Breville Handy Hot Plate BHP150 / BHP250

over 1 year with this gem – Purchased end of 2019 as the hotplate broke and I was meant to be moving out of my parents grannyflat - didn't bother buying and installing a new one. It has since cooked for two people minimum 3 times a week that whole time. I saw so many bad reviews about this product but people complaining need to remember its a $100 hotplate that just plugs… Read more

into a power socket, it obviously isn't going to be the same as a hard wired one. It does boil a pot of water, albeit slower than your normal hot plate, but it's definitely paid off in my mind. as a rule I just turn it off at the power outlet to avoid accidentally leaving it on. and as for the negative 'steak' comment, if you like a good steak I would be cooking it on the BBQ not in pan anyway.

Safer alternative is Award HP2252 – We have a Breville single hotplate at my work just for the teapot to sit on, there's definitely a safety issue with the temperature knob getting easily knocked up to high. I did lots of looking around to find a double hotplate for my apartment and bought an Award HP2252. If you go to the Award site you can look up which retailers stock it (in NZ).… Read more

I had a small electrical shop order one in for me, $110NZD. It's not usually in any of the bigger chains, more likely in specialty kitchen shops. I'm happy with it. With a solid top it takes longer to heat up and cool down than a kitchen stovetop, but I just set it on low to begin with and be patient while it heats up.

Don't get electrocuted – Bought this over two years ago. Only used it occasionally in our granny flat. Be careful when cleaning or you rub off the dial's diagram. The on/off dial does not have a resistance when you turn it on/off. The plates rust easily, Bunnings sell a black paste you bake on. Worked fine for the first 18 months but then it developed a crack on the large plate, it worked for another six months and then it kept on blowing the fuse.  Show details

Not hot! – I've had this about a year. It is not hot - can't bring water to a boil. At best it is a warmer - keeps things already cooked warm but does not really cook. I was hoping for a temporary cook top during reno and an portable burner. I agree with the safety issue - must be turned off at the ppt at all times as the knobs don't fully turn off and can… Read more

easily be turned on.

It draws a lot of power without real heat - blows the circuit if anything else is on.

I would buy something decent if it were available - I could not find anything else. Sad

Stop! If you like good steak don't buy this item – If you expect your Breville Hotplate BHP250 to do what an oven top hotplate will do you are in for a major disappointment. You will ruin your steak and you may as well throw your stir-fry out to the birds raw. 2400 watts is Not enough heat too successfully cook a steak or stir-fry using this design. Harvey Norman told me 2400w is the highest… Read more

wattage allowable in a plugin electric hotplate. It's fine for slow/low cooking if you're not in a hurry. That is all. Your steak will be stewed, your chips, onions, leeks and mushrooms oil saturated & limp. Stir-fry using frozen vegetables? Not in a million years. Added to the lack of high heat is poor design. What heat there is, is confined to a few spots in the center of the element i.e. food will burn and stick center pan while stewing around the edges. When the temperature adjustment knobs come off in your hand and you replace them they get too hot to touch (why is the temperature calibrated to 8 and not 10?) The font used for the temperature numbers is hard to read at a glance. Boiling water? Forget it. Go rub two sticks together and build a wood fire, it'll be quicker. Poor design coupled with wattage restrictions make this a dud unless you're happy with low & slow cooking. Buy a gas bottle and gas hot plate, you won't be sorry.

does not stay on to cook – bought a bhp250 and first and every time we use it it hests up.and cooks ok until it reaches the setting then goes off and stsys off it eventually comes back on for a minute or so but doed not cook any more waste of money dont go near these cookers

Nice but there is a safety issue – The Breville BHP250 dual hotplate is a smart looking unit. One drawback with it is that the control knobs are very easily bumped to an on position. This is a safety and energy conservation issue. The control knobs have no indent for the off position so the lightest touch can turn the hotplates on. This issue would be easily rectified by having… Read more

an indent for the off position of sufficient depth to prevent the knobs from being knocked to an on position.

Does Exactly What It Says – Bought the Breville BHP250 a few weeks ago as my new unit doesn't have a stove. I've used it twice so far and it heats quicker than proper full electrical stoves I have used in the past. I've made chicken for burritos and tonight used it for chicken stir fry. Only drawback is figuring which heat setting to put the little nob on as the numbers… Read more

between 3-7 seem to be random (e.g. the heat output increases are not incremental) so I burnt my onions the first time but this time round they were fine. Just a bit of a guessing game with regard to heat output.

It's a great little stove and I love it but if you're a chef probably steer clear.

*Update* Ok so I've had this little stove for 4 months now and use it on average 3 times a week. It's fantastic. Only problem is a slight aesthetic one where the top of the stove does brown around the hotplates once you use them. So yes it can look dirty (I do wipe my stove down every time I use it so it isn't food or grease). It doesn't bother me however if aesthetics are more important than function then this issue will get to you. I, on the other hand don't have a "regular" oven/stovetop and this little gem continues to do exactly as advertised. So well done Breville!

has thermostat – These hot plates have a thermostat so they will turn on and off even at the highest setting which can be annoying if you want to heat something quickly eg get water boiling. Most cheap hot plates these days operate in this way. In this unit the thermostat is not directly connected to the actual metal hotplate so the control is rather vague. … Read more

June 9th 2017 Update: Basically just a warming plate, not a cooking appliance

As I mentioned in a previous comment these type of hot plates turn on and off automatically and are pretty annoying to use due to low average heat output. they do theoretically draw 1600 watts or so but this is only for a minute or two then it will turn itself off for a minute or two, so on average it's only putting 800 watts into your pot/pan, which is not enough to cook a steak or do even a small stir fry. Even if it stayed on constantly, at 1600 watts it's not going to achieve a whole lot.

Not sure about this one - Ok Now – Not sure if this was a bad batch but I bought this a few weeks ago have used it a little but what it does is heats up after reaches high heat then the light goes out and turns off for about a minute then back on again not sure if it has a thermostat or something but it just doesn't stay on , so I don't like this one. Ok I sent this one back and… Read more

they replaced it within a few weeks so far this new one seems be working not turning off and back on , very happy 19/9/14

It turns off then back on.

A great product – I recently bought a Breville BHP150 Portable Electric Hot Plate Cooktop when my new stove broke.I needed something portable to tide me over whilst my cooktop was in the process of being replaced.I bought it on sale for $48. It is quick to heat,very compact,simple to use & just plugs into a socket.Just what I needed. Granted,it takes a while to… Read more

figure which heat setting is ideal & I fiddle a bit with the setting,sometimes having to adjust a few times because it gets too hot or too cold. inexpensive;quick to heat;good for an emergency

simple, compact, easy to use – Bought this double hot plate few months ago and I'm very happy with it. It's very simple to use, compact and heats up quickly and has 8 heat settings. It's perfect for travelling with the campervan as it plugs in to a power point and is very portable. It's also great value for money. compact and heats up quickly and has 8 heat settings.