Made in China Pop-Up 240V Kettle Review

What a little Gem of a product this little kettle from China is!

I already had a conventional kettle from Breville. But it has three important factors that makes it not RV friendly: Size, weight and power consumption..

Enter the market the Pop-Up from China (it does sell under different names), that does answer these three RV constrains with flying colours!

Most conventional kettle tend to be around the 1.5 to 2 litres of water capacity.. Handy for a normal size kitchen but a bit of an overkill for an RV where most of the time you have only 2 people. The Pop-Up with its 800ml capacity gives you the right amount for two decent size cups!

Most new conventional kettle are made of steel either painted or brushed and they when full, they do weight enough to create problems to some people in just trying to lift them up off the base to fill the cups.. The Pop-Up when full comes to a total weight of 1.2 kg. Light enough even for that person with arthritis!

Most conventional kettle have large heating elements 1800-2400 watt, to compensate for the large amount of water they need to boil as quick as possible. Again the Pop-Up only need to boil 800ml of water. Therefore, a little 900-1100 watts element, practically half the size, is all is required to bring the water to the boil.

As an added bonus, the fact that the kettle is not made of metal (conductive material), it means that the Pop-Up also bring the water to boils in just 4 to 5 minutes as heat is not lost within the shell!

I got to tell you. This is one of those products, where the manufacture got it all right. The size, the colour, the performance, the choice of material and because it does collapse down to 9.5 cm, it can be taken and stored just anywhere. Then again, when open it still doesn’t take that much room, (only 8 cm taller) and hopefully by leaving it in the full size all the time, will also make the silicone last a lot longer..

It is well built, and I simply can’t find any fault in it. The power cord is long enough to allow a normal use without having to unplugged just to fill the cups. The lid is spring loaded, and it even has a small strainer (not a mesh filter)..

The base, with the heating element, the switch and the thermal protector, feel strong and well built and because the element is hidden below the plate, it will make it a breeze to keep clean.. You can find this product in most camping shop for $34.90 but beware that some sellers are asking as much as $50-60 dollars..

The only reason for not giving 5 stars is that at $34.90, it is a bit on the expensive side for what it is. I know that it is because it belongs to the “camping” family of products, but I always believed that to be a very lame excuse! As a matter of fact, Aldi did sell the same kettle in February for $29.99

Other than the price, well done Companion Chinese company, whoever you are! This product was needed, and you got it 100% right!

Model: COMP10434BL (This is the Companion model sold at most Caping stores)

UPC/ISBN: 9312652088987