The temperature controls available on some induction cooktops, whether the cooktops are expensive or cheaper than you want to deal with, measure the temperature of the metal being inductively heated, not the temperature of the water inside. To heat the water in your lifetime, the metal has to be hotter than the water it is heating. A probe like thermometer from a scientific lab supply company (high end approach) or the nice little inexpensive metal thermometer that Upton Tea sells (low end, but adequate) will better measure the water temperature. Even this is a point measurement, as the water temperature is not uniform when heating a container from the bottom. However, if your heating process is consistent, you will be able to learn what final mixed temperature you will end up with for a specific dynamic temperature measured during a heating operation. My Demeyere kettle used on a particular hob on my induction cooktop provides a spout level measurement during heating that is about 10 degrees lower than the average water temperature when the water temperature has equalized in the kettle. So if I wanted 190F I would shut off the hob when the thermometer read 180F. (I also know how long this takes, and can set a timer to alarm in time to check the temperature approaching the desired temperature and cut the hob power when it reaches that point.) The time (and to a lesser degree the temperature difference between dynamic and static) will change if the hob is more or less powerful than the one I've "calibrated" to by observation. kas

Moni, I'll be more than happy to let you know once I've tried it. Problem is there's not a lot of times I need that much hot water so I'm not real sure when I'll get around to using it! Offhand all I can think of is box potatoes. I did justify rationalize the purchase for making tea, but I just haven't started making tea either (I've been buying it at Aldi) and also I'm intrigued with the cold-brew method so I'm more likely to try that than the hot brewing. Good intentions but with circumstances as they are, it's not practical to make it right now. And I have an iced tea maker here too! (sigh Another limited use appliance. Haven't found anyone to whom I could gift it either.) If I used a lot of hot water for items, or regularly, for instance instant coffee, tea, instant rice or the like, I probably would like a kettle. Believe me I really like functional "gadgets" though that's a bad term since functional "gadgets" are tools. There's a couple negatives to it that I see immediately though. First is that for many applications the coffeemaker will do the same, OK, similar job and that's on the counter already. Larger quantities I've used the electric frypan which worked fine too. Appliances I use frequently stay out. Toaster, coffeemaker, and much of the year one of the Nescos are out. It just seems like there's a redundancy in having an electric kettle to leave out or as I probably would do, pull it out and put it away each time I need it. I'm not a big fan of "one trick ponies" in kitchen gadgets unless it's something major or something that takes minimal space. (I *do* like my little top-popper for popping the seal on jars.) The second is the issue of taking it out and putting away. It's small enough though that I suppose I could hang it up rather than putting it in a cabinet so it would be more accessible. I would imagine there's no real issue with cleaning it, basically it self-cleans! I might not be the best one to give an opinion on it to be honest. The ones that have them could probably be more helpful than me if they'd share some details on how they actually use them. I'm really surprised nobody has said anything as to their uses for it. Alton Brown considers it a kitchen essential but about the only time I've seen him use it is for adding hot water to the oven. And since I don't cook the way Alton Brown does either maybe it's not for me. I'm certainly not trying to talk someone out of getting one or criticize their use. It's just that for my use I haven't seen a pressing need or felt any major desire for one. Some people "couldn't live" without a dishwasher. I haven't found my vital statistics affected adversely by its absence. There too, I've thought about one but when I weigh the pros and cons, there's no pressing need for a dishwasher either. I like to simplify when possible. I find that a Nesco roaster adequately replaces a need for a crock pot, rice steamer, vegetable steamer and a toaster oven, and probably more. I find that a magnet on the back door adequately replaces the need for a special custom "in/out" box, bulletin board and message center. My cell phone contact list and notes replaces the need for a PDA and serves more than one function too. Again others "can't live" without some of the gadgets. At the lake, pre-electrification, during the winter I kept a teakettle or two of water sitting on the oil stove, kerosene heaters or over the pilot light in the gas stove in the fall, winter and spring. (Made me appreciate what some of the pioneers went through.) No water heater out there other than the stove and a gas stove is not the best for heating water and the camp stove is really slow. So this way I continually had a kettle or two of hot(ter) water for washing dishes, washing me and putting some oft-needed humidity into the air. However this is essentially negated at home with a water heater. Now there's electricity at the lake (if I turn it back on) but still no traditional water heater. An electric kettle could be very worthwhile out there, but alas, I don't spend time there anymore, regretfully, so again, my use is limited. Joyful, no argument here. I know they're popular in Canada, England and other areas. For me it probably was a stupid purchase and a waste of $4 or $5, whatever it was. I suspect that it'll wind up being given away or donated, unless I find a use for it. I don't always make the right choice on investments! Ya takes a gamble at times - sometimes you cash in, like I did on the CFLs (not the Canuck ballplayers) and other appliances so one bad one now and then won't keep me awake nights. As I ponder, a thought does strike me. I've started cooking eggs by the bring to a boil and shut them off, leave for about 10-12 minutes routine. There's a possibility for the kettle, although I'm wondering how it'll go putting (near) boiling water onto the cold eggs they'd likely crack I suppose, unless I just put them in the kettle from the start, which might work - IDK. So, I'll just ask, folks with experience, what uses do you get from the electric kettles?

ntt_hou, there are some really whizzbang kettles out there in the market that allow you to choose the temperature the water gets to. I used to love a whistling kettle on the stove until the day I came home to find ours sitting on the back brick steps at an odd angle, and went in to find spots burned into the linoleum from the stove to the back door, and a slug of solidified aluminium on the stove itself. DH had left the kettle on the stove forgotten for so long it boiled dry and then melted the thick aluminium bottom right off. He came in, realised what had happened and then thought it would be a good idea to carry the melted kettle outside, leaving a trail of dripping molten metal on the linoleum and a long spike off the bottom that cooled quickly without dripping, resulting in the kettle resting at an odd angle. I bought the auto shut off electric kettle the next day. On a similar note, a friend's elderly mother developed Alzheimer's and burned several kettles out on her stove before the friend stopped replacing them.

I keep mine at 68 all the time unless it's really cold and windy out of the west. Usually I can stand it but occasionally I will put it up a couple more degrees temporarily. I will put the clamp light under the desk pretty soon. That keeps it warm enough my feet don't get cold. I refuse to be cold. I use a mattress warmer at night. I thought the new flannel sheets would be enough but they aren't. I can't sleep if I'm not warm. I don't care what it costs, I won't be cold. This will definitely be the last outside animals I have. When these are gone, that's it. If there are barn cats coming and going I will leave a bag of cat food and a heated water dish. I'll check it but not twice a day. I'll leave the cat beds and probably make some other arrangements, too. I have piglet heating mats. Those, I'm told, cost the same as a 60 watt light bulb. African violets and Christmas cactus are blooming. Peace lilly will be soon. The poor old geranium that was one of those seedling things how many years ago... is blooming on the kitchen windowsill. I thought it was a goner last spring when I put it out but summer was good to it.