If you are camping off the grid and want a hot cup of coffee or just want to boil water for your just-add-water meal, your options are quite limited. Either you have to make a wood fire or set up a propane or butane camping stove.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a battery operated kettle for camping that you can just turn on and make a quick hot beverage? Let’s find out our options.
When it comes to fully battery powered kettles, you won’t find many kettles in the market. Our options are quite limited and the reason is “physics”.
Batteries are a very poor store of energy, and water takes a lot of energy to heat up. That’s the reason most kettles are either plug-in types or powered by liquid camping fuel like Propane.
But if you are still adamant about using a battery powered camping kettle, we have a few options that we can still use without a need to plug-in to power. [also read my post on battery powered heaters for camping]
Do battery operated kettle really exist?
Battery powered kettles exist but they are not very common.
If you search online, you won’t find many companies or brands advertising a true battery powered electric kettle that you can bring camping, and there is a reason – batteries are not great at storing a large amount of power.
If you want to heat a single cup of water (230ml) from room temperature (25 °C) to boiling (100 °C), you will need around 20 Wh of power.
A small battery of the size of your typical coffee cup can hold this much power, but it will need to be recharged after every single use.
If you are going for a portable, cordless electric kettle, you have 3 options. Let’s discuss each one in detail so that you can get the best camping kettles for your next camping or road trip.
Rechargeable battery powered kettles
If you are looking for a battery operated kettle, a rechargeable battery-powered kettle is the closest thing to what you have in mind – a truly cordless, rechargeable kettle that you can take with you on a trip, press a button, and boil a hot cup of water for your coffee.
Below are a few products in this category that I found useful and practical.
1. Makita Coffee Maker
The best product I found so far in this category comes from Makita – a company that makes cordless electric tools. Their battery powered coffee machine can make a hot cup of coffee in just a few minutes (see the video below).
But you must be wondering why a hardware work tool company is making coffee machines?
The answer is that they already make these huge Li-ion batteries that run their cordless tools like drills etc. and they can use the same batteries to power up a small single-cup coffee machine.
The battery operated coffee machine is quite portable and fits a small coffee cup. You can have a hot steaming coffee or tea in about 5 minutes.
Gimmicks aside, as far as a truly rechargeable coffee machine or kettle goes, this is the most practical product I found on the market. Other options I saw are mostly gimmicky products that only keep your coffee or tea hot.
If you already own any of Makita’s cordless tools, you will have 2-3 batteries that came with it. You can use the same batteries to power up the coffee maker. You don’t need to buy separate batteries.
Also, these batteries are designed for heavy-duty use so you can be sure they won’t just stop working after a few cup of coffee. The overall build quality of the coffee machine itself is remarkable just like the other hardware tools.
- Brews a 5 oz. cup of coffee in 5 min
- No paper filters needed
- A permanent drip filter allows grounds to be poured in directly
- Uses single-serve packs or ground coffee
- Compact design at only 8-9/16" tall with a 3-1/2" cup clearance
Note: I was asked if Dewalt also makes 18v kettles as hardware people either use Makita tools or Dewalt. I searched but coulnd’t find any such kettle. So, if you are a Dewalt fan, you still have to get yourself a Makta coffee maker for now.
3. Muggo Coffee Mug
Muggo is also a heated coffee or tea mug that can keep your hot beverage hot while you are on the go. It has a lithium-ion battery that can keep your coffee hot for up to 3 hours. It can keep your coffee or tea hot at up to 65 °C
It has a dual charging station that can charge your detachable battery from any wall power source. You can charge two batteries at a time before leaving for the outdoors to give yourself a total of 6 hours of hot muggo.
You can control the temperature of the Muggo using a touch display and set the temperature between 95oF – 150oF (widest in this category of products)
The build quality of the Muggo is of very high quality and you won’t feel like holding a cheap plastic cup. It has a high gloss finish and a sturdy BPA-free plastic outside and heated stainless steel inside.
The cap is designed to be leak-free which is perfect for camping.
The space between the cover and steel cup is filled with thermal insulation to reduce heat loss so that whatever heat the battery generates, very little is lost to the environment.
- Long-lasting 3-hour battery.
- Wide range temperature control (95F – 150F)
- Dual charging coaster/pad
- High quality and reliable design for outdoors
- Perfect for camping or road trips
4. Ember Temperature Control Travel Mug
Ember travel mug is also battery heated mug that you can carry in your backpack while camping or traveling. It has a rechargeable battery that can keep your coffee or tea at perfect temperature for up to 3 hours.
The temperate range can be set between 120°F – 145°F (50°C – 62.5°C) via its mobile app that is available for both Android and iPhone.
The mug is equipd with smart controller that keeps your drink at desired temperature and when not in use, it put the mug in auto sleep to convserver battery. The battery status is shown on the mug via small LED display.
One of the bets thing I like Ember mug is its fine build quality that really gives it a premium look. The outside is made from black BPA-free plastic and the inside is made of insulated stainless steel.
The whole package is IP67 waterproof so you can wash it just like your normal mug.
The ember mug comes with a charging pad that let you put the mug to charging via magnetic connectors. Maybe we see Q wireless charging in the future but for now, the contact charging works great.
Overall, its a solid option to buy and has great customer reviews on Amazon and other platforms that shows customer trust and satisfaction.
- Keeps your coffee at perfect temperature for 3 hours.
- Set temperature b/w 120°F – 145°F (50°C – 62.5°C) via its mobile app
- Auto sleep function when not in use
- Premum build quality with IP67 waterproofing
- BPA-free plastic outside and stainless steel inside.
2. Cauldryn Coffee Pro
The Cauldryn coffee pro is also not a kettle, but it is a heated flask that can keep your boiling water at a set temperature for up to 10 hours so that you can use it when needed.
Since we have discussed that it is extremely hard to boil even a cup of water with a small battery but keeping an already boiling water at or near boiling point is comparatively easy. That’s what the Cauldryn Coffee Pro is doing.
This is a quite small and portable device that you can carry in your backpack before going on a hike from your campsite. It’s not heavier than your ordinary water bottle and takes as much space as well.
Just pour in hot boiling water and set the temperature using the digital display, and the Cauldryn coffee pro will keep your water hot and ready for an instant cup of coffee.
The Duo Carafe [Honorary mention]
Another worthy mention is an instant kettle called The Duo Carafe. It is patented by Heatworks – a company based in Mt. Pleasent SC and introduced it at CES 2019 with pre-orders to be expected in early 2020 but so far, it is not up for sale on their site.
It uses the Heatworks patented Ohmic Array Technology that heats the water almost instantly while you pour it from your kettle. It sounds too good to be true, but the company is already selling an instant water geyser that works on the same technology so, fingers crossed.
12V car kettles & mugs [plug-in type]
If you are not convinced with any of the portable and rechargeable battery options above, your next best solution is to get a 12V car kettles that connect to your car cigarette plug and boils your cup of water for a hot coffee.
These 12v kettles are particularly useful if you are camping out of your car or RV and have access to a 12v power port that can draw current from the car battery. Remember to keep your car running so that the battery is not drained fully in an attempt to make a cup of coffee.
There are also some kettles that plug in to your car’s USB slot and works off 5V but these usb powered travel kettles are not very effective. I would suggest sticking with the 12V options that connects to your cigarette slot.
Check out the following 3 12V kettles in this category.
| Car Kettle | Power Rating | Capacity | Boiling time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spardar | 120W | 348 ml | 20 minutes |
| Longem | 140W | 350 ml | 25 minutes |
| Kemin | 70W | 350 ml | 25 minutes (up to 90°C) |
All 3 of the above car kettles are insulated, so once you make your cup of tea or brew your coffee, you can close the lid, and it will keep your beverage warm for hours. Pretty neat solution if you do car camping or just work out of your vehicle (hello FedEx drivers). Just make sure you don’t spill the liquid inside your car else, you will have a hard time cleaning the interior.
110v/220v kettles + camping power stations
Our third option is to get a regular 110v or 220v electric kettle and pair it up with a camping battery pack that people usually carry with them.
This option is the most effective yet the least portable than the above two solutions we discussed. If you are carrying electronic devices with you camping, like mobile phones and laptops, you might want to look into getting a suitable battery bank as well.
They are expensive but work really really well in areas where wall power is not available. The below 3 battery bank options are my recommended ones.
- Yeti 1500X Portable Power : This monster power bank has a total capacity of 1516Wh. It can charge all of your gadgets, and it can even operate your electric kettle or stove for a long time. You may boil 16 liters of water before the power runs out (which is significant when you only want to make a cup of coffee).
- Jackery Explorer 1000 : With 1002Wh capacity, this is the 2nd largest bank I have seen in the market that is still portable. You can charge this via a standard power outlet and solar panels. This is great for powering up your electric kettle and any other device. With 1000Wh capacity, you can boil up to 12 liters of water.
- BALDR Portable Power Station : You will store 461Wh with this battery pack which is not as high as the previous two but still pretty good. Remember that you also get a shorter charging time with smaller batteries, especially with solar panels. In my opinion, if you want to pack light and don’t have much need for power, this one will work perfectly.
If you have any of these power banks on your camping trip, you can get ANY standard electric kettle and have a steaming hot coffee or tea any time you crave it. They can also power your other equipment such as portable battery powered air conditioners or fans.
For the kettle, I would highly recommend this collapsable and highly portable kettle from LOUTYTUO. It consumes 700 Watt and can boil half a liter of water in just 5 minutes and is a perfect electric camping kettle if you have a power station.
It is perfect to use with any of the above power stations. The below table shows how many cups of coffee you can make using LOUTYTUO kettle with the above power stations.
| Power Station | Capacity (Wh) | Coffee Cups on LOUTYTUO |
|---|---|---|
| Yeti 1500X | 1516 Wh | 75 |
| Jackery Explorer | 1002 Wh | 50 |
| BALDR | 461 Wh | 23 |
- Made of safe food-grade protective material PBA-free.
- The heating plate and kettle lid are made of 304 stainless steel.
- Easy to carry and save a lot of space during travel & camping
- Super easy to operate, just press the button, then water will be boiled in 3-5 minutes.
- Detachable power cord and handle
Battery operated portable kettles – Conclusion
A truly portable yet very functional electric kettle that operates on a battery is hard to find, but we discussed a few options above to help you make the perfect cup of coffee outdoors.
The battery powered options we discussed are the most portable ones but they are not very effective compared to your normal plug-in kettles. The reason is poor batteries that can store very less energy.
But if you don’t mind a little compromise on portability, you can either get car kettles or any standard electric kettle with a camping battery power station. These two are the least portable but most reliable and effective.
So thice choice comes down to a compromise between effectiveness and portability.
If you read this blog looking for a battery powered kettle, I hope you find something that works for you. Happy camping.
FAQs
How does a cordless kettle work?
In a cordless kettle, electric power from the attached battery heats up a heating coil inside the cattle that in turns heats up the water. The temperature is controlled usually via smart controller.
Do cordless kettles need batteries?
Cordless kettles need batteries for their operation. These batteries are either built within the body or there are connected to external or removable batteries. The battery provides necessary power for the kettle to heat up.
Recommended Camping Gears: I have compiled a list of my favourite camping gear in one place. The selection is based on my own personal experience using them for many years camping as well as feedback from fellow campers. Check them out on my Recommended Camping Gears page
