Description
OXO Brew Adjustable Temperature Electric Kettle: what it is
The OXO 8716900 is a 1.75 litre glass electric kettle with variable temperature control. OXO’s description publishes the specification clearly: a temperature range of 170 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 76 to 100 degrees Celsius, set by twisting a knob, with the water held at that temperature for up to 30 minutes. The body is BPA free borosilicate glass, there is a removable stainless steel filter, an automatic shutoff, a soft open lid that releases steam slowly, a cool touch handle, a wide opening for filling and cleaning, and a cord that wraps around the base for storage. The listing records dimensions of 10.5 by 8 by 13.5 inches, a weight of 4 pounds, and a silicone base. It has been listed since August 2016 and carries 1,270 customer ratings averaging 4.3 stars.
Why the temperature range is the whole product
A standard kettle boils. That is fine for a great many things and wrong for several others, and the difference is larger than most people expect.
Green tea brewed with boiling water turns bitter and astringent, because the catechins that give it flavor extract too aggressively above roughly 180 degrees. White tea is similar. Delicate oolongs sit in the middle. Black tea and most herbal infusions genuinely want boiling water. A kettle that only does 212 degrees is therefore actively bad at half of the tea a household might drink.
Filter coffee is the other case. Pour over brewing works best somewhere around 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and pouring water straight off a rolling boil onto the grounds over extracts the first part of the bed. A kettle that can be set to 200 and held there removes the guesswork entirely, which is why a variable temperature kettle is the standard companion to a dripper such as the Hario V60 or an immersion brewer like the ESPRO P7 French press.
The 30 minute hold
Holding temperature for up to 30 minutes is more useful than it sounds. Pour over coffee is made in stages over three or four minutes, and a kettle that cools between pours changes the extraction partway through. Tea for several people, brewed in sequence, has the same problem. A held temperature means the last cup matches the first.
Glass, and what borosilicate means
OXO specifies borosilicate glass rather than ordinary soda lime glass, and the listing names thermal shock protection as the reason. Borosilicate expands less when heated, so it tolerates the sudden temperature change of cold water hitting a hot surface far better. That is the practical difference between a glass kettle that survives daily use and one that does not.
Glass also has a real advantage over plastic and a real one over stainless steel. Against plastic, there is no taste transfer and nothing to degrade. Against steel, you can see the water level and see when the kettle needs descaling, which is the single most neglected piece of kettle maintenance.
The trade is that glass shows scale immediately and unattractively, and it is breakable. The silicone base is there to protect both the kettle and the counter.
Highlights
- Temperature adjustable from 170 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit by a single knob.
- Holds the set temperature for up to 30 minutes, which matters for staged pour over brewing.
- Borosilicate glass for thermal shock resistance and no taste transfer.
- 1.75 litre capacity, enough for a pot of tea and several cups.
- Removable stainless steel filter and a wide opening for filling and cleaning.
- Automatic shutoff and a soft open lid that releases steam gradually.
- Cord wraps around the base for storage.
- 1,270 customer ratings averaging 4.3 stars.
Things To Consider
No wattage figure is published anywhere on this listing. On a kettle, wattage determines how long it takes to boil, and its absence is a real gap when comparing against competitors. Anyone who cares about heating time should get the figure from OXO.
The care instructions field records the product as dishwasher safe, which cannot be right for an electric kettle with a heating base and electronics. That field almost certainly refers to the removable filter. Never put the kettle body or the base in a dishwasher, and follow OXO’s own cleaning instructions instead.
Glass kettles show limescale in a way steel ones hide, and in a hard water area that becomes visible within weeks. Regular descaling with vinegar or a proprietary descaler is not optional, and the wide opening at least makes it easy.
Glass is breakable and the kettle is 13.5 inches tall, which makes it a tall object to knock. In a household with children or a crowded counter that is a genuine consideration, and a stainless steel kettle from the electric kettles category is the more robust choice.
The spout is a standard kettle spout rather than a gooseneck. Anyone whose main use is pour over coffee should consider a gooseneck kettle such as the Fellow Stagg EKG Pro, which gives far more control over the pour rate.
The 170 degree lower limit is fine for green tea but higher than the roughly 160 degrees some very delicate teas prefer.
Who should buy it, and who should not
This suits a household that drinks a range of teas, or brews pour over coffee, and wants one kettle that handles both properly rather than boiling everything and hoping. The 1.75 litre capacity is generous enough for a family, the glass body makes maintenance visible, and the temperature hold is genuinely useful rather than a specification sheet feature.
Skip it if the only requirement is boiling water for black tea, where a plain kettle costs a fraction as much. Skip it if pour over coffee is the primary use and a controlled pour matters, where a gooseneck design is the right tool. And skip it if a glass kettle is impractical for the household. Comparable options, including stainless steel designs such as the Elite Gourmet EKT719, sit in the same category.
