Cuisinart Electric Kettle CPK-17P1 In-depth Review
Cuisinart is an American kitchen appliance and cookware brand. It was founded in 1971 by Carl Sontheimer and since 1989 comes under Conair Corporation . The brand made its name with food processors, but now also manufactures air purifiers, toaster ovens, blenders, microwaves, grills, ice cream makers, coolers, and of course, electric kettles.
Overall Verdict
The Cuisinart Stainless Steel Electric Kettle with 6 Preset Temperatures CPK-17P1 PerfecTemp is an all round top performer. It’s intuitive to use with convenient features and an excellent build quality.
This kettle's most outstanding feature is its ability to maintain temperatures for up to 30 minutes after running. Based on this, the price is well-worth it and this kettle is sure to be a top runner for any best electric kettle showdown.
We feel, however, that the BPA-free plastic lid interior and filter joinings didn’t do justice to the price where stainless steel would be better. Also, the carafe opening was a bit small for cleaning, if details are what you’re after.
Things We Like
- Stainless steel carafe
- 5 preset temperatures
- Keep Warm function
- Relatively lightweight
- Top performance
- Intuitive to use
Things We Don’t Like
- Not the most affordable
- Narrow carafe opening
We had some seriously high hopes upon unboxing the Cuisinart Stainless Steel Electric Kettle with 6 Preset Temperatures CPK-17P1 PerfecTemp, and not just because of the $93.04 (!) price tag on Amazon (at the time of writing). The stainless steel carafe, distinctive control panel, and high power draw were all top calling cards. So, find out if the Cuisinart lived up to expectations and if it's the kettle for you.
Key Specs
Where to Buy Price at publication $93.04
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Compared to Other Electric Kettles
8.5 Performance
The Cuisinart Stainless Steel Electric Kettle, with its six presets, scored tops across the board for boiling time, energy consumption, noise level, and most note-worthy—heat retention. We attribute these strengths to the kettle’s stainless steel carafe, excellent controls, and a handy keep warm feature.
8.1 Boiling Time
For the common electric kettles like the Cuisinart (not goosenecks), we record the time taken to boil 1.5 liters of water—a middle ground for standard average capacity.
The kettle took 6 minutes and 54 seconds to bring 1.5 liters of room-temperature water (80°F/26.7°C) to boiling point (212°F/100°C).
This result is the fastest in our data to date. It’s slightly faster than other 1500 W kettles we tested and therefore worthy of a 8.1/10 on our rating scale.
8.4 Energy Consumption
We used a power meter to measure the Cuisinart’s total energy consumption for boiling 1.5 liters of room-temperature water. The kettle consumed 148 Wh, scoring an 8.4/10. This was one of the most efficient energy ratings among our tested kettles— only edged out by the Zeppoli ZPL-KETTLE and the Ovente KP72W.
8.9 Noise Level
During boiling, the Cuisinart’s noise level peaked at 71.55 dB while reaching a rolling simmer, which was lower than the CDC-recommended 80 dB. This result was quieter than a lot of other kettles in our data set, thus deserving an 8.9/10 rating.
10 Keep Warm
The Cuisinart has excellent heat retention in addition to a Keep Warm function. After 5 minutes, the temperature remained at 209°F / 98.5°C, decreasing ever so slightly from 212°F / 100°C.
The kettle’s ability to keep warm or retain heat earned it a whopping 10/10, which is our highest score thus far. We assumed its stainless steel body played a key role in heat retention.
7.6 Design
The Cuisinart PerfecTemp CPK-17P1 is notable for its stainless steel carafe and distinctive control panel. Furthermore, it has all the desired features such as an indicator light, water level markings, anti-slip handle, and a removable mesh filter—all high quality too.
We thought a couple of improvements could be a wider carafe opening and a stainless steel underside to the lid instead of plastic.
In the Box
- One cordless kettle
- One corded power base
- One user manual
- Warranty: 3-year limited in the US
The Cuisinart arrived between foam pads on the top and the bottom inside a carton box. The instruction manual came in English and Spanish. It detailed the parts, usage, safeguards, cleaning and maintenance, troubleshooting, and warranty. Most interestingly, the manual includes a variety of tea recipes.
Dimensions
7.0 Carafe
The entire carafe of the Cuisinart is high-quality stainless steel, including the standard V-shaped spout (+2). The capacity is 1.7 L or 57.48 fl. oz. which is about 7 cups. The limescale filter has plastic joinings and attaches to the spout from inside the carafe—but it can be removed (+2).
The carafe has a narrow opening of 2.76 inches in diameter. This means it isn’t designed to accommodate a tea infuser.
Instead of a LED ring and water level markings commonly seen in glass carafes, the Cuisinart, although stainless steel, has a backlit water-level window with black markings (+3). It’s located in the middle of the carafe, below the handle. We found the reason for this placement was to connect the blue indicator light inside the water-level window to the control panel.
Similar to many other cordless electric kettles, the heating element is on the inside bottom of the carafe. We also noticed the boil-dry protection detector here too—something not usually visible.
9.0 Handle
The cool-to-touch handle is made of BPA-free plastic (+3). The outer side is silver with a smooth surface to match the stainless steel carafe while the inner is black and textured for extra grip (+2).
All the 9 control buttons are positioned along the top of the handle. The handle could have a better contour, especially considering the position of the control panel. Nonetheless, it still feels secure and comfortable on the wrist (+4).
7.0 Lid
The Cuisinart has a hinged lid that pops up to a 80° angle with a single push of the button on the handle (+4). It has a rubber band around the circumference to make sure it’s tightly sealed when closed (+2).
The lid’s exterior is stainless steel and not cool-to-touch (+1). However, the interior and the hinge are plastic so although BPA-free, there is still contact between hot water and plastic which may not be ideal for some. Nonetheless, we detected no odd odor during the first boil.
9.0 Base
The Cuisinart has a standard BPA-free plastic 360° swivel base that’s sturdy and fits the carafe well enough (+5). At the bottom of the base is the cord storage and three small anti-slip rubber pads (+4).
Power Cord
The power cord is a flat design and 37.99-inch long, which should be good enough for household use. It uses a grounded three-prong plug which is typically safer than a two-pronged one without a grounding wire.
8.4 Usability
The Cuisinart Stainless Steel Electric Kettle with 6 Preset Temperatures scored high for ease of use in our evaluations. The kettle’s control panel has clear-to-see buttons and is intuitive to use .
Its carafe is surprisingly light and the handle is textured which makes pouring easy. However, a wider neck opening would make cleaning less of a chore.
9.0 User Control
On the control panel are 6 temperature presets, a keep-warm feature, and a single start / open button— so 9 buttons in total with no digital display (+1). Don’t confuse the presets with actual temperature control where the kettle is adjustable by 1°C increments as found on other kettles.
When you plug in, the backlit water-level window will glow blue (+1). Then, just push a preset temperature button and press start (+1). You can pause and resume boiling with the start button as well—which is very useful.
- Delicate tea (160°F)
- Green tea(175°F)
- White tea (185°F)
- Oolong tea (190°F)
- French press (200°F)
- Black tea (Boil - 212°F)
The control panel also has a backlit blue LED which illuminates the function you select (+1). When the kettle’s running, the start button will glow white, the chosen preset will keep flashing blue, and the keep warm button will also glow blue when selected.
By default, the keep warm feature will maintain the water temperature for 30 minutes after boiling is complete (+1). You can simply turn this off by pressing the keep warm button any time.
The kettle has an automatic shutoff feature which will activate when the thermal fuse detects that the temperature has reached the selected temperature (+2). Keep in mind that this feature will not kick in if you leave the lid open. If you forget to close the lid, however, you still don’t have to worry about overheating because the kettle’s boil-dry protection feature will turn off the kettle when the water runs close-to-dry (+2).
9.0 Ease of Use
Being mostly a stainless steel kettle, the Cuisinart is more durable than most. Moreover, the carafe, with its built-in control panel, is surprisingly light and only slightly heavier than glass by less than half a pound (+2).
The kettle has a feel-good grip despite its larger than average handle incorporating a control panel. Its buttons are easy-to-see, intuitive, and should take no effort getting used to (+2).
Convenient in being attached to the carafe, the lid pops up to a spacious 80° angle. The carafe’s opening is too small to fit a hand but it's still comfortable for pouring in water from your tap or any container (+1).
The carafe fits the power base well with no wobble during boiling (+1). Whatsmore, the pouring angle is good and unlikely to result in spilling (+1).
Unfortunately, the filter’s plastic joinings and the lid’s interior do come in contact with water. However, we noticed no odor during the first boil or any subsequent ones.
Although the water level markings are behind the handle, we had no difficulty in seeing them or decanting precisely (+1). The backlight of the water-level window makes it easier to spot the kettle in the dark.
Due to the flat shape of the cord, it was quite tricky at first to wrap around the cord storage, but it was okay after we broke the cord in (+1). After wrapping, the cord protrudes 3.33 inches, including the plug.
6.0 Cleaning
Cleaning the Cuisinart is a bit tricky since you can’t fit your hand through the opening to wipe the interior. Fortunately, the lid doesn’t get in the way and you can remove the filter for more space (and also clean the filter while you’re at it) (+4). Then, all you need is a clamp to get in and start wiping with a damp soft cloth (+2).
Behind the review
Alan Nguyen is a writer and product reviewer at HealthyKitchen101. His major in English language teaching taught him to present concise information. In addition to his cooking hobby, he values the practical aspects of household appliances.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
Nguyen Ntk is a graphic designer, photographer, and videographer whose philosophy centers around respecting and celebrating the beauty of reality. Through his lenses, Nguyen strives to capture the true essence of objects and events, showcasing and highlighting authentic features without distortion or exaggeration.