KABOOM!!! I purchased this stovetop espresso maker because I was trying to get away from using the aluminum Bialetti pots that I have. I became worried about the aluminum leaching into my coffee after the pots became etched and pitted. Unfortunately until I found the Laroma there wasn't anything else around that was available in my area except for the aluminum Bialetti pot.I do like the weight of the Laroma and the comfortable molded handle. It is really easy to clean and diswasher safe the aluminum ones aren't. And you don't have to get out a potholder to save burning your fingers when you remove it from the heat. I don't think it makes as good of a drink as the Bialetti but it was worth the sacrifice to have a stainless pot.What I don't like about this pot well it originally was the price that bothered me. $60 whereas the Bialetti pots are only $2529. Ikea has a stainless pot that is very similar to the Laroma. I didn't pick it up to compare when I was there last because I had already bought the Laroma. But I can tell you it was stainless and considerably less expensive at the time it was $19 vs the $60 I spent. The lid on this particular pot I feel is a bit flimsy too but that isn't a real big issue. However my MAIN problem with this pot is the safety factor. When I bought it I noticed that the threads that connect the water chamber to the top pitcher aren't very substantial. The grooves on the threading aren't very deep and are gently rounded. This worried me because I wondered how the 2 pieces would stay connected under the high internal pressure.
great! I've owned a few stovetop espresso makers over the years and this is my favorite so far cool comfortable rubber handles the stainless steel will not corrode over time like another one I bought which was beautiful but made of brass and eventually rusted. Looks handsome works properly and is easy to clean. Also doesn't use an internal rubber seal like the others I've had which is great because a rubber seal can become a mess and I had one melt on me. I guess this one is precisionmade well enough that it doesn't require one because it works perfectly with no mess or splattering.I didn't have the explosion experience that other commenter mentioned if that happened very likely you need to poke a pin through the steam escape valve in the bottom canister or run the device with just water to clean it out. If that bottom valve is blocked it'll make a mess of any stovetop maker. You may also just have a faulty item.Full disclosure I only paid $20 for this at Macy's they have some great deals in the basement especially over the holidays but I would pay $50 for it. At that price I might start looking at espresso/cappuccino machines instead but for a stovetop maker this one hits the bullseye.
What is that STINKY coating?! I scored this beauty at Macy's for twentynine bucks on a preChristmas sale. I was really thrilled and willing to take all precautions to avoid explosions. BUT when I got it home I found that the stainless innards of the pots are coated with something grayish that stinks to high heaven! I'm taking it back no way am I drinking some potentially toxic plastic? epoxy? teflon? with every cuppa. Epoxy is 50% BisphenylA BpAafter all and if it is teflon then why does it stink? Who knows WHAT that coating is?!! Besides disgusting. After combing reviews of these stovetop espresso pots for literally weeks I found one mentioning that a Veg Vivano sp?beautiful espresso pot also has a coating. Too Bad I love the way they look.*Does anyone know of a stainless stovetop espresso maker that does NOT have a coating?? Please post here I am tracking comments. Hoping to find something by Valentine's day.Laroma gets less than ZERO STARS from me for wrecking good stainless steel with nasty undisclosed coating wasting my time and busting my hopes.
LaRoma is great I've had this maker for two years got it as a gift. It does blowup occassionally and spill over but that's due to a lack of cleaning and maintaining that any devise like this would require after several uses. Having once been a part of commertial customer service I can tell you that the 10% of times this will fail is the 90% it was not cared for. Other than that this makes an excellent coffee depending upon the coffee used and a patient and attentive rate of heating it. I have NEVER tasted anything like a plastic coating leaching into this coffee and I was way ahead early 1980's and still promote it todayof the johnnycomelatelys to banishment of plastics in contact with my or my childrens food and drink. So the claim here is unfounded and unless proved with some other evidence than what is provided I ignore it or chaulk it up to bad cofee grounds and part of their packaging going into the making. Make a responsible call to the manufacturer first before slandering their device.
Weak coffee This stovetop espresso maker makes horrible coffee. The canister within which holds the coffee grounds is too small and so the coffee comes out with little taste.
Solid and simple I was actually testing out a new french press to day just to compare its flavor to this laroma percolator.It was a little shocking that people have had this blow up but I have never had any problems with it. I don't have problems with pressure cookers either. Follow the directions and you will be fine.This might be 6 cups of expresso but it makes between 1012 OZ of regular coffee. With any perculator you need to have a coarse grind on the beans so that you dont have sediment in the coffee. If you read the instructions you are supposed to fill the water BELOW the pressure release valve viewable on the pictureits on the side or yeah you might have problems. sometimes I do and sometimes I dont because i'm trying to pull out every oz of coffee out of it. This also uses the amount of coffee very efficiently so this one hitter uses a little under 4 tablespoons of coffee grinds for a cup.As to any coating or plastic film on it I saw none perhaps it was a demo model they then sold. I got this as a gift and have used it every day for the past 2 years.
Attractive inexpensive copetent coffee Very basic coffee maker that quietly and competently brews a cup of dense flavorful coffee. The stainless sieves have pretty wide bore holes so there is a moderate amount of grounds shot into the coffee. Where they rate this as 6 cup is beyond me as the total volume resulting from a full fill is about 2 oz. Still playing with the grind to figure out the best granularity for this thing. Operation is quiet although the base is so narrow that the unit is best placed toward one edge of a small electric range burner but brews nicely quickly and silently at low to moderate burner setting. Easy to disassemble for cleaning.
A passable coffee maker if you don't mind the occasional explosion This moka pot has a bit of an uneven temperament. Ninetyeight times out of a hundred it'll brew up a very nice espressolike coffee but every so often it will um explode. My wife bought this for me as an upgrade to my Bialetti and I'm beginning to suspect she had an ulterior motive.
Read more...
