Wow, this was probably the hottest thread on this forum in a long while

My wife and I have two electric kettles. Our first one was a Krups similar to this one, but all silver-colored. Our second one, which I like even more, was distributed by Adagio Teas (I don't know who makes it). I like it because I can choose various rough temperatures to bring the water too, which helps with green teas and the like. (by the way, Adagio is my favorite tea store - there's a Teavana near us but it's priced waaaay higher).

What's funny is that we actually use the electric kettles even more often to boil water for cooking. We use a very large pot to boil water for pasta, and with just the stove it takes an eternity (about 25 minutes) to bring it to a boil (I think it reasonably/safely holds up to 12 cups of water). Using both our kettles and a small amount heating in the pot, I'm usually able to get a boil in about 10 minutes or less.

But we love these kettles for tea. It's perfect for a large number of people. We registered for a traditional stove-top tea kettle when we got married, and someone got it for us, but sadly it's remained entirely decorative the entire time we've lived here

Does anyone know how to clean these kettles though? I don't think they'd do well in the dishwasher...

Also, what do you all think about plastic vs stainless? It seems to me that it's worthwhile getting stainless just to be certain there's no plastic leeching into the water. Besides, I'd think it would heat faster. I know my Adagio kettle heats really quickly.