The Kelly Kettle

Most specimen anglers will have heard about the Kelly Kettle for the first time, from that iconic piece of angling videography "A Passion for Angling" where Chris Yates and Bob James sat on various venues around the country and had water boiled in one of these kettles. Back when the series was shown, hardly anybody knew exactly what they had used to do this and many anglers thought it was one of Chris Yates "pieces of history" from years gone by, until it was announced that the product was the Kelly Kettle.

Since the series was broadcast on BBC, anglers have been purchasing Kelly Kettles in droves as they offer a feeling of nostalgia - something that anglers - especially carp anglers - like to experience. The question that anglers that have not seen this series will be asking is "what is a Kelly Kettle?".

The Kelly Kettle is a self contained water storage and boiling system more commonly described as Volcano Kettles. The reason they are known as Volcano Kettles is from the design in that when in use they look like a volcano.

The way that the Kelly kettle differs from traditional kettles is that it is not just a receptacle that is placed upon a stove and the water boils. The Kelly Kettle requires no fuel to use other than natural debris that may be laying around on the bank such as twigs or other flammable material. The main body of the kettle itself works in a reverse Thermos style in that the water is held in an outer cavity rather than in a large area. As the water itself is of a lower mass, it heats up much quicker than a traditonal style kettle.

You are probably wondering on how this actually works.

The main body of the kettle sits on top of an aluminium bowl that contains the natural fuel required. The contents of the bowl are lit using a fire steel or BBQ lighter and the main body of the kettle is sat on top of the bowl. The heat from the fire in the bowl rises up into the main cavity of the body and smoke is funnelled out through the hole in the top. The rising heat from the aluminium bowl rapidly heats up the water contained in the thinner side cavity of the kettle. If more fuel is required, then it can be dropped simply through the exit hole in the top of the main body. When the water has boiled it is a simple task to lift the main body off the bowl using the main handle, and the water can then be poured by simply using the cork and chain attached to the main kettle to raise the base up. Water can then be kept warm for a while by placing the cork stopper into the pourng/filling aperture. It is very important that the cork stopper is not in place when boiling water as the pressure that can build up inside the kettle if this is done will cause the cork to shoot out of the kettle like a bullet and potentially cause injury.

During our tests with the Kelly Kettle, we found that although it is slightly slower than a gas stove and traditional kettle but we are talking only a few seconds difference. Obviously the main thing going for the Kelly Kettle is that the running costs are zero due to using natural materials found laying about as fuel. Anything that is burnable can be used as fuel. We have used twigs, dry grass, leaves, kindling, paper, etc all to good effect and no difference in performance. Every lake will have some sort of burnable material laying about so you will never be without fuel.

Although it is called a Kettle, the Kelly Kettle is more than just a water boiling receptacle. There are several accessories also available that allow the angler to use the heat from the kettle to cook small amounts of food. A cross style pan support is available that sits in the chimney on top of the main kettle body and uses the heat from the aluminium bowl to cook the food. If you wish to cook food slightly faster, you can remove the main kettle body and place two half-circle grill sections into the top of the bowl and place a pan directly on top of the fire. These accessories are available sperately or bought in a kit along with the Kettle and a pan & pan handle.

We have used the Kelly Kettles now for several months and in differing weather conditions and not noticed any detriment in performance with cold weather or in heatwaves.

We recommend that you ask permission of the fishery management before using the Kelly Kettle as the smoke given off from the kettle could give the impression that the bankside is on fire due to the open fire nature contained in the bowl. The last thing UKMA want is for anglers to be asked to leave a venue because they are using a Kelly Kettle. We have yet to encounter a venue where the use of the Kelly Kettle has not been allowed, but permission rarely costs anything other than a few seconds of time.

Now that I have used it more than a couple of times, I can honestly say that I don't know how I managed before without one!

The Kelly Kettles are now available in 3 sizes in Aluminium and a single size in Stainless Steel.

For further information on the Kelly Kettle range of products, please click the image below.