I have a Chantal Classic which works great on my glass smoothtop. It's heavy so it works very well with the cooktop. Others I tried danced all over the place as they got hot. Whistles like a train coming thru the house. They often have them at Marshall's as seconds for good prices. It's not stainless steel but looks great.

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out. Debbie.

You might also want to check out the All-Clad tea kettle. I've had mine for a few years now and it works great every time! Flat bottom and stainless steel. It might run you around $100 or so, maybe a little more. I can't remember, but it's nice!

I can't comment on how the Chantal kettle works on a flat cook surface, but it's whistle is one of the best. The colors are lovely and it is esthetically pleasing, I think. It may be over $100 by now, but worth it.

I am chiming in with the Chantal. It saved my life because i had ignored other kettles and almost melted them. Just make sure the lid is tight and the whistle secure and DOWN. It could wake the dead, almost.

Thanks everyone - I tried one stainless Chantal that I loved the look of but the darn thing would never whistle so I returned it. I think I'm going to forget about the stainless part & try the enamel chantel. At this point money is not an object cause I expected to pay over 100 for a good teapot. Thanks again, Debbie

I agree about the Chantal. We have the enamel one and on one particular morning my DH was still snoozing while I was getting ready for a cup of tea (one of those rainy AM's, where tea is so soothing)...I went to the bathroom and while I was in there, the water started to boil. I can relate to "waking the dead", since my poor husband said it woke him right out of a sound sleep.

SWMBO loves tea, so I bought her an All-Clad kettle a couple of years ago. It suffered the dreaded leaky spout about a year later. The other thing is that the silly whistle gets 'lost' all the time. AC has sent me two replacements so far.

So I found an interesting SS kettle at the local Asian grocery store (Marina Market in Cupertino, Cal.) It is one of the better designed tea kettles I've seen and was only $20. Sorry, no brand name on it.

Some details: The body of the kettle is extruded such that there is no seam around the bottom. The seam is around the top instead. The spout is very nicely welded on too. So it should never leak. Also has a harmonica-sounding 'whistle' built into the lid, so it won't get lost. (A little hinged 'flapper' on the end of the spout maintains pressure for the harmonica.) Handle is hinged and the hinge base is riveted to the body of the kettle. Styling is classic Asian.

So if you have a large Asian supermarket nearby, check out their selection. You may be amazed at what you can find, and amazed at the prices. (I also bought a Very Nice cleaver there. Forged, full-tang, nice bolsteres. Looks/feels for all the world like my Pro-S knives, for... $5.00).

P.S., All-Clad cheerfully honored their lifetime guarantee on the leaky kettle, and just sent us a new one.

I wrote:
: P.S., All-Clad cheerfully honored their lifetime guarantee on the leaky kettle, and just sent us a new one.

Should note that the new AC kettles have been significantly redesigned to avoid leakage, compared to our old one. The bottom is now all SS and welded to the body. And the spout is also welded to the body. Looks like it will last a very long time now.

Debbie: Could it be your cooktop that is the problem? If you have tried multiple tea kettles--including ones that others report as having good, loud whistles--then perhaps your cooktop is not getting hot enough.

Lynne

Debbie: I've tried the Chantal, All-Clad and the Simplex Windsor (flat bottom). Our Chantal teakettle stopped whistling after a year so we exchanged it for the All-Clad (Williams-SOnoma has a great return policy). The AC is still whistling after 4 years. My brother has had his Simplex Windsor teakettle for 7 years and no problems.
-Goojie

Anyone else have the Simplex? It talks about the noise it makes when you pour tea out as being normal. Just curious why that would be.

I feel like an idiot asking this question but perhaps someone with an All Clad tea kettle and can advise me what I am doing wrong. First, the whistle does not work. Second, when I boiled some water the other day and poured it into a picture to make some iced tea, the water somehow cam bursting out of the spout, spilling over my hand and I am nursing a burn as a result. Third, I can't pick up the tea kettle without using a pot holder as the handle gets extremely hot. Do others have these problems? Love the rest of my All Clad stuff so can't imagine why the tea kettle would be such a lemon. Any insights would be appreciated.

It sounds like you have too much water in the kettle. The whistle will only work if steam gets to it. For that to happen the water level must be low enough for the steam which is above the water to enter the neck. If the water completely covers the opening to the neck you will experience exactly what you describe.

Thanks, VeloDoug. I'll follow your advice and give my All Clad tea kettle another chance.

We have a $4 IKEA stainless one. Whistles fine, but kettle and handle get blazingly hot.

Also have a Villeroy & Boch one; whistle is two-toned like a European locomotive. Handle stays cool. About $30, has lasted years.

Well, I did a Google search today on 'flat-bottom tea kettle,' and the first site listed was this thread. It's proven to be very helpful...I found my way to Amazon.com and looked for the names mentioned here, and I got a real steal of a deal on a Chantal Stainless 1.3-Quart Classic Teakettle!

Because I had some promotional points, which I'd even forgotten about, I was able to buy this for only $40.! I don't know if I could have done as well if I'd driven to the nearest store selling a tea kettle and bought their cheapest.

We just got a new stove, with a glass top, that's why I need a new tea kettle.

Anyway...thanks to all of you!

Our old tea kettle was in really bad shape. One day I noticed our grocery is now carrying some Le Creuset items, including 3 styles of tea kettles. On a whim I bought a Zen pot in lime green. It works great and there is just something about the look of it sitting on the stove that makes me smile whenever I look at it. Set a nice tone for the day (and it whistles great, never could stand the off key whistle of our old kettle).

Cheers,

Ken

I sure wish I could get a whistling kettle but DH can't hear that high a pitch, so we have a metal one with glass nuggets that rattle when the water boils.

Looks like I'm about 3 years late to this discussion, but a thought about malfunctioning (nonwhistling) teakettles.
The matter is, of course, an issue with the whistle itself (the piece which fits onto the spout). Remove the whistle and look inside where you'll see an insert which will likely be plastic. On either side of the insert are two tapered areas which allow a bit of an opening leading into the tip of the whistle. These two areas MUST align with the holes in the spout itself if your kettle is going to whistle. My wife figured this out, brilliant lady that she is, and our kettle is singing like a bird, a loud bird. I love that sound because it reminds me of times spent in childhood on my grandparents' farm.
Hope this helps.

Glen

The following sentence from my previous note contains an error. "These two areas MUST align with the holes in the spout itself if your kettle is going to whistle."

There are, of course, no holes in the spout. The sentence should read, "The tapered areas of the whistle insert MUST align with the outside holes of the whistle if your kettle is going to whistle. My apologies.

I am surprised no one has suggested an electric kettle. They heat up the water much faster than a stovetop one, and they have an automatic shutoff when the water boils.
I am assuming that you want a working whistle to prevent the kettle boiling dry. If you like the sound, that's a whole other matter.
I have a copper Chantal kettle that I keep on my stove as a decoration. It takes twice as long to boil the water as my electric kettle.

I second the electric option. I have lived with one all my life, and would give up my microwave before my kettle.

A couple of months ago, I did a little experiment comparing the times to boil approx 1.75 litres of cold tap water. The electric kettle was the clear winner, outperforming a 1500wt induction hotplate, a 17.5k BTU gas burner, my old POS Kenmore smoothtop, and a 1000wt microwave.

Another electric kettle lover here. We've had ours for about 3 years and absolutely would not give it up. DH thought it was a "silly purchase" when I first brought it home, but soon became sold on the merits. You can use it for so many things, from boiling water for tea or coffee, to adding water to soups, bain maries, a pan of water in the oven when baking boule, etc. It's the best!

I have owned the gas stove model of this simplex tea kettle for a year now and it never fails to whistle. Made in England and very good quality.

Here is a link that might be useful: simplex

This is late to this thread and I will start a new "tea kettle" thread if there's no response, but here's my tea kettle problem.

My new gas range top has no actual "burner' just the flame under the grates and at the higher settings (as one would want to boil water quickly) all the flames are wider than any tea kettle I've seen. I'm still using my burnt Revereware, even though the whistle almost burnt off, because it's the widest (8 1/4") I've seen.

Anybody know of an extremely-wide based kettle? Yes I know the electric kettles are better, but it's one more thing on the counter, my DH hates things on the counter--and tries to put the coffee-pot away. Also I like the stove-top kettle ritual and like the way a kettle looks on the stovetop (this is less of an aesthetic problem for him thankfully).

P.S. I've never had trouble with a whistle--but I've never bought an expensive kettle either.

The only tea kettle I buy is the Revere 2 1/3 quart tea kettle. It is the ONLY tea kettle that actually whistles for years and years and years.

I agree with Velodoug.