Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp, 1.7L - Stainless Steel Cordless Review

The Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp electric kettle is a 1500 W fast boiling, powerful, durable, and professional kitchen device that heats water within a couple of minutes. Its high-end material, smart design, and variable temperature features make it an ideal choice for making instant drinks like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

This classic electric kettle with over 4,000 reviews has the winning combination of accuracy, speed, reliability, and ease of use that makes it a good product amongst other kettles in the market.

Our Very Exhaustive Review of the Cuisinart PerfecTemp:

Design

It's made of a smooth brushed stainless steel and a blue backlit water level indicator to easily determine water levels. It features programmable buttons on the stay-cool handle, a 360 rotating base, and a wide removable lid for easy filling. Quite frankly, it looks great on any kitchen top.

Capacity

The electric cordless kettle has an ample capacity of 1.7 liters that is sufficient for filling several cups of tea or coffee for the whole family.

credit: manufacturer

Feature List of the Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp Water Boiler/Warmer:

Temperature Settings

The Cuisinart kettle features six different temperature presets that users can select according to their requirements. The 6 temperature presets provide you with the perfect temperature for different types of tea, which demanding tea drinkers know is important for bringing out the right flavor in different tea leaves.

They include 160⁰F, 175⁰F, 185F, 190⁰F, 200⁰F, and 212⁰F. These presets provide a lot of flexibility and can be used to make herbal tea, white tea, yellow tea, oolong tea, green tea, black coffee, noodles, oatmeal, etc...

Stay Warm

It also has a versatile "Stay warm" feature. With this feature, the cordless electric kettle can retain the temperature of boiled water for up to 30 minutes. Not nearly as long as an electric water boiler, but good enough for short bursts.

Memory Feature

You can leave the kettle off its base for a couple of minutes, and when you return it to its base, the Cuisinart will resume reheating the water back to the preset temperature.

Safety Features

Auto Shut Off

Were you in a hurry in the morning? Did you forget to turn the kettle off maybe? Stuck in traffic and don't want to be worried about whether your place is burning to the ground. No worries, there's an Auto Shut-off feature.

Sleep Mode

The Cuisinart electric kettle also features a unique Sleep Mode, which the kettle will enter when not used for 5 minutes Moreover, Sleep Mode also helps save electricity, resulting in lower utility bills.

Boil Dry Protection

Let's say you didn't put enough water in the kettle at the outset. the Cuisinart will automatically shut off. The unit will start flashing and beeping at you alerting you to the issue. Simply refill it with cold water to cool it down and restart the process of heating the water back up.

Other features of the Cuisinart PerfectTemp:

• 1500-Watts power - An efficient high power 1500-watts heating element to ensure that the water is quickly heated to your desired temperature, then gives you an alert to let you know it is ready.  
• Start/Stop Indicator Button
• Beautiful Stainless Steel Body
• Stay Cool handle with integrated controls (very cool!)
• Keep warm mode – By default, the keep-warm option lets you maintain water temperatures for up to 30 minutes (turn it off by pressing the keep warm button
• Memory feature – you can remove it from the base for up to two minutes. Upon placing the memory feature will activate and start to reheat or keep warm cycles, right where it left off. 
• Boil drive protection – If there is not enough water in the Kettle, it will shut off
• Removable scale filter – traps sediments for clean water
• Concealed heating element to prevent the build-up of scale
• The ergonomic design also allows the bottom of the base to remain cool when removed from the heating base, allowing you to set it on any surface.
• Cordless Kettle (the base keeps the cord)
• 360-degree swivel base – allowing you to place the kettle back in from any angle 
• Ample 1.7 liter capacity with a backlit water level indicator
• Dimensions: 8.2” x 9.8” x 12”
• Blue backlit water indicator (very sophisticated and modern look)
• 6 Variable temp presets
• Sleep Mode
• Auto Shut down feature
• Quick-release lid button
• Dripless spout design

My Review of the Cuisinart PerfecTemp, The Kettle I never knew I needed…

For me preparing a cup of tea seemed difficult to mess up the task—boil the water, add a tea bag, and just sip, a no-brainer task, right? Turns out tea, is a no-brainer of a beverage, just ask a tea Connoisseur. They will tell you that one of the most important details starts with the water temperature.

Boiling is responsible for oxygenating the water, which brings out the best flavors of the tea, says Donna Lo, co-founder of Far Tea Leaves, a popular tea café in California. Easy right? Just boil the water so you can get the flavor! Wrong! A full boil will cause your tea to have a dull or flat taste.

Depending on the type of tea you’re drinking, the best cup will depend on the temperature you heat it at. White and green teas should be around 170 and 185 degrees Fahrenheit:

Herbal and black teas should be brewed between 208 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit. And Oolong tea should be around 180 and 190-degrees Fahrenheit. Now all this can be achieved by paying close attention to the size of the bubbles, or by sticking in a thermometer, which is exactly what I’ve been doing, that is until I heard of the Cuisinart Electric Kettle.

Created for the discerning tea drinker, the 1.7- liter Cuisinart PerfecTemp Cordless Electric Kettle comes with six preset temperature settings. It has coffee and tea-specific settings ranging from 160°F to a full boil at 212°F. Knowing that having the right temperature is critical, it's amazing to hear that the Cuisinart Perfect Temp Cordless Kettle’s six temperature presets include:

• 160°F – Delicate 
• 175°F – Green 
• 185°F – White 
• 190°F – Oolong 
• 200°F – French Press 
• Boil – Black 

The cordless design and removable filter make the Cuisinart PerfecTemp kettle a great choice for any kitchen.

Genuinely this is a perfect gift for yourself or the tea or French press coffee maker for your life. It is for simple tea drinkers who just want the best tea at the press of a button, and for the tea experts who don’t feel like taking out their thermometer for the thousandth time.

A tip I'd like to give to everyone is that, to keep your kettle clean, just boil vinegar at one of the lower temperatures every 6 months.

If you are in the market for a new Kettle and have already been researching different options the past few days, this electric kettle is a favorite amongst many.

Interesting Reviews around the web

Many other reviewers say how it cuts their boiling time in half when comparing it to their stove Kettle, which is a huge plus. The only noticeable con is that this is not a gooseneck which some tea drinkers may prefer.

One reviewer said “I've had the Cuisinart model for 3 years. I've used it about 5-6 times daily, sometimes more if I'm off, and have never had any mechanical issues.

• “It looks the same as the day I took it out of the box. The temperatures are accurate.” - meakbot, Reddit.
• “There’s no need for me to stick a thermometer or use a thermal scanner to precisely measure the temperature of the heated water because of two things – first it heats up water to the set temperature consistently and second, heat seems to go away slower than that of conventional water boilers. Among my many purchases last year, the Cuisinart boiler seems to be the best investment I ever had!” - Argelyn, Amazon
• “Wasn’t too convinced at first when my cousin told me about this water boiler since he’s aware that I love to serve up tea for visitors at home with the use of a water kettle. The moment he told me that the water boiler doesn’t boil dry and turns off automatically when not in use, I was slightly convinced until I saw the water boiler in action when I visited his place a few weeks ago for lunch with relatives. Pretty surprised that the water boiler works very fast, it doesn’t seem to be noisy at all, and last but not least, the features he mentioned to me – the safety mechanisms? It does exactly what’s advertised. After a bit of saving, I finally decided to buy one for my home and it replaced my water kettle for entertaining my need for hot water from time to time whether it is for my herbal teas or for my morning coffee fix.” - Peter Stanza, Best Buy
• “Once I was a simple tea drinker, now I make the most out of my tea and drink it how it's meant to drink, at the right temperature.” - Anonymous

Looking for more reviews? Keep going...

“This water boiler is so convenient; it takes only around a few minutes to get the heat up to the boiling point. The temperature control settings are also a welcome addition since sometimes if there are visitors coming by my home, I’d want to serve them quality tea to make them feel even more welcome!” — Carlota Major, Reddit

“I used to own a water boiler prior to purchasing this but it eventually went bad and non-functional after like a couple of years, decided to do a little homework to look up for a suitable replacement and I ended up finding the Cuisinart water boiler. Was a little reluctant at first because of the hefty price tag but didn’t regret spending a lot of money in the end. This water boiler has finally become my go-to water boiler whenever I want hot water for my morning coffee. It works fast, it is efficient and the water always ends up with the perfect temperature.” — Maritza Lee, Amazon

“Major tea lover here and I can testify that the Cuisinart kettle is the best one I have owned so far. For starters, the Cuisinart has ever-handy temperature settings which means you can heat up the water to the desired temperature for a variety of teas. The result is that you get to enjoy your tea blends at their best quality. If ever you would run low on water, the kettle’s not too tedious to refill unlike some of the runs off the mill models out there. Speaking of temperature, the boiler heats up faster than I expected.” — John Francis

“I manage a coffee shop and I bought this for use at home. I have it placed next to my coffee maker and they look simply amazing together! Totally enjoying the adjustable temperature settings which means I can experiment with a vast variety of hot drinks.” — John Francis

“Probably the most accurate-working and quick-heating water boiler I’ve ever had. It’s great to use for coffees and teas and safe to use too! I won’t have to worry about forgetting it since it turns off by itself and it has a boil-dry protection.”
— Charlie Sun

“Boils fast, shuts off when not in use and has an energy saving feature. The Kettle can be removed from the base. This is the dream boiler that I have been looking for in ages! It may cost a lot but if you’re willing to spend a lot of money for consistently great-quality hot water for tea or coffee then the Cuisinart is a must have!” — Anonymous

“My initial impression of the Cuisinart is that it could eat up so much power that it will heighten my power bills but I was wrong. The water boiler aside from the fact that it is an efficient-working powerhouse has an energy-saving sleep mode which means it automatically turns off after around a few minutes. This makes it way better than my previous water boiler which was a power hog and has contributed to my utility bills going up. It’s quite surprising to see the difference between my current utility bills and my older ones. Very pleased with this purchase!”been looking for in ages! It may cost a lot but if you’re willing to spend a lot of money for consistently great-quality hot water for tea or coffee then the Cuisinart is a must have!” — Jenny

Summary

One reviewer summed it up best: "I still own this kettle and love it. It's been used heavily daily for so long without needing repairs or replacements. The build quality is still excellent, nothing is falling apart." This is among the best electric kettles you can buy.

As you have noticed in the reviews given by many customers. The common trend of praises towards the Cuisinart CPK-17 Water Boiler tends to lean towards its precise, effective and efficient boiling times wherein hot water is ready in a snap. The other praises towards the boiler points at its safety mechanisms such as the Boil Dry Protection and automatic shut-down and power-saving features.

As said earlier in the Pros and Cons section, there seems to be no negative feedback regarding the water kettle except for the note regarding its costly price tag. Sure, it may be expensive and be quite the investment at first but judging from the features and its safety mechanisms – it becomes all worth it in the longer run.