Le creusset hob kettle vs electric. Style over substance?

[Tollygunge]

Want a new kettle and fancy the cast iron le creusset one for my hob. Does it take loads longer to boil? Do you keep leaving it on then forgetting because you've wandered off to do something? Is it super heavy to pour? Does it cost more to boil?

I've not idea about the cost per boil, but it does take an absolute age to boil. DH and I don't drink tea/coffee etc so it's not something that annoys me on a daily basis, but every time I do use it, I curse the fact that upon buying the Le Creseut one I threw out a perfectly good electric kettle! So if you use your kettle a lot, I'd avoid it like the plague.

That said, it is a lovely looking thing.

I had the le creuset one on my Aga. It did take ages to boil, but that must have been down to the Aga not the kettle itself. Of course,the length of time it takes to boil will depend on how powerful your gas or electric ring is.
The le creuset did look nice and did whistle......think you can get electric ones which look traditional and will whistle too....compromise?

It's definitely going to be miles less energy efficient.

We have one and it boils really really quickly on the boost setting on the induction hob. My major problem is not being able to leave it to turn itself off when it's boiled in the same way an electric kettle would. I feel like I need to stand over it!

Hmm, we have an aga companion stove so not a super powerful
Induction thing. I just think they look good, might just buy a new electric one instead- I drink A LOT of tea.

I love mine. It does take longer, but it means i have time to do the dish washer/ make breakfast /wipe the counters. My mum hates it when she visits and threatens to buy an electric one for us all the time., I don't know how much cost difference is involved but my oh is very energy conscious so I don't think it was massive.

A stovetop kettle on an induction hob is a pretty efficient thing, comparable to an electric kettle. The base of the kettle itself becomes the heat source.

A stovetop kettle on any other sort of hob is much less efficient, because there are substantial losses of heat in the transfer from the heat source to the base of the kettle, before it even starts heating the water. we had one on a gas hob, and it took about three times as long to boil as the electric kettle.

For speedy boiling of water, a cast iron kettle is not really the most efficient. The iron itself takes a bit more heating to get to the right temperature than a lighter, steel equivalent. The high heat capacity of iron makes it great for long cooking, but for a kettle, you'd be better off with a faster response.

And finally, a good stovetop kettle has a disproportionately large base, to maximise the area in contact with the heat source. That goes for all hob types.