Breville 1.8L Variable Temperature Kettle BKE820XL

The kettle features were what I hoped: individual temperature settings. However, the stand was very hot even when not in use. I contacted the Breville customer line. They told me that they were aware of this and advised me to always unplug the kettle when not in use. Unfortunately, I am not the only person using the kettle and so I will not use it for fire safety concerns.

As others have highlighted this has the potential to be a great kettle, but with the BPA in the viewing window, I feel it's unsafe for my family. I appreciate Breville in its honesty confirming previous reviewers' claims that is is true (it is), I would hope that they listen to the consumers and change the window to a safer material.

First, this kettle is gorgeous! I bought it for it's beauty and easy to use variable temperature and the fact it had a viewing window to easily see how much water was inside. Before I used it, I emailed Breville to find out what type of plastic the viewing window was made from. The response I received was a defensive email about how polycarbonate and BPA are safe for food contact and this kettle is safe. I've been reading the research on BPA and polycarbonate for years, so they didn't share anything new with me. I would have preferred their response to simply state "polycarbonate" and then offer to provide me with more information if I had any concerns.

Regardless, they weren't going to change my mind. I don't feel comfortable with polycarbonate around my boiling (or close to boiling) water and in this day and age where BPA is a huge uproar, I am super surprised that Breville came out with a brand new kettle containing polycarbonate. I would have loved to see this kettle have a glass viewing window and lid, that would have been super! Especially with the price point they are selling this at. Having it be a "toxin free" kettle with no plastic would have been a great marketing move.

I did reply and thank them for the information and politely told them I would be returning it due to the polycarbonate, but that if they came out with a version that had glass instead of polycarbonate, I'd snap it up in a second. I received no further reply from Breville.