Which Coffee Maker - Integrated or stand alone

Mummy_Jo

Hi all,

I'm really hoping you can offer me some much needed advice. We've just moved house :jand have a much bigger kitchen:jso now I can fnally purchase a coffee machine:beer:
So... I've done a bit of digging as to the different types and I have realised that my priorities are ease of use as opposed to getting the best coffee that I could ever make - I can't be doing with faffing around in the morning when I've got the kids to get out to school.... We have space for an integrated one and I've got my eye on ones on ebay but also have a lot of worktop too so we could take a free standing one

If its really worth it I will spend a lot more money but at the end of the day I just want a really nice cup of coffee at home. I drink black Americano and my husband has the occassional Cappuccino. Any suggestions on which types we should veer towards would be great... Bean to cup, Semi Auto, Full Auto, Pod, Bag.... you name it I've looked at them and I'm about to give up as its too overwhelming!

Very confused in our new home in Warwickshire

Leif

I use a stove top espresso maker, though I suspect you would consider it too much faffing around. It is cheap, easy to use, and makes good coffee. Be careful of Italian made ones, the build quality is often poor. Where I work some Italians bought one of those Nespresso things, so the coffee can't be bad.

StuC75

would recommend worktop one, that way easier to put away in 6months time when novelty worn off and its not used...

lil.smartie

We have an IKEA built in one & I love it. I use ESE pods so no faffing or mess!

Kate

rustyboy21

The price you can pay for an integrated one, could be spent on a good quality design led one, which will add a statement to your kitchen.

I have a seperate one and at first it was getting used 3-4 times a day. Then I got out of using it ( through laziness) and it is now residing on top of the american fridge freezer !

If you haven't planned it already into your design, could you use the space for an integrated coffee machine for an integrated microwave instead. Saw a great design of cooker/micro set up in a shop the other day.

http://www.stoves.co.uk/built-in-ovens/double/seb900fpsmw/

mildred1978

StuC75 wrote: »

would recommend worktop one, that way easier to put away in 6months time when novelty worn off and its not used...

We have a standalone bean to cup machine which has been used at least twice a day for the last 8 years!!

bazzyb

General rule of thumb is that the better tasting coffee you want, the more faff and mess is involved.

I find Nespresso is a good option - pretty good coffee (not the best, but still rather good) and relatively mess-free and simple to use.

I_luv_cats

I have an easy to use Krups (Dolce Gusto) Piccolo Pod Machine. I use this machine every day, mainly for Lattes but occasionally for Lungo, Cappuccino, Peach Tea and Chococino.

I also have a Hinari Cappuccino maker which I use now n again with filter coffee. (Lavazza coffee is the best) I froth up the milk with the attached nozzle. I prefer Cappuccinos from this machine though a bit of hassle.

I also have a cafetiere.

twohooter_2

I love my coffee and over the years have owned or used most of the machines/systems available (although granted not a built in one). My system of choice for the last 6 years has been a Dolce Gusto machine that uses pods. A wide variety of pods are available and the system is quick, clean and easy. I tend to buy the espresso pods and add my own milk heated in the microwave to make a latte - very good the coffee tastes too (I have perfected the ratios and can now make a coffee to rival Starbucks!). One of these machines can be purchased for about £100. This would be my suggestion. It is always tempting to have fancy built in gadgets when planning a new kitchen (I have steered myself away from many over the years) but they come at a price and unless you are absolutely sure you will use a built in coffee machine regularly over a numbers of years and are prepared to pay for repairs etc should it break down then maybe a freestanding counter top one is a better bet. I hasten to add that I would always go with a pod machine over beans/grounds as pods tend to have a long shelf life, make one coffee at a time and are mess and fuss free. Hope this helps

abankerbutnotafatcat

Personally, I could not justify the cost of an integrated one, fantastic though they look, although the Ikea one mentioned may be cheaper (I didn't know they did one!!) as their appliances are very good value.

We have a 13 year old Francis Francis that touch wood is still producing excellent results but I believe (from reading reviews) that quality has gone down and when it finally dies we will probably replace it with something less pretty.

I note you live in Warwickshire, if you're in Birmingham and if Selfridges in Birmingham is anything like the one in London, they have a large display of [predominantly higher end] machines many of which are connected for demonstration purposes and very knowledgeable staff who can talk you through the various features.

I bought my mum a delonghi ESE pod machine for christmas (her choice). It was about £80 (Argos) and had excellent reviews and she's very happy with it.

Arfa__

I've never liked the idea of pods due to waste packaging etc, cost to buy in. Been put off the nesspresso things, because they're Nestle.

We use a Rancilio Silvia, a basic, but decent quality coffee machine. Makes great espresso and Cappuccino. Little bit of faff, but not too bad (turn it on, spoon coffee in, tamper down, press go - espresso done!) It's built like a tank and universally recommended on all the uber coffee geek websites. No electronic gizmo's or other such fragile nonsense that'll die in a year or two. Good solid stainless steel throughout (not just some outer trim), top notch boiler, big old school chunky switches. Ours is 4 years old and looks/runs like new.

Downsides: if you've got half dozen mates round and they all want Espresso/Cappuccino's after dinner, it'll take you a while to knock them all out. But then, the machine's so funky you end up nattering about it and showing them how its done, whilst they're waiting.