GourmetEngPerth

Good Buy – I bought this Aldi special on its day of release on 26 Jan 2019. It was a replacement for a Bluetooth connected scale (Blue Anatomy) which had always had problems and now the…

supplier seems to have folded.

My requirement was a smartphone connected scale to enable easy recording and tracking of body weight as an incentive for weight reduction. Accuracy, repeatability and ease of use were my main requirements.

You need to download an app from either Google or Apple to enable the scale to record and analyse. If used as a straight scale it only displays the weight directly on its own screen and it is not recorded.

The connection to the smartphone is excellent - it's not via Bluetooth which is often flaky to use and setup. This device uses WiFi direct which connects automatically and instantly every time you step on the scale and the phone is nearby with the app running.

There is no obvious automatic calibration either which is a bit of a worry. Most electronic scales need to be started up via a tap and then they set their zero level before you can step on and weigh yourself. With these scales you step straight on and wait for about 4 secs during which the weight is settled and the electrical measuring current is sent through your bare feet, the various body analysis parameters are calculated and then sent to the smartphone.

Readout of the analysis parameters is only via the smartphone. Only weight is displayed directly on the scales own screen.

I compared the weight with that measured by my older WeightWatchers scales over a week. The Aldi consistently indicated about 0.7 kg higher and the variability between the 2 readings was between 0.6 to 0.8 kg. I considered this to be very good for a sub $50 scale. Note that I could not discern which was the more accurate without using special calibrated test weights so this was strictly a comparison.

There are 16 other parameters it purports to measure and record including BMI, % fat etc etc. I'm not sure how accurate these readings are and there's no way for me to test them. However they can all be referenced in a database kept in your phone and all are trendable. The app is quite good although it doesn't allow you to exo[prt any of the data for say other analysis or graphing functions.

I rate this scale as very good value for money. very easy to use and seemingly accurate in the weight measurements.

I've only had it for 1 week so reliability has not been assessed yet.

My First Serious Model – I had used capsule coffee machines in the house for years. Then I bought a cheap Aldi espresso machine to allow me to experiment with coffee grounds of my choosing to see if it…

was worthwhile. I soon got hooked on locally roasted beans and when this Breville Infuser manual espresso machine was listed on sale I jumped at it.

The major improvements over the Aldi for me were:

1) It looks like a professional machine with a mostly stainless steel and aluminium exterior.

2) It has 2 programmable shot times for either a pure espresso or a longer black (the Aldi was purely manual so you had to watch the shot level rising and stop pumping at the correct time. You couldn't walk away.)

3) It has PID temperature control on the water heater thus ensuring accurate and consistent temperature for infusion of the coffee grounds. This is a must if you want the best flavour from your choice of bean.

4) It came with a variety of 4 different baskets and a good sized handle.

5) It claims to have 2 actions - a short presoak of the grounds before climbing up to full pressure for the remainder of the shot. Sounds good in theory so even the first drops should be full strength.

6) Delivers a decent supply of frothing steam with a well designed injection wand (compared with the Aldi)

7) Has enough height for a full sized mug under the basket (the Aldi didn't)

I've been using the machine for over 4 months now and I'm very happy with the coffee. It delivers the same shot of hot crema every time.

I used the milk frother only a few times to see if it worked. I have since stuck with my separate Breville Milk Cafe automatic frother because it does a good job, it's automatic and easier to clean hygienically.

Cleaning of the coffee machine is also quite easy although I haven't had to descale the interior yet - it has a warning light for when that's due.

Highly recommended - I don't aspire to anything more expensive at this stage as I'm happy to grind the beans manually as and when required.

A Very Good Iron With Some Flaws – 1.0 SUMMARY Overall the Tefal model FV5648 iron is a nicely featured iron which performs very well in the ironing department but which has a few drawbacks. It’s useful features…

include the ability to use plain tap water and the supply of ample amounts of steam when required for ironing heavy cotton. Other good features are auto-off for safety and a swiveling power cord entry.

The negative points I found were that it’s relatively heavy, has a short power cord and it comes with a difficult to decipher user manual.

If considering this iron, check out the weight of a display model in the shop and compare it with others, remembering that an extra 300 gms is added when full of water.

It has some easy maintenance routines which need to be done on time to keep it working free of drips and dirty stains.

2.0 FEATURES

The listed features of the Tefal model FV5648 iron along with my comments are:

2400 Watts - this is the maximum for a 10 Amp power outlet and ensures rapid heat-up and continuing supply of steam under heavy use.

Auto Off 30 sec (horizontal) and 8 min (vertical) - good safety features which all irons should have.

Anti-drip - it didn’t drip during the review period.

Auto steam - not sure what this means.

300 ml water tank - when on high steam this tank empties in about 20 min of ironing.

High flow steam boost - there is certainly more than enough steam available.

Vertical steaming - able to steam hanging items.

Repairable product - it is implied that the iron is not built to be throw-away but that most faults are repairable. This was not verified by me in the review. I doubt that it is financially viable to send for external repair a $140 item.

High glide with a smooth slippery sole plate - it didn’t seem particularly slippery compared with other irons with for example a teflon sole.

Uses standard domestic supply water - a welcome feature but requires regular maintenance to continue to work.

3.0 USER MANUAL

The user manual supplied was a 6-page folded pamphlet catering for 34 languages. Thus all instructions were in the form of small illustrations showing each step to be followed with virtually no wording.

The illustrations were quite small and in pastel shades so it was difficult to see and understand the detail.

Furthermore, with no written title for each group of illustrations, it was difficult to decipher what function each group was intended to convey, much less follow the steps easily.

Only on the U.K. Tefal website did I locate a downloadable user manual with written instructions and this made it much easier to follow the user and maintenance instructions.

I rate the supplied user manual as very poor. As a result I would think that the important cleaning instructions may not be carried out correctly by some users leading to serious scaling and blockage of the steam tubes and/or staining of clothes.

4.0 STARTING UP

Filling with water is carried out by holding the iron at an angle with one hand while the water is poured in with the other hand. During this operation the actual water level is difficult to see through the blue plastic reservoir, especially as it nears the maximum mark where the window tapers down to be quite narrow. I invariably overfilled the iron for this reason. The iron should not be powered on during this procedure. The manual indicates it should be unplugged although this may be because it’s written for many countries where there is no switch at the outlet.

There is no power-on light.

The one and only indicator light is large, red and glows steadily only when the element is heating. Before starting to iron, you wait until this light goes off thus indicating working temperature has been reached. The same light flashes when the auto off feature is about to turn heating off. This occurs after the iron has been in the vertical parked position for 8 minutes, or in the horizontal ironing position for 30 seconds.

Thus during normal operation and on standby but still hot, there is no light at all.

I would prefer another indicator light to indicate that the iron has power connected.

5.0 USE

The power cord is only 1.8 m which is too short. You will probably need an extension cord.

The weight with water is 1.7 kg which makes it a relatively heavy iron especially if you have small wrists.

Ironing of all items tested was very good after the correct settings for heat and steam were made to suit the fabric. You need to know what these should be in advance because there is no help from the user manual.

Ironing of cotton, even heavy cotton was easy because of the abundance of steam flow. It never ran out of steam, garment after garment, until the actual water tank was emptied.

When the pump action spray of water is needed I found it hard to press the pump on top of the handle without simultaneously squeezing the shot of steam button under the handle. Poor ergonomic design.

The sole seemed to move smoothly over all fabrics.

Adjusting the heat level on the typical rotating dial under the handle was not so easy with quite small labelling of the settings and some labels shielded by the handle. You would need to learn these over time.

I found the swivelling power cord entry to be excellent in allowing the iron to be either stood up or used flat without the cord affecting the operation.

6.0 MAINTENANCE

There are three recommended maintenance jobs, all associated with the use of ordinary tap water and the buildup of scale in the hot water and steam sections.

All three are easy to perform once learned - I would recommend downloading the written manual from the UK website.

Clean the Anti-scale valve by removing and soaking it in lemon juice.(monthly).

Clean the Calc (scale) collector by removing it and washing under a water tap.(4-monthly).

Descale the steam chamber by heating to maximum and then shaking it over a sink (4-monthly).

Maybe this is the One? – I've been through a few of the common milk frothers (eg Caffitaly and Aldi) which produce lightly frothed and heated milk for one latte at a time using the low froth stirrer…

provided. The fault with their high froth cappuccino stirrer is that it can produce froth but the chamber is too small to contain any quantity and the froth creeps up the side and overflows. They are also direct drive thus relying on a rotating shaft seal to not fail.

I finally upgraded to this Breville BMF600 at a significant cost increase (3 x Aldi price) and it is performing well. It has a huge capacity and it can make a mixture of stiff froth on top of heated aerated milk for 2 or 3 cups - perfect for cappuccinos and lattes. It has variable temperature control. It is driven inductively/magnetically so there is no shaft seal to fail. It has the appearance of good solid engineering design and even has an internal fan to cool the motor and which runs for a while after motor rotation has automatically stopped.

From other negative comments here it seemingly has some sort of sensor which detects moisture near the drive and which stops the machine from working to protect itself. I haven't yet suffered the dreaded "3 beeps" failure so cannot comment. I will certainly update this if and when it occurs.

UPDATE - Sep 2018

After 8 months of use it's still going strong with no sign of the reported "3 beeps" failure mode. Also after much experimentation I have determined that it will produce a prodigious amount of froth and airy milk by using the low froth stirrer AND long life full cream lactose free milk from a carton which has been open for at least a day (in the fridge). Results are indistinguishable from pro steamed milk. Normal long life milk is OK but lactose free is significantly better. Having it open for at least a day makes a big difference.

Excellent Value - 3 WEEK UPDATE – SEE UPDATE BELOW >>> I received my EM0440 as a gift but I had specified this model after first reviewing the market myself. I have been using it for 3 days now and the only…

surprises have been good.

Based on other reviews I anticipated an overly coarse grind and was prepared to go through the steps others have stated, namely disassembly and shimming the burr. So I set my first grind on the finest setting (1) and the machine wouldn't even feed the beans through. I raised it to (3) and the grinding proceeded slowly with what was a very fine product. When I tried it in the espresso machine nothing came out - it was so fine that the filter was effectively blocked. I did another grind at setting (10) and the grinding was much faster and the espresso machine produced very good coffee with a good percentage of crema.

I then read the grinder manual and found that their lowest recommended setting for espresso was (12). I have continued using the grinder now set at (15) and the grind proceeds rapidly and the espresso shot is good. So my fears about a coarse grind were wrong - this machine can produce a full range of grinds from Turkish to espresso and upwards straight out of the box.

Overall this machine is a worthwhile (and necessary) step up from pre-ground coffee and in fact for me it is less messy. It's so easy to plug in the portafilter which starts the grinding and rapidly fills the basket. A couple of taps and a further grind overfills the basket which can then be tamped, wiped clean (over the sink) and assembled for use with no mess to clean up.

I expect to experiment with different coffee beans and grinds for a while until my lattes are consistently good.

At this price ($99) I didn't expect much but I have been pleasantly surprised.

I rated it 5 stars with respect to the price - obviously there are much more expensive machines which should last longer and may keep a more consistent grind but for a single user and 2 cups a day this machine is excellent value.

>>>> 3 WEEK UPDATE <<<<<

A note on the grind size. It seems that the grinding burrs have slowly bedded in. I have had to gradually change the setting from an initial 15 down to currently 5. The grind is now somewhat finer and more uniform and seems to be just right for an optimum flow rate from my espresso machine. i.e. neither too fast nor too slow as judged by the density of crema delivered.

Still going well.....