Abstract: A heating kettle includes a pot having a bottom wall and a side wall, a heating element adapted to heat the pot, and a hold-down plate for holding the heating element against the bottom wall of the pot. The hold-down plate is secured to both the bottom wall of the pot and to the side wall of the pot by a plurality of fasteners. Such plurality of fasteners securely sandwiches the heating element between the hold down plate and the bottom wall of the pot, thereby minimizing the deformation of the bottom wall of the pot and of the heating element during use of the kettle so as to increase the efficiency of the kettle.