Hot water is essential to cooking. From making tea or just cooking noodles, its one of the key ingredients to making food. Traditional tea kettles use gas to heat up. However, modern technology has come into the fold. These day some modern kitchen are fitted with induction cooktop. In order to use a kettle, you need a special induction tea kettle. These Kettle uses metal to have a strong magnetic pull to generate heat.

What is an Induction Tea Kettle?

For anything to be induction compatible, it needs to have a magnetic pull. Most modern cookware uses aluminum. Its cheap, light, durable, rust resistant and great at conducting heat. Its the miracle metal for cookware manufacturer. However, the problem is that it has no magnetic pull. As a result, its not induction compatible.

There are other metal that is normally not good for cookware. Namely stainless steel, they are heavy and slow at conducting heat. The reason why manufacturer use them is because they resist rust and stains. On higher grade of cookware, there is a thin layer of stainless steel with a aluminum core. However, most just use stainless steel.

This pure stainless steel construction isn’t really much of an issue with induction. As it uses the magnetic pull to generate heat. You get fast and even heat despite the lower heat conductivity of stainless steel.

Other kettles that are compatible with induction are Carbon Steel and Cast Iron. They hold their heat well and keep your water hot even after it leave the stove. The issue with them in that they rust. So you need to trade the pros and cons of each. I personally would go for Stainless Steel.

How Does it Work?

Most modern hot plate uses electricity to create a heating pad. The coils turns glowing red and it that generates heat. While its really efficient, a lot of the heat goes to the surrounding environment.

With induction, the coil in the induction cooktop generates magnetic resistance with the kettle. As a result, most of the heat is transferred directly to the kettle. As a result, it heats up a lot faster and more evenly. The caveat to this is that performance is tied directly to power. The more power it can draw, the quicker it will boil.

Are Induction Kettles Good?

Yes and No. They’re good in the sense that they work. However, whether they are good or not is irrelevant to them being induction. Induction Kettle should be suitable for both natural gas and induction. I would argue that in a normal setting, a non induction kettle such as copper or aluminum is better. But since those cant be used on a induction cooktop, you dont have any other choice. When looking for a kettle, I recommend you look at the metal used and ergonomic. Having a easy to use kettle is the top priority for most people.

Cleaning and Rust on Induction Tea Kettle

One of the biggest issue is rust. Even among stainless steel kettle, it can rust. This usually occur for two main reason. First is leaving water sit. No matter the grade of steel, if it sits in water for too long it will rust. Another reason is the lime scale build up. The harsh mineral will break down the protective coating. This is true for both enamel and stainless steel.

You can reduce the occurrence of lime scale with frequent descaling. Or just wipe it down when drying. If your kettle already has limescale build up. Heat up some white wine vinegar and let it sit for a day or two. That should loosen it up, a little help with a nylon scrubber is a good idea as well.

Best Induction Tea Kettles List

Below, you will find a list of some of the Best Induction Tea Kettles. There are quite a few option available, choose one that best suits you.

OXO Brew Classic Tea Kettle (Best Overall)

OXO is one of America’s largest kitchen gadget manufacturer. Their Classic Tea Kettle is simple yet elegant. Its stainless steel body resist rust and the handle is coated with rubber. This means the handle wont get hot and you can easily transport it. When its ready, it also sounds off a whistle. Just be aware, you should not fill it past the spout, so its capacity is around 2 qt.

All-Clad E86199 Stainless Steel Tea Kettle (Best Built)

All Clad is known for their pots and pans. This kettle is no different, its construction and build quality is second to known. When you lift it, you can feel the difference. However, this doesnt necessarily translate to performance. While its nice, it can still rust like the other model. Which begs the question, is the price worth it? I personally like it because of its design, but more affordable options are better.

Le Creuset Enamel On Steel Whistling Tea Kettle (Most Attractive Model)

How can a best of list not include Le Creuset. Their colors are attractive and they match their cookware. However, branding aside, this kettle is acceptable at best. The enamel coating can chip and the interior as rusting issue. Most of this can be avoided with simple cleaning. However, for the price that they are asking, it makes you question why not make it all out of stainless steel. At least it wont rust that way. Nevertheless, if you want something that matches your kitchen, than go for Le Creuset.

Thoughts

Induction Tea Kettles are kettles with a magnetic pull. While they arent necessarily better than a traditional kettle, they are the only one compatible with a induction cooktop. You can see if its compatible with a magnet. I personally find the kettle by oxo to be affordable and functional. The more expensive models by All Clad and Le Creuset works as well. Their build quality is better and more attractive. However, in terms of actual performance, you will notice very little difference.

Looking for a induction stove, check out our article on the Best Induction Burner Cooktop.