Balmuda Moonkettle Review: Deluxe Electric Kettle

Whether we’re talking about Aeropress, French Press or pouring in, the ideal coffee brewing temperature is even more picky. The ideal temperature may depend on the beans, or it may depend on the YouTube channel you are watching.

Anyway, Moontetle makes this modulation very easy without the quirky control panel full of buttons. Click Start and the target temperature will flash. This is an invitation to switch temperature by heating some dials on the right side of the kettle base.

Once selected, start starting again and your water will start to boil. From here, the monitor of the base will show the real-time temperature of water in the kettle in the kettle. This display tends to be accurate within the error range of the probe I use while the water is still heating up.

As a safety mechanism, the kettle will be turned off by default after boiling. Of course, it will play a little bit. To keep the burner for another 30 minutes, press the button before the kettle reaches temperature or immediately.

While on standby, the heat from the kettle will be circulated every few minutes to keep the water near the target temperature. In fact, the temperature difference in the retaining function is about 5 degrees Fahrenheit, which means that when the water temperature drops by about 5 degrees, the heat tends to recover.

All of this makes a very useful kettle one of the few kettles on the U.S. market, and can actually argue about the accuracy of its heating technology while being frank and candidly beautiful on the countertop.

But at what cost

That said, Moonkettle doesn’t do laundry, praises your spouse when you forget, or does grocery shopping. A $260 kettle costs a lot.

At this high price, you start to come up with things you don’t like. For example, why is the 1,200 watt allowed on standard U.S. circuits, rather than the more comfortable 1,500 watts?

Photo: Matthew Korfhage

Photo: Matthew Korfhage

This means that Moonkettle takes almost five minutes to cook a liter of water from room temperature near sea level. A small amount of juice can make the kettle boil in four minutes. I rarely have this extra minute that is important or even related, but once I spent $260 on the kettle I wanted to talk to the manager.

(All of these boiling times may sound crazy to British readers. But stand us! In the United States, the water boils. Our sockets are only 110 volts and our amperes are obstacles. We are trying.)