Never having heard of an Oxo kettle this intrigued me so I looked here. Oxo is a completely different product in the UK!

Looks a very high tech gizmo to boil water in. I would guess that by boiling it dry you can affect either the coating or the trigger mechanism. Once the water, which ensures the kettle should get no hotter than 100 deg. C has gone the kettle will be subjected to much higher temperatures. If it was only for a short time the temperature would only increase slightly and may cause no harm.

At the other extreme if you left it long enough you may cause the whole thing to melt! Somewhere in between you have to make your own judgement! Remember though that the disclaimer is to cover their backs. If you find yourself suffering from some kind of contaminent poisening or if the handle breaks off and causes a scald you will have no reason to complain to Oxo:-(

To answer your other question I guess that the Oxo kettle must have something to differentiate from other stove top varieties or they could not charge what they do!

My advice? Buy an electric with a thermo cut out:-)

Cheers

DtG