm.
* I could not find a kettle with a level indication that did NOT have plastic. This unit obviously is nearly all glass, so you can easily see the level. There is only stainless steel and glass in contact with the water.
* Note that the top is not hinged. It pulls off completely from the kettle if this matters to you.
* Temperature control is via 5 presets OR you can select any temp you want, in 5 degree (F) increments.
* You can switch between F and C, if this matters to you.
* You can shut off the auditory indication that setpoint is reached, if this matters to you.
* This unit comes with a tea diffuser which I have no intention of using.
* Note that the ‘keep warm’ function, I find quite useless. When boiling water, I left it on keep warm, when I came back to the unit later, the keep warm temp was 150F. So it doesn’t keep the water at the setpoint you previously set; it literally is just keeping it warm. I won’t use it so it doesn’t bother me.

I got a great deal on this kettle from Amazon Warehouse Deals. I didn’t use it right away and was unable to return it. The kettle is really high tech and quite good quality. It heats up fast and is quiet. The problem with the unit I received was that the electronics or the switches were kind of faulty. I have to hit the power on button 7-10 times before the kettle turns on. Maybe it’s a bad switch but the electronics didn’t seem to be working properly. I went for a stainless steel Black and Decker with a simple bottom switch. It boils the water, but doesn’t have any keep warm function like the Chefman. I’m not so sure buttons and electronics are the way to go with a kettle always around water. The heat sensor in the simpler models is probably more reliable, and these are cheaper.

UPDATE – May 30, 2023 – I bought this kettle “used” at a spectacular discount well over a year ago. At first I reported that the button required multiple pressings to power the kettle on and I thought the electronics might be a bit faulty. Well, sometime later the button started working normally and has been working perfectly for a long time now. It’s also very fast. I keep room temperature water in a Brita type pitcher and it even stays clean without scaling. The lid pops up for filling and it’s easy to fill just what you need when using the pitcher. I actually use a Waterdrop brand pitcher.

UPDATE – March 26, 2022: Raising review to 4 stars. I kept using the Chefman digital kettle. After a while the power button seems to have loosened up because I find that I just have to press it one or two times to work. I no longer have to “spam” the power button. The other buttons work fine and will heat the water to lower temperatures for specialty teas. It remains fast, has a keep warm function and the colored LED light illuminates the glass so you know it’s active. I like this kettle. Maybe mine just came with a bit of a quirky power button… but for now it seems to be working well enough. It’s a very good kettle.

Sin duda volveré a adquirir otro de ser necesario.

Several pre-sets to take the guessing out of boiling water for various teas. Water heats quickly. I love the automatic cutoff. Looks great with my stainless appliances.