Recently bought (and love) my Le Creuset tea kettle. The handle stay cool. The spout has a removable part that does the whistling. Handle and "part" are phenolic. Once the whistle is removed there is plenty of size to the spout to fill it that way. I do. Is Le Creuset available to you locally? I actually found this in our grocery.

Here is a link that might be useful: Le Creuset Zen Kettle

I should add, you need to wait (10 seconds) until the steam stops to pull the whistle out.

Ken

I don't know what to recommend but I can say NOT to get the Calphalon teakettle. I purchased it about 8 years ago thinking I'd love it and would never need to replace it.

Well, the latter is true...it'll never need replacing and I'm stuck with it. You can't pour from it w/o a hotpad because the design is such that the hot steam goes back towards your hand/wrist. You can't get the lid off without using tongs when it's hot if you want to refill. There's no whistle (which I didn't want so that was ok with me).

So, I'm reading this thread with interest...cause I hate mine. It was costly, too.

Thanks Ken. To keep a long story long: I went to Williams Sonoma even though I "knew" from their web site that they don't carry LC tea kettles. They had a poor selection, basically the Uplift ones which we already didn't like, and a Chantal, where I could foresee the heat problems people are having. (I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would design a kettle where you have to use a pot holder to hold or open it!!!) Went to Crate and Barrel, tons of Uplift (do people really like this klumsy design?) and a Chantal Professional which was insulated, looked great, but was way too huge for my little old ma. Got frustrated, left the city, then went to Bed Bath and Beyond because they were listed as a LC retailer. I didn't find the LC kettle there, but did find a Chantal that has heat resistant handle, lid and spout. Bingo, bought it. Went next door to a different Wms Sonoma for something else and lo and behold they had a LC tea kettle. Not the Zen, but another. Very nice, I would have bought it had I seen it first, but oh well too late. Honestly my mom likes to keep it simple and might not have loved the "removable part."

Chantal was $59. Of course I didn't have one of the BBB coupons that I get twice a day in the mail and they wouldn't let me slide. I'll let you know how it works.

Cool. Hope she loves it!

Merry Christmas,

Ken

Wish I had seen this thread sooner. I would have suggested that you buy your mom an Electric Kettle. Most of them would have met all of your criteria and as an added safety bonus most of them automatically shut off after they come to a full boil.

I'm sure that your mom will love the one that you got her.

Merry Christmas

Ann

I just bought the LC Whistling tea kettle from Amazon.com and am very happy with it, so far.
{{gwi:1472390}}

I've melted my last tea kettle, that's for sure - and yes, I even managed to destroy a $100 stainless steel Chantal whistling tea kettle. I guess I was out of earshot :)

My first electric kettle was a Russell Hobbs; when it met its demise after many years (it was a discontinued model and I couldn't get a replacement part for it) I then got a Krupps water kettle.

Don't know how I ever lived without one. It's really fast, it's convient, and it shuts itself off when the water reaches a boil. It won't boil dry, either. Frees up a burner on the stove, too.

Yes, I just converted to an electric kettle. We went on a vacation to England just before pulling our kitchen apart, so I bought an electric to get through the remodeling and have stayed with it.

I have an all-clad whistler and I love it. Absolutely NO problems with a hot handle and a very reliable and sturdy whistle. That being said, if I had the counter space, I'd definately look into an electric kettle. The reviews are just tops and they sound like exactly the ticket for mom.

My son bought us a xoxo tea kettle for Christmas, the spout opens automatically when you tilt it. Because we have a Wolf with big burners we tend to always burn the spouts, we are trying to be careful with this one, because we really like it!

Copko! It doesn't claim to be whistling, but it will whistle until you can't stand it! Love my Copko!