Kelly Kettle product review
| Published» 13/07/08I am now the proud owner of a 2.5 pint Kelly Kettle. Perhaps not the most exciting statement ever but it is something that I have been wanting for a while now. Camping to me is mostly about being outside, and being outside means fire, along with smoke, is less of a problem and more of a leisure activity. So given the chance to use good old fashioned fire to boil some water instead of a gas stove makes it almost fun. That's where the Kelly Kettle comes in, boil water as quickly and easily as on a stove but using whatever fuel you find.
The way the kettle works is quite simple; You have a base in which you light the fire, on to which you place a kettle with water in it. The kettle acts as a chimney, a tall tubular construction with the water stored in the double walled sides. The chimney structure means that it burns fuel very easily - sticks, leaves, paper... whatever you can find. Soon you have two and a half pints of boiling water, and then a nice hot cup of whatever you fancy (hot chocolate in my case). As you can see from the pictures it is that simple, nothing to go wrong and hence very reliable.
A smaller 1 pint version is also available, along with a cook set and a pot support. The cook set and pot support are for the 2.5 pint version and I have them both. Boiling water is so quick and simple with the kettle that I was very impressed, the pot set didn't work quite as easily for me. The pot itself is small, you could make food for no more than 1 person. It sits on a grill that you place over the fire base of the kettle, which itself is not very large and as such is hard to build up the heat required to cook a meal. The trouble is that putting the 2 piece grill and pot on the fire base makes it hard to put more fuel on the fire. Heating the pot can also be done whilst using the kettle with the help of the pot support. This simply slots into the top of the chimney and positions the pot over the fire, which is easier to use than the grill since you still get the benefit of the chimney and can load up more fuel.
Overall I would definitely recommend having one of these and I use mine whenever I can muster an excuse. They are very quick to boil water even in really windy conditions. Keep one to hand and you can always find something to burn in it. I have yet to make any use of the pan but I'm very happy with the kettle.
Useful information
http://www.kellykettle.com/ - The Kelly Kettle website
