It is marketed as a kettle tipper “with integrated kettle that makes pouring hot water into a cup effortless and safe. It is ideal for anyone who has difficulty lifting and pouring a full kettle, including those with arthritis, weak hands/arms, tremors, or impaired coordination. This elegant kettle will enable you to make a nice cup of tea without worrying about spilling boiling water”.
I previously had a bad (and dangerous) experience with a different kind of tipper which was a white plastic cradle allegedly designed to tilt your own electric jug or kettle to pour boiling water into a cup.
I would appreciate it if you could let me know if it is safe, and is the integrated kettle decent? It sells for over $100 so I don’t want to waste my money or burn myself.
Have you considered an instant hot water dispenser which eliminates the need to pour, such as:
Examples only.
Or
Or
They offer an alternate solution eliminating the need to lift a heavy kettle of jug. They can be refilled in situ, without needing any heavy lifting by removal of the water canister or for others directly using a small plastic jug.
We’ve used a variety of types/models, mostly when travelling in Japan. A better solution than a tipping kettle.
Note:
There are also versions which heat the water to a suitable temperature and keep it at near boiling point and optionally using a thermostat to maintain the temperature. EG Electric Airpots
These are cheaper, but slow to boil in our experience.
Looking online across a range of different websites, it generally has very good reviews.
I can see why it may be purchased, such as by consumers which struggle with or can’t easily lift and pour a traditional kettle.
I haven’t used one, but looking at it, the tipping kettle is quite a bit larger than an equivalent traditional type kettle. This means it will take up more bench space and would be heavier if it needs moving between uses. The other concern I would have is it would need to be positioned on a bench near a power point so that it can be tipped using a more natural action - being tipping left to right/right to left. This means space needs to be allowed for by the tipping action and cup/mug positioning. Do you have enough bench space?
I personally wouldn’t buy one unless I saw it in person and had a good play with it. I would also take my highest mug/cup when looking at it to ensure all the water in the kettle decants when filling the cup. If it doesn’t, it means additional water needs to be boiled which would increase electricity use. The other thing I would look at is how good the water spout is (does water pour out or is the flow controlled to reduce splashing) and if there is any slashing of boiled water when a smaller cup when it is placed on the bench and filled. Splashing exposes the user to burns and could be a potential show stopper.
I agree with @mark_m about looking at hot water dispensers as an alternative. It would only be an alternative if a cup/mug can be held by the user when being filled. If a cup/mug can’t be held securely and safety, the tipping kettle might be better once limitations and function as outlined above are considered.
If you do look at it in store and/or purchase it, it would be great if you could post your impressions in the future.
I find in my tiny kitchen it takes a lot of room, as you need space to get your arm around to do the tipping, when I use a large mug I have to tip the mug slightly, also a couple of times (while still half asleep I guess) I nearly burnt my fingers with the water.
Concentrate! Is the name of the game.
My late wife used this overpriced kettle (The word “Disability” has the same effect on prices as the mention of a wedding) but it did work well until her progressive deterioration made it too difficult for her. We then upgraded to a good brand of benchtop hot water dispenser from Kitchen Warehouse which had the advantage of only heating the amount of water we wanted dispensed. This could be preset to your liking and was fully adjustable. The water temperature could also be preset as you don’t need boiling water every time you make a beverage. You can buy instant hot water dispensers from places such as Kmart for less than I paid for the Uccello kettle so I would recommend giving the kettle a miss and buy a hot water dispenser for ease of use, safety and economically (If you only want one cup of hot water you only heat one cup of cold water from the reservoir.)
Thank you to those who reply to my query and recommended that I look into purchasing electric hot water dispensers (domestic urn) instead of a kettle or electric teapot. Wonderful advice. I bought the Kmart instant, hot water dispenser for $79, and couldn’t be happier with it. It is easy to operate, takes up no more bench space then my previous electric kettle, and is far quicker to boil and dispense water. I won’t go into the many fantastic features of this gadget – anybody who is interested can look it up themselves on the kmart website. I can, however personally recommend it to anybody looking for an electric hot water dispenser.
Glad to be reading this. I was considering a tipper kettle also but it sounds like the Kmart dispenser may be the go for me, too. Also I can place it in a different location to my current kettle (only a 1L one, but I am now having trouble lifting, filling and tipping it)
I’m so glad that this has helped you. I’ve just done a review on the kmart website with more detail, but I don’t think they’ve published it yet. Honestly, having this hot water dispenser is up blessing, cheerio
You’re right, @GoogyEgg1, the hot water dispenser is what I have needed fr a long time. Its perfect. Even fits my small teapot underneath, I’m going to try the 300ml setting for that, I think it will be enough. Water temperatures are… interesting. 25º is like cold tap water, 70º is meh… but 85 and 98…perfect! I wish there was a way you could stop in the middle of a pour.
We’re on our second Uccello (the first one had the element burn out, probably because my spouse had a habit of ‘it’s got enough water in it for a cup’ even though it was below the minimum level for water. Our current one has lost the spring in its spout lid and more recently it’s on/off button is not contacting properly but we’ve had it longer than most of our past kettles.
The reason for buying is that our youngest son has muscular dystrophy so pouring hot water from a kettle was a safety issue for him. He’s moved out and has his own now and we’ve stuck with the one we had.
If you do/did get one, SHOP AROUND and I wouldn’t recommend getting it from any of the ‘disability aids’ sites, because they charge a lot. All Uccello kettles, our first, second and the one for our son, were all under $100 each.
