Product Description
My wife and I like an occasional cappuccino but would have to drive 25 miles to a specialty coffee shop or 15 miles to McD's. We bought this machine on an impulse ($29.99). It did not take long to learn how to operate, including the frother. It turned out a decent Cappuccino and the frother worked very well after a little learning. The cord can be unwound to a medium lenth if needed, but we keep it short. Next is to try cafe mocha and hot choc.
We use it for cappucinos. excellent value, great taste.
my tips for cappucino: (mistakes in the manual).
1) use 1 heaped tablespoon per cup (ignore the manual).
2) tamp down the coffee using the flat bottom of a 1/4 cup measure - it fits snugly in. Do NOT use the back of the spoon they provide as it tamps and unevenly causing uneven dripping.
3) fill carafe with water to the top of the metal band for 2 cups.
4) Don't bother to use the steam spout - simply add milk to your cup and microwave it.
5) before you use it, fill the carafe with water and empty it in a cup to measure its volume. When the carafe breaks, you will have a backup.
When we first brought the ECM250 home, it had a very strong plastic smell, and brewed water that tasted like plastic. The design looked great, easy to use and keep clean, strong steam, and really looked like rather high quality for the very low cost.
At the onset, the kitchen smelled strongly of a chemical-plastic smell, and the brewed water tests, as well as the first few batches of espresso, were quite nasty and undrinkable.
On the other hand, an intelligent overall design and sturdy cast metal brewing chamber and steam generator looked too good to give up on. Since the heated water chamber and steam service is all metal, where was the plastic smell and taste coming from?
It turned out to be from the plastic pressure seals employed in two places - The top chamber screw-on cover, and the seal where the grounds-holder attaches. The top lid turned out to be the biggest offender. The soft and supple white plastic gasket smelled (and tasted) awful.
We went through some simple steps to eliminate the plastic smell. We packed the screw-on plastic water lid with wet baking soda and let it sit for 24 hours. We left that lid basking in the sun on our lanai for a day. We then soaked it in soapy water for a few days. After using the maker, we leave it exposed to air, rather than screwing in into an airtight position.
The net result is that this espresso maker has been producing excellent cappuccino and latte for about 4 weeks now - Some of the best I've ever tasted in my life. I would think coffee maker manufacturers would have solved this plastic problem by now, but this is not the first time that this has happened to us with a new coffee maker. In our experience, this plastic smell and taste problem has been true of both domestic and European manufacturers, covering a wide price range. It is well worth taking a week to eliminate it.
I've read complaints about loss of steam pressure. There are two possible explanations. You need to have additional water to steam the milk after brewing the espresso, and you have to clean the steam nozzle assembly after each and every session. The milk solids will build quickly on the nozzle assembly if you do not clean it religiously. This will be true of virtually all steamers. Remove the plastic steam enhancer/extender and clean it, as well as the stainless tubing and nozzle after each use. It only takes a minute, and also insures that your steam plumbing is quiet sanitary.
I add about 1/2" of extra water to the carafe for whatever serving size we are brewing - This allows enough water to steam up to 7oz of milk/cream to temperature with some reserve left over. When doing a full 4 shot pot, enough for two cappuccinos, I fill the carafe to the top of the metal band that attaches the handle. No problem with having enough steam!
A friend recently purchased a $1500 commercial espresso maker/steamer that automatically grinds the beans and packs the grounds into a patty, and is fully computerized. My $29 Mr. Coffee (with our great recipe!) produces a superior Latte or Cappuccino hands down. It took a week of eliminating the plastic outgassing, but it was well worth the effort.
This maker is easily worth 5 stars when broken in, but I downgraded it to 4 stars for the week lost while eliminating plastic odors. This is a great product at a ridiculously cheap price.
Our present favorite recipe:
(Two cups of latte)
Two full tablespoons of beans, fresh ground to an espresso powder just before brewing. Pre-ground coffee loses it impact a day or so after grinding, we've thrown away ground coffee that was less than a week old when comparing it to the newly ground coffee smell and flavor.
4oz of no fat skim milk combined with 2oz of half & half. It produces a latte-like cream, that foams more like "liquid whipped cream" than the much airier skim-milk only alternative.
Brew the espresso to the 4 shot mark on the carafe. Steam the milk mix to the desired temperature.
Add 1 teaspoon of sugar or equivalent to the cups. Fill each cup with 2 shots of espresso and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Pour the milk mixture equally into the two cups, holding back the foam with a teaspoon. Spoon the creamy foam onto the tops of each cup.
Squeeze about one tablespoon of honey into each cup - Do not stir - This is the "surprise" at the bottom of the Latte. People on sugar restricted diets can use the sugar-free honey available at Walgreens, for example.
Top with Saigon Cinnamon (killer stuff, available almost everywhere!) and serve.
I hope this has been of help, and I hope you enjoy the simple recipe.
Best Regards,
Ken
I had gotten the ECM250 Mr. Coffee Espresso/Cappuccino maker from my husband on Christmas '08'. Two months later, the unit exploded- the lid shot off the machine, like a bullet, just as I was about to turn it off. It was not behaving properly- steam everywhere, but no coffee was brewing. I reached over the unit with my right hand (the on/off knob is on the left), and it blew. Scalding steam and hot droplets of water shot at me from head to waist. Fortunately, I was wearing a couple layers of clothing that protected my skin for the most part. My arms and torso covered with my sweat jacket got the brunt of the scalding water. The hot steam nearly melted my right hand- blistered with 2nd degree burns and crispy chaffing as it healed. It was excruciating pain- I immediately immersed my hand in iced water and soaked for hours. It was awful! When the temperature of the freezing water rose, even just a little bit, the pain was more than I could bear. Thank God I had extra strength prescription pain medication from a previous condition- if not; I would have spent the evening in the ER. And the burn cream my husband purchased, over-the-counter, helped soothe the skin while the burns healed.
I am very fortunate that my little boy was nowhere near, when the machine blew. It would have been very tragic for his young tender skin to get burnt so severely by the scalding pressurized steam and liquid- it would have scarred him terribly. I know, because I was electrocuted as a child. Not only do I remember because of the nasty mark it left on my face, but for decades, I was emotionally scarred and feared electricity. My youngster loves to help out in the kitchen and he is there always by my side helping me prepare meals. His angle was preoccupying him with something else that evening- I am sure of that.
Regarding the tiny cord- that was a problem too. When the machine was steaming (just before it blew), it was blowing steamy liquid right into the empty socket that the unit was plugged into. Not only was I scalded from the pressurized steam that blew the top off when I reached over to turn it off and couldn't, I then had to reach behind the coffee maker, and yank on a short soaked power-cord, to sever the power. So, yanking on a 'too short' saturated cord, from the outlet that powered the coffee machine, that blew up in my face and burnt me... was freaking scary; Crazy!
Shop around people. And if your Mr. Coffee espresso/cappuccino maker ECM250 (or any other brand) is not working properly, DON'T USE IT! It appears like the life span of this inexpensive little coffee maker is around 3-4 months.
If your coffee maker is not working properly, do NOT put yourself (or anyone else) in danger, just for a nice cup of Joe. Or you could end up like me or worse, getting scalded and scarred from head to waist, with 2nd and 3rd degree burns.
I thought my experience with the espresso maker was important and should be shared- Use it with extreme precaution!!! Especially don't allow children to operate the device.
In addition, I wanted to find out if anyone else had a similar problem with theirs (as I see now, that there are problems with this maker)? I am investigating to see if there is potentially a design or manufacturing flaw in the ECM250 Model. I have made Mr. Coffee aware of my situation; however they claimed that they have no knowledge of any defects, recalls, or problems with the EMC250. They did replace my unit a couple weeks ago, but I'm very apprehensive about using it. It's still packaged, boxed by the front door. I want to be sure it is safe before I decide if I want to keep it... Nah, I think NOT.
P.S. For your viewing, I will uploaded a short video of the device malfunctioning. It is not so dramatic, like the incident that happened when the lid exploded off. But, you will see how the steam is escaping and it is not brewing espresso. If your unit is behaving like the one in the video, then please get away from it. Don't use it... that is not how it should operate. Let the company know how their product is malfunctioning, so if there is a defect, it can be properly recalled.
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R2K8ZGSUEEBLYT">Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2K8ZGSUEEBLYT</a> This is not my first espresso maker and trust me - this one beat those ones under $100! I introduced some tips and tricks in the video. Sorry it was spoken in Chinese but with subtitle. In case if you can't see the subtitle well, see HD version on Youtube by searching "ECM250". So, here are my tips in text:
- Always use distil water (forgot to mention in video).
- MUST use a coffee tamper! (see below for link)
- Wait for water to get real hot before inserting coffee.
- Clean nozzle RIGHT AWAY after steaming the milk.
- Always release the pressure after used by opening the nozzle.
Here is the Coffee Tamper I used in the video, it fit into the tray perfectly! >> Cuisipro Coffee Tamper Small
within the first week i used this, one plastic piece broke off this machine. now, another crucial plastic piece has broken off of the foaming arm - just 3 months later. i also agree with a previous reviewer - i had to run about 10 cycles of water through it to remove metal debris before i even made the initial cup of espresso. also note that the foaming arm is very short...
i do give it two stars, though, because it is so inexpensive that it did pay for itself within a week.
This thing makes great espresso BUT...wash it out many times before use. It took over ten vigorous rinsings of the pressure vessel to remove all of the METAL flakes and debris. Most everyone would do so of course but...some folks I know do quick rinse and press on...WRONG. Wash it good and then run it a few times with water only (no coffee)as well, then make coffee. Otherwise, no complaints. Works great and the price is right. Has a better switch (a weak point in all these makers) than our last $180 unit that failed after just a few months. Use filtered water in this maker and quit spending $$ every week at the coffee stand!
Let me begin by stating the obvious--this is a very cheap espresso machine and if you consider yourself an espresso aficionado, you shouldn't even be considering it; you should be looking at entry-level pump machines instead. I got this machine (the previous model really) as a hand-me-down from my brother in law and used it for three years, after he had had it for at least a year, and it's held up well, still works just fine.
A few tips for making a good cup:
--only put one cup of water in the water reservoir right before brewing. Since the machine is steam-powered, if you put more water the pressure gets too high and the coffee comes out too quickly, without much flavor.
--tamp well. The manual will expressly tell you not to do this, and you should ignore it. If you don't tamp, again, the water comes out too quickly and without any crema.
--use high-quality, well-ground beans. This is obvious, I know, but still.
If you follow these tips, you can produce a decent-tasting (not great) cup with a decent amount of crema. Be aware, it still won't taste like good espresso but it's the best you can hope for with something at this price.
I only used the frother a couple of times before giving up on it, I could never get it to froth well (it makes large bubbles, not microfoam) and it definitely does not warm up my milk (note, you should fill up the water reservoir before using the steam).
Bottom line: I can only recommend this if you are either really new to espresso or definitively want to stay within this price range (find it for under $50). I upgraded to a 15-bar pump machine as soon as I could afford one and the difference in the flavor it brought out from the dark roasted organic beans blend I use was absolutely astounding--it actually tasted like the real stuff I get every time I go to Europe (and the frother actually works)
Bought one of these last Christmas. Used it about 3-4 times per week at work. Fairly decent cup of espresso considering the price of the machine. After about 4 months it quit working properly and would just sit there and get real hot and give off steam but not brew the espresso. I figure I just had a bad machine so I bought an identical one. It worked about 5-6 months and did exactly as the first one. The quality of the capucinno was fine but the machine is cheap and doesn't last. I'm not buying a 3rd. I would've been better off to buy an expensive one to start with.
I, too, bought this at Wal-Mart for a lower price about a year ago. (Hint: Buy coffee and syrup from Starbucks if you want to replicate their recipes...is not more expensive than other brands) I have used this daily since then and it it still working fine. The handle on the metal filter thing is loose now, so I may be buying another just like it.
I only used this for iced lattes up to maybe two weeks ago, but now am using the steamer for steaming/frothing milk. I have had no problem getting the milk foamy. If you're making four shots, fill the water up to the top of the metal band. After the coffee brews, switch over to the frother and there is adequate steam to froth the milk. Lots of foam!
I'd like to find a reason to upgrade to a fancier model, but I can't think of one.
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About Mr. Coffee ECM250 MR. COFFEE Steam Espresso/Cappuccino Maker - Grey detail
- Amazon Sales Rank: #132747 in Kitchen & Housewares
- Brand: Mr. Coffee
- Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 50.00 pounds
Features
- Makes Gourmet Espresso, Cappuccino, Mocha and Lattes
- Powerful Milk Frother
- 4-Cup Capacity - 2 oz. per shot
- Easy to Pour Decanter; Measuring Scoop
- Removable Frothing Aid for Easy Cleaning; Convenient Cord Storage
Read more Mr. Coffee ECM250 MR. COFFEE Steam Espresso/Cappuccino Maker - Grey
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