The Best Stovetop Kettles

Lightweight and easy to lift, this nicely designed kettle held plenty of water for its size—a full 2 quarts. The kettle whistles loudly, and the spout pours neatly. The raised, open handle leaves plenty of space below for opening the lid and keeps hands out of harm’s way. The lid loop is big and comfortable to pull. The kettle showed no damage from our abuse testing and cleaned up nicely. We wish the interior were lighter, but otherwise this is a lovely, sturdy (but not heavy) kettle, which comes in a rainbow of colors at a moderate price.

While it’s a bit heavier than ideal when full, this low, wide kettle feels sturdy and pours neatly. We loved its loud whistle and curved handle and liked the lever in the handle to open the spout for pouring so that we didn’t have to touch the hot spout. Though the lever has to be squeezed while pouring, the weight of the kettle rests on the lever and does most of the work for you, so your hands won’t fatigue during use. We also loved that a note about how not to overfill is printed right inside the lid. The kettle survived abuse testing with no damage and comes in an array of colors. 

Rock-solid and petite, this pricey enameled cast-iron kettle is gorgeous but lacks a whistle and boils silently. While “1.25 QT.” is in its name, it actually holds 3½ cups. The entire flat top comes off, making it very easy to fill and clean. A pair of looping steel handles stayed upright and kept cool, so we didn’t need pot holders to pour (the lid knob did get hot). Though it was weighty, it wasn’t hard to pour from and didn’t splash. The petite base requires a very small burner. The kettle survived abuse testing unscathed. Surprisingly billed as ovensafe to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and OK for the grill, this kettle can be used to cook very small portions of food; it can also keep sauces warm at the table. An included 2-inch steel mesh tea ball hooks under the lid for a teapot; this worked well, and there were no off-flavors in the tea. In sum: If you’re tired of flimsy kettles and don’t mind this model’s price or small size, it’s a good choice. 

Petite and lightweight, this is a terrific kettle for small households, but we had to boil and pour it out twice to fill a full-size teapot. Its surprisingly comfortable, well-balanced handle and long, skinny spout made for surgically precise control, especially with pour-over coffee; this is the pot of choice for many baristas. Filling is easy since its handle doesn’t arch over the opening, which is wide enough to get your hand inside to scrub. A few things to note: It lacks a whistle, and occasionally the spout (which is set at the base of the kettle rather than higher up as on other kettles) sent out tiny spurts of water when boiling.

Lightweight and easy to fill with its wide opening, good interior visibility, and handle that folds out of the way, this kettle was pleasant to use and has a generous capacity. Its whistle is assertive, its grippy handle is comfortable, and its spout has a gentle curve that lends itself to smooth pouring. It survived abuse tests with only the faintest dents, and the brushed-steel surface was easy to clean. A quibble: The lever on the whistling spout cover is stiff and snappy, and the pointy hinge underneath the lever sometimes poked our fingers when closing the spout. Also, it is not induction-compatible. Update, November 2021: After hearing complaints that our winning kettle from OXO splashed boiling water from its spout after each pour, we tested a new copy and confirmed that this was sometimes the case. We agree that this flaw can be at best messy and at worst dangerous, so we are demoting it.

Extremely light and as thin as an eggshell, this surprisingly roomy, inexpensive kettle has a clearly stamped “max fill” line on the exterior just under the spout, nicely visible in the bright interior. Its handle arches high, and its lid is fairly easy to pull off and snaps back on with a satisfying crunch. The whistle is loud. Its spout opens with a convenient button set in the handle. Pouring is comfortable and fairly easy to control. However, the kettle feels too delicate to last long; it rattles as it’s heating and whines on an induction burner (likely because its bottom doesn’t sit flat on the burner but is raised slightly above the surface by a metal ring around its perimeter). It also dented visibly when we hit its sides with a wooden spoon to simulate years of use. In sum, this kettle performs well and is affordable and easy to use, but it feels extremely flimsy. 

This handsome kettle boils fairly quickly and comes in colors matching Le Creuset’s enameled cast-iron cookware. Made of enameled carbon steel, it feels sturdy, and its handle folds down for filling. On the downside, we found its whistle too quiet. Both the handle and the tab that opens the spout stay cool. The kettle doesn’t splash, but pouring can be uncomfortable, since you have to tip the kettle (and your elbow) far up due to the high angle of its spout and short, level handle. Its black interior makes it difficult to avoid overfilling, and you must not add water above a specific level that’s not intuitive or obvious (the manual says to fill between two rows of holes under the spout). Since that maximum fills only about one-third of the kettle, there seems to be wasted capacity, creating the potential for overfilling. A notch at the edge of the lid shoots out steam when the kettle is boiling. The kettle survived abuse testing with no damage. 

The manufacturers recommend against using this kettle over high heat, and for good reason: After we used the kettle a half dozen times on high, the plastic handle began to melt, bubble up, and deform where it attaches to the kettle. Unfortunately, using it over medium heat as recommended means it takes more than 30 minutes to boil a full kettle. Its maximum capacity is just below the spout, but since the spout is set high, the kettle holds a generous 2½ quarts, and its light-gray interior is nicely visible for filling. We liked the button on the handle that opens the spout, but the spout cover often flicked hot drops of water at our hand as it snapped open. The kettle has a nice appearance, and its long, curving, comfortably grippy plastic handle resembles wood. This handle shape gives good leverage on the kettle, helping it pour smoothly. On the downside, its matte black enamel surface shows scuffs and got faintly dented in our abuse testing.

This handsome kettle was the biggest we tested, but it’s only for the strong: Extremely heavy when full, it also requires squeezing a tight, spring-loaded lever to keep the spout open, which was tiring. Pouring control was entirely dependent on arm strength. With its piercingly loud whistle, you’ll never miss the boil. A wide bottom made of five layers of steel, aluminum, and iron retains heat but slows down boiling: A full kettle took more than 11 minutes. A midsize dent appeared during routine handling, and small dents showed after abuse tests.

This tiny-looking but surprisingly capacious kettle is hard to fill accurately, since its interior is pitch black and its low, fixed handle leaves little space for the faucet. Its whistle is good and loud. While it’s comfortable to lift, even while full, it drips and sloshes a little while pouring. After we intentionally left the kettle wet between tests, we found brown residue when wiping the inside with a paper towel, a possible sign of rust; some tasters complained that water boiled in it tasted stale.

While it’s nice to see the water boiling through the clear glass, several flaws plague this old-school kettle: It claims to hold 12 cups but actually holds only 6, and it has no maximum fill line; it also comes with a laundry list of warnings about handling to prevent shattering (including never placing the hot kettle on a cold surface, never bumping the kettle, never brewing tea in it, and heating it on low or medium heat only), making us jumpy every time we picked it up or set it down. It boiled painfully slowly, and its whistle was far too soft for anyone in danger of boiling a kettle dry. You must remove the lid to pour, and the slightly uncomfortable handle feels off-balance until you’re pouring.

Pretty but pricey, this kettle is easy to lift even when full, and its wide opening and fold-down handle make it simple to fill and clean, though its dark enameled interior means visibility is slightly challenging. Its whistle was nicely audible, and its pouring felt secure, predictable, and controlled. It didn’t dent when whacked or dropped, but after leaving it damp inside throughout testing, we wiped its interior with a paper towel to find traces of brownish residue.