Bodum 5410-03USA Mini Ibis Electric Water Kettle Review

The 5410-03USA Mini Ibis from Bodum is a very cute little devil that can instantly boil 3.5 cups of water in just 4 minutes. Let me caution you that it is a very delicately designed electric kettle meant for traveling and outdoor operations. To begin with this can boil water for only an individual and do not even think of boiling water repeatedly to make up the volume as the unit will fuse and break down. This is a light duty kettle than cannot boil water for more than 27 ounce. However maintain the water level to at least 7 ounce so that the heating element is covered up. As the heating element is fully immersed and is in direct contact with water it accelerates the boiling process.
The Bodum Mini ibis is in fact a mini sized kettle that can be best used as a stand by appliance. It is not advisable to run this kettle everyday for regular hot water needs. This serves as a wonderful unit for emergency use, camping and trekking. I use it for making instant cup noodles, coffee and tea. This is a constructed light weight so that it is portable and can be easily carried. For the regular household use I go for Braun electric kettle and the Bodum model can never replace it. However the Bodum is far better than the Procter Silex as the later gives a weird plastic smell to the water.

This comes for $19 and is worth that amount provided you handle it carefully. The durability of this kettle entirely depends on the user. To be on safer side I always use filtered water fearing the accumulation of scale. In some aspects it scores over a microwave because it is compact and can even boil water in less time. Unlike some cheap kettles it does not make any gurgling sound and this works silently. Recently I gifted this to my aged grandparents who have broken many kettles because of their failing memory to switch off the unit. This has even occurred to me many times and the heating element melts down. To counter such mishaps this comes with an inbuilt feature that readily turns off the power once the water gets boiled.

The Polypropylene plastic is good enough and does not make the water smell horrible. Even if a need arise to use this frequently within short intervals then make sure that the heating element gets sufficient cooling time. Sometimes I have also experienced hot steam gushing out beneath the handle. So I would not suggest this for children and by the way the locking lid feature is pretty effective.