Electric Kettle

Most kettles make you hunt for the handle. You set one down at whatever angle your wrist happened to be at, come back, and have to turn the whole thing before you can lift it. Smeg's KLF03 sits on a 360 degree base, so the handle is already where your hand is.

Two of its details concern what water leaves behind rather than what it does while hot. Hard water drops limescale, and the KLF03 carries a removable stainless steel filter behind the spout that lifts out, washes, and keeps the flakes out of the cup. The lid works on what Smeg calls a Soft Opening system: press the steel lever and it rises slowly instead of springing up, which puts the escaping steam somewhere other than the back of your hand. The lid also comes off entirely, which is the only sensible way to clean the inside of a kettle. A window up one side reads the level, the element is rated 1400 watts at 120 volts, and the kettle cuts out by itself at 212 Fahrenheit with a second safety shut-off behind that.

Body, lid and spout are stainless steel in a glossy black finish, the base polished chrome, the handle chromed. Anti-slip feet underneath, and a channel to wind the 39 inch cord into. The shape comes from the 50's Style range, drawn around the curve of the FAB28 refrigerator, and the US range runs to fourteen colours, from cream and pastel blue through emerald green and slate grey.