As far as we can tell, yes - you can boil water in a French press! We did a little experiment to find out, and it worked just fine. We brought a pot of water to a boil on the stove, then carefully poured it into the French press. We let it sit for a minute, then pressed down on the plunger and poured out the hot water. So there you have it - you can definitely boil water in a French press. Just be careful not to burn yourself when pouring out the hot water!