List Price: $125.00
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Love Bialetti's new Hot Chocolate Maker!
I'm a big hot chocolate fan, and would have to say the best cocoa experience of my life was in Spain. The hot chocolate was much creamier and richer than anything I've tried here in the US. Not having a lot of time to stand over the stove and whisk milk and chocolate together, the time was right for me to get an electric Hot Chocolate Maker.
The benefits of this machine are that it can make just enough for myself or, when there's a crowd it make up to 32 ozs. You set the dial/timer to adjust how long you'd like to heat the cocoa (less time for smaller amounts, more for larger) and bam it's done. I really like that I don't need to stand over and watch the machine until its ready.
You can use regular cocoa powder mix or chocolate shavings/chips with this machine I highly recommend using the real deal. I've been using some Ghiradelli Drinking Chocolate which makes a more intense chocolate drink.
Overall the Bialetti Hot Chocolate Maker was easy to use, easy to clean and gave great results.
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I've been using this machine practically everyday (sometimes twice a day) for the last month. I use it mainly to make chai lattes in the mornings (to save money from going to SBucks). At night I sometimes use it for hot cocoa. The frother really does a great job and I get my lattes hot and steamed to perfection. I only gave it four stars because one day my latte ended up all over my counter and I still cannot figure out why (no cracks or anything). So I don't know if it was a malfunction or maybe the lid popped up for a few seconds when I wasn't looking. Bottom line: I would buy this exact machine again in a heart beat. At the price of my grande chai latte from SBucks (3.85), the machine has already paid for itself in the first month of use!Update 08/2010
Well I had to reduce the rating from 4 to 3 stars as I had to stop using this machine about two months ago due to a number of things:
*Inside mechanism stopped spinning and would take two or three (or more) tries of me taking the pitcher off the stand and re-spinning the timer for it to turn on.
*When it would work, I would have to run it twice on the max amount of time to get my chai latte's hot enough
*Started to stain/smell of rotten milk despite continued soakings and washings (never put in dishwasher)
*Leaked a black tar-ish goo from the top of the base--maybe due to melting; I don't know.
I'm not sure if I would buy another one. This one was great at first and then went downhill after much use.
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I recently got home from spending a good amount of time in Europe. I absolutely LOVE their drinking chocolate (I don't drink coffee) and decided to get a machine so I can still enjoy it here in the States.I spent a lot of time reviewing many different machines from $25 to $150. The lower end machines' reviews were poor more often than not ending with problems after 1-2 months. The higher end machines seemed to be just as good as this one. I decided on this machine and LOVE it! The mixing function actually leaves a little froth at the end of the cycle so I haven't needed to use the frother yet. It was trail and error with timing for the first few cups but after that I get a perfect drinking cocoa every time!
The machine is high quality construction and components. The heating mechanism is really even and accurate. The mixing mechanism is really efficient. All of these things together make for an incredible machine.
I am really amazed and pleased. I have already recommended this machine to some other friends who love hot cocoa as much as I do. The price might seem a little bit steep but for me it is worth every penny! Hope this helps........
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I've only had this for a month, but so far it is excellent. I love getting to try different variations of hot chocolate and milk "steamers". Just pour in the ingredients, turn the knob, walk away.The shaved chocolate is by far the best; been using Trader Joe's Belgian dark chocolate. It melts completely and tastes so good. Also good for whipping up cold drinks, like malted milk, etc.
Great for making a quick cup in the morning, and the top is easy to clean (not immersible though).
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It works, but the build quality is very poor. The parts fabrication appears to be of very low precision, meaning that nothing quite fits together the way it should. Here are the problems I had and what I did to fix them:The base does not sit level, it rests on 3 out of 4 legs and therefore wobbles. This actually seems to allow the mixture's side to side sloshing to build up momentum like a kid on a swingset, eventually pushing the lid up slightly and sloshing out of the container in a delicious chocolatey mess that you get to clean up. This is easily fixed by padding one of the rubber feet to level the base. I used a small circle of tape, about 10 layers thick, to pad the short foot. If you love tape, you'll love this feature.
The knob was clearly designed as part of an experiment to produce the most frictionless material known to mankind. They nearly succeeded. As other people pointed out, the knob is one ant-sized step above completely unusable. My fix for this was to wrap a rubber band around the knob and push it all the way to the base of the knob so it doesn't slide off. This is very noticeable and really goes well with all of my stainless steel kitchen appliances.
The unit is insanely noisy. I've heard blenders crush ice more quietly than this thing blends milk. The noise is caused by the liquid container not sitting level or firmly against the base. Again, poor manufacturing. Some part of the container rattles against some part of the base making an extremely loud racket. If you wiggle the container around while it is running you will find a position which makes it almost silent by comparison. I believe this is the position it was meant to rest in, but again the build quality is very poor. I remedied this by placing felt pad circles (the kind you put under furniture) on top of the base for the container to rest on. This raised the container up about 1/16th of an inch but it still makes electrical contact.
The top does not always seal well, but it is usually okay. I may eventually add an o-ring or bead of food-safe sealant around it to fix this.
After these DIY improvements, and considering the reviews I have read on other units, this actually does seem to be one of the better hot chocolate makers on the market. It is not dishwasher safe, which seems to be standard for these machines since the carafe contains a heating element, but it is fairly easy to wash out because the mouth is wide and it does not have any hard-to-reach areas.
Update: I ended up sending it back because after 1 week of heavy use and many washings I just could not get it all the way clean and it began to smell like peppermint and old milk. I think liquid is able to get into but not out of the junction between the heating surface and the rest of the plastic pitcher. Don't buy this piece of crap. Buy the Breville Milk Cafe instead, for details see my review of that.
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