 Easy, Yummy, Great Design |
| Review Date: January 6, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Spiralina, San Francisco, CA USA |
We had a Krups combo coffee pot/espresso machine and after several espresso calamities in a row, I gave up and got this Cuisinart. So far it has been great! It seems that there used to be only basic espresso makers or extremely expensive ones on the market, with nothing in between. But the Cuisinart satisfies the coffee connoisseur on a budget by making truly wonderful espresso and more.
One of my frustrations with our last model was the "perfect froth" tip, which was disastrous to say the least. I just need a basic steam wand and I can take it from there, and the Cuisinart fits the bill - it steamed and frothed my milk easily and quickly. Just be careful to use less milk than you might think, because the volume doubles in no time. I'll probably switch to a larger pitcher than the one that comes with the Cuisinart, though it's fine to start out.
A couple tips to get started: the instructions say the heating light should come on right away, but it didn't for me until I switched the small knob to the droplet icon (as opposed to the middle neutral position). I figured this out by watching the video, which I recommend as the instruction manual is pretty bare. It's also good to see how much pressure one should use to tamp the grounds.
The only negative thing I can say is that the warming tray doesn't seem to get very warm, but I do like being able to store my cups on top anyway (more space in the cabinets now, plus a certain café aesthetic is always nice), so I don't mind. Positives are that it's fast, it's quiet, everything is sturdy and well designed (and clicks or locks solidly in place so you know things are seated correctly), and the espresso is truly café quality - an enormous difference from the more basic espresso machines on the market.
UPDATE: Since this review I have had some experiences with clogging. Cuisinart customer service was totally unhelpful, but here's what I do to remedy the situation:
1. As soon as you notice espresso isn't coming out, turn off the machine, take off the basket (you may have to wait for the pressure to subside), rinse it out well, and fill the machine with water.
2. Scrub the underside of the metal grid that the filter basket attaches to with a damp cloth.
3. Reattach just the basket with no filter. Heat water and run that through to get any clogs in the upper part of the machine. I fill up a milk pitcher. Then turn the big black dial to neutral, add the empty filter to the basket, and repeat. As long as water starts running through that ok it should be all right. I hope it works for you! |
Great Value
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| Review Date: February 23, 2008 |
| Reviewer: S. Erickson, Oregon |
| The Cuisinart EM 100 is a true bargain and a great espresso maker. Over the past 15 years I've purchased two Krups and one Capresso in the $250 range. Neither brand was capable of processing an espresso grind. They usually blocked up and let no water past the grinds. I had to resort to using drip grind coffee. The Cuisinart does a great job processing an espresso ground coffee, leaves a fine crema, steamer works perfectly and is a breeze to clean up. Its built like a tank, looks cool and I'm totally surprised and satisfied with its performance. |
Very good machine
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| Review Date: October 29, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Tucker Mac, Omaha, NE |
Use it at least twice daily with both ESE pods and ground espresso. It really is a nice machine. If you are like some other reviewers and have problems with coffee grounds blowing out over the kitchen after you are done then you are likely tamping them too hard or using a grind that's too fine. Easiest way for a first time user is to buy some coffee in ESE (easy serve espresso) pods from the internet and feel it to see how hard the coffee is tamped in the pod. Cut it open and see how finely it is ground. Go to the grocery store and grind a pound of your favorite roast to about the same grind. At my grocery store the second or the third finest setting works fine. You can use your own grinder but a good burr type grinder costs some money and the less expensive blade grinders are useless for espresso. Tamp it to about the same hardness as the pod was. It makes wonderful espresso with lots of crema on top. I've never had an issue with grounds or steam blowing out after I release the pot--even with the machine on and waiting just until the coffee stops dripping to detatch it. I don't see how you could go wrong, but some obviously do.
This one looks nice. It works well. Has a self-priming pump (a good feature that alot don't include). It comes with a tamper, a stainless-steel frothing cup, filter holders for pods, single, and double shots. It also includes 2 tolls to clean the little holes the espresso is pumped through. It comes with pretty much everything you would end up buying for it in the first year. I have a water softener so scale will never be a problem but you would want to descale it once in a while if you don't use distilled water. The only thing I wish it had was a dial thermometer so I could watch the water temp more closely. I believe that it has an aluminum boiler. I would prefer brass but you just can't get it at this price. The pump makes some noise but not more than any other I've used. Steam espresso machines are cheaper, much quieter but burn the coffee and it doesn't taste nearly as good.
Overall, very good product, easy to use and the best value by far at this price. |
Beautiful Machine, Perfect Espresso, Easy clean up
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| Review Date: February 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Robin G. Linn, Richardson, TX USA |
| I'd give 6 stars if possible. I've now had this Espresso machine for about 13 months and I can honestly say I've not had any problems with it at all. I use the fine grind espresso, tamping with a medium amount of pressure and have never had any issues with clogging or any other malfunctions at all. It makes wonderful espresso, does an amazing job of frothing milk-you use much less than you might think because it froths really good ;), and it is easy to clean up. It is also great for cappuccino and latte making. The top warms my cups up nicely when in use and provides great cup storage when not in use. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves a great espresso with minimal fuss. |
a well thought out and good product
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| Review Date: November 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. sopher, |
UPDATE June 24, 2010
I am not sure about this product even though it makes a good cup of coffee. I notice a small puddle of water underneath it everyday on my counter top! It collects on the grout between my tiles, which is not good. The puddle appears to come from a leak.
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After using Cuisinart EM-100 for a month I can say that it can make delicious coffee comparable to that bought in a coffee shop. I continue to be happy with the purchase, after using the espresso maker and getting to know it well.
* Ease of use
The espresso maker has many nice and useful touches. It is simple and fool proof to operate, which helps when making coffee when one is not fully awake. The controls allow one to continue or to stop pouring coffee, water, or steam when one wants to. A regular 8 ounce cup fits easily under the portafilter. Other nice touches are that the water tank can easily be removed or put back, and the drip tray can be slipped out easily and washed off. The length of the steam/hot water nozzle is suited to the frothing pitcher included in the purchase and is not really a problem in my experience. The espresso maker is fairly quiet.
It makes hot water and steam in an amazingly short time. I'd say in less than a minute; perhaps the solid 1000W specification has something to do with the internal boiler.
* Preparation and clean up
The preparation process for making espresso is very short: just pour water in the tank if there isn't enough left over from before, fill a clean portafilter with ground coffee and attach it in place, wait about a minute, turn the dial for coffee, and it pours out into the cup, presto!
Clean up is simple: the screen above the portafilter, the steamer nozzle and the portafilter need to be cleaned, all of which are easy to do.
* Coffee grind and clogging
All that is needed to make good coffee with the coffee maker, is to use the right grind of coffee, since everything else has been made simple to do. Some suggest that a burr grinder is required to grind the beans for superior coffee. It takes a short learning process to find the correct fineness of grind to make good coffee. I found that the finer the grind the tastier the coffee. A word of caution, as with any espresso maker, too fine a grind (Turkish grind, but not Espresso grind) will clog the basket for the portafilter and coffee will not pour out. I have now learned how fine to grind my coffee so that particles do not get through the holes of the strainer in the basket and get trapped inside its double wall.
When it is clogged, the pressure created by the pump can make it hard to remove the portafilter, but it must be removed in order to take steps to unclog it. This issue would be the same with any espresso maker. Instructions and a pin are sensibly provided. I was able to unclog the basket for the portafilter with the pin, so that one can make a mistake and recover from it.
It has not been my experience, as a couple of other reviewers have claimed, that you cannot tell when the pressure is more than usual, and coffee explodes as you remove the portafilter. If the portafilter is not clogged, it requires little effort to remove it, and there is no explosion or mess involved. However, if it is clogged, you will find from the outset that you need to use much more force, enough to tell the difference, due to the pressure created by the clog. When I removed a badly clogged portafilter, the coffee grounds stayed in the portafilter, and there was no mess to clean up. The high pressure that is naturally developed due to clogging makes it a problem to remove the portafilter. I once turned the machine off and waited for 15 minutes, and still found that the pressure was high. I haven't tried this, but if the water from the tank is emptied by passing it through the nozzle for example using the hot water setting, perhaps the pressure in the portafilter could be reduced enough to make it easier to remove a clogged portafilter.
* Tips on using hot water and steam for a hot cup of coffee
If one uses a cold cup and cold cream directly from the refrigerator, one's espresso will naturally not be as hot as one might want.
I use the hot water to heat up the cup first of all. I leave the hot water in to warm up the cup, until after I steam up the milk to heat it. I then move the dial to making espresso and proceed to pouring the coffee. Doing things in this order, heats up the boiler more and gets the water hotter.
A good froth can be made with steam, with the normal amount of noise caused by bubbling steam through cream, otherwise the unit if fairly quiet. I use the steam more to heat up the cream which is cold from the refrigerator, than for making a froth.
* Making more than one cup at a time
For making several cups of espresso in a row, the portafilter can be safely and easily removed as soon as one is made, so that you can go on to making the next one, and so on. The water tank is large enough for making several cups. The protafilter is naturally hot for a while after making a cup of coffee, so be aware of it while handling. |
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