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The main issue is that it’s actually fairly difficult to brew a good coffee with a Moka machine. If the stove is too hot, all the water will go through the coff
by d--b 3y ago
The main issue is that it’s actually fairly difficult to brew a good coffee with a Moka machine. If the stove is too hot, all the water will go through the coffee and then the whole thing will boil and spurt, and the coffee will be terrible. If the stove is too low, not all the water will go up and you’ll end up with not much coffee. And you have to stay close to be sure to not screw it up, which is annoying cause it takes a few minutes to boil.
It’s also annoying to clean, and you need to cool it down before making a second pot. If you cool it down too fast, you’ll create a vacuum, and you won’t be able to unscrew the thing.
I am not sure it works on induction stoves, and on gas stoves, you often have to add a little steel thing to hold the pot in place.
It was a smart and cute little device when it was invented, but let’s be honest, it’s highly inconvenient, and it’s not making a particularly good coffee either.
To me, it’s not the coffee snubs that should be shamed, it’s the people holding on to a less-than-ideal device, just for the sake of nostalgia.
- bondarchuk 3y agoSome of the best coffee I've ever had was from my moka pot. Now this is only 1 in a 100, but it's those few lucky brews that keep you coming back.
- throwaway290 3y agoIt doesn't work on induction stoves but induction stove converters are sold...
- imzadi 3y agoBialette has a stainless steel version that does work on induction without the plate
- throwaway290 3y agoWhere do they make them? Bialetti's aluminum moka is labeled as made in Italy but their steel induction plates are labeled as made in China
- imzadi 3y agoThere are different versions and some are made in Italy and some are made in China. The one I have is the same shape as the traditional moka pot and has a black base. It's made in Italy. There is one that has a more modern shape, and I know those are made in China. If seen other variations in color and shape, but I can't speak to those. You just have to double check the box or description. If I'm on Amazon, I go to the question section and search for the word "made" to see if anyone has mentioned where it is made.
- throwaway290 3y agoSo the black base one is steel and made in Italy? Cool, gotta check that out.
- imzadi 3y agoI just double checked and it is actually silver base, black top. It's called a "Bialetti - Moka Induction, Moka Pot"
- gpderetta 3y ago> It was a smart and cute little device when it was invented, but let’s be honest, it’s highly inconvenient, It is lower maintenance than an espresso machine and cheaper to replace. Good if you just want an espresso-sized caffeine fix. > and it’s not making a particularly good coffee either. On that I can agree :), but it is passable.
- tylershuster 3y agoIt's our camping coffee maker, and it's perfect for that. Tried to use it otherwise and you're right, there are much better devices these days.
- z3dd 3y agoIf you want an upgrade check 9barista. Same form-factor as bialetti but it makes an actual espresso with right temperature and pressure. And it even comes with an adapter plate for gas burner.
- CoffeeOnWrite 3y agoI also use a moka only when camping (French press and espresso machine at home). Why it’s great for camping: 1. Indestructible 2. Cheaply found at a garage sale (no worries if it gets lost in a pile of camping gear) 3. Takes up less volume than a French press 4. When camping, everything tastes better. Even “ok” coffee is a luxury All this to say: a $500 device is a tough sell for camping
- paxys 3y agoAll this effort and then you get coffee that tastes like ash. No thanks.
- oldandboring 3y agoCame to say this.
- swalling 3y agoThe biggest knock against the Moka is that a simple pour over filter is far easier to use, clean, and maintain while also making dramatically better coffee. When it comes to both style and function, it's hard to beat a Chemex. Ubiquitous enough you can buy it in Whole Foods, and so well designed it's in the permanent collection at MoMA. If $50 is too pricey or you don't want to use glass, you can get a Melitta-style drip cone for less than $10.
- InSteady 3y agoMoka pot is more finnicky by far, but it also tastes way better than pour over (including Chemex) to me. I know all the tips to make good pour over. It even beats a crappy ($200-300 range) espresso machine, or at least the one I had. It's only when you get into the many hundreds of dollar range that espresso machines start to beat the pants off of a moka pot for flavor. But pour over is far more fool proof. A bad pour over tastes much better than a bad moke pot brew, plus it's easier to not mess up in the first place.
- swalling 3y agoYeah if what you want is espresso, then a pour over setup is not going to make what you want. Technically a Moka doesn't make espresso either though. The pressure is not the same.
- srid 3y ago> It’s also annoying to clean, and you need to cool it down before making a second pot. If you cool it down too fast, you’ll create a vacuum, and you won’t be able to unscrew the thing. I've always rinsed my moka pot immediately in cold tap water and had no issues unscrewing it during the rinse. One of these days I do want to get a Alessi 9090 moka pot because there is no unscrewing to begin with.
- xinayder 3y ago> It was a smart and cute little device when it was invented, but let’s be honest, it’s highly inconvenient, and it’s not making a particularly good coffee either. Sorry, but how much more inconvenient is it to clean the Moka compared to Nespresso or regular espresso machines? Their cleanup process is so much more complicated and requires much more time than just rinsing the Moka in water and removing any residual coffee grounds on the pot. > It’s also annoying to clean, and you need to cool it down before making a second pot. If you cool it down too fast, you’ll create a vacuum, and you won’t be able to unscrew the thing. That's why you should buy bigger pots. In theory, a standard sized Moka pot can make 6 cups of espresso. I had my family over and we had Moka coffee every day, with a standard sized Moka pot we could make just enough coffee for 3 people in a single brew. I do agree that it can be tricky to get the right coffee good for your taste, but then it depends on your laziness to do the coffee. If you don't want any work at all, just buy a Nespresso, or a smart coffee machine so that you can brew your coffee from your phone.
- tedmiston 3y agoPreheating the water in a kettle mitigates the temperature concerns and variability mentioned in your first paragraph. For the Moka pot itself, medium heat on a stove is a good place to start, but you can easily fine tune that based on what the flow looks like after one brew.