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DeLonghi KG49 Coffee Grinder
by chrisheels
As a coffee addict this is a further addition to my ever expanding range of coffee making apparatus that is slowly taking over my kitchen.
--The grinder---
The grinder consists of a base unit which contains the motor and adjustment switches and a clear upper unit which contains the blades and coffee bean container. Is is ... operated by filling the clear plastic part with coffee beans, clicking into position and pressing down to activate.
The deLongi coffee grinder grinds beans from bean shape to a fine coffee powder for use in espresso machines, cafetieres or as my girlfriend has introduced me too, just putting ground coffee in a cup and letting it settle. Settling the coffee is apparently the Lithuanian style (although maybe just the lazy way it seems to work).
The grinder claims to grind enough beans for up to 12 cups which seems to be approximatley right using an espresso machine but slightly less than 12 when used in a caffettiere.
The powder produced is quite fine and there are minimal lumps. If there are lumps a few more seconds of grinding does remove them.
The container of the beans can be removed which is ideal for cleaning and moving the coffee about rather than having to spoon it out directly from the machine.
---Features---
Non slip pads on the base mean that it doesn't move around ata ll when grinding are are a wel l thought out addition.
A reel on the base means that you can let out as much of the wire to the plug as required and removes unsightly wires from cluttering the kitchen.
An adjustment ring around the base section is used to select the amount of beans that you wish to grind. This mostly affects how fine you want your powdered coffee to be. The finer the better in my opinion, so after setting this when i bought the item I have never moved it.
A brush is included. I don't really see the point of this as most of the powder can be removed by tipping the main container on it's side and it needs running under the tap to get it really clean.
---Issues---
I have a few issues with the grinder, but overall am very happy with it and they don;t detract from me rating it highly.
Firstly, the container could be better sealed so that you could leave unused coffee inside without it going stale. Maybe tricky to produce but would be a huge avantage in my opinion.
Secondly, it's quite hard to get the container into position. If it's not clicked in properly it will not switch on. Whilst this is a good safety feature it could be made a bit easier.
Lastly, the grinder requires quite a hard push on the top to get it to grind. This might be hard for some people and could be made easier.
--Quality and build---
The grinder is a bit larger than other grinders around measuring about 8" tall, however this gives it a sturdy and well built feel. Its a bit noisy but no worse than any other grinder. The plastic is well built and the switches operate easily.
-----Price----
The DeLongi grinder sells currently for £30.74 on amazon. I bought it from Argos for £24.99, so a good idea to shop around for a bargin.
---Summary---
A well built good quality coffee grinder that makes great coffee. A few improvements could be made but they don't make the product a bad one. 5 stars as depite the issues I still really like the product.
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DeLonghi ICK6000
by julwhite
This review is of the DeLonghi Il Gelataio ICK6000 ice cream maker, allowing you to make ice cream in just thirty minutes, ideal for the several days of sunny weather that can be expected this year.
I didn't actually buy this, just initially borrowed it to try from a friend who used it once, and then finding it worked quite ... well, have now acquired it permanently. I don't have a wide experience of ice cream makers, so I can't easily compare to other machines.
Although I'm not entirely sure on how ice cream makers work generally, I understand that there are some where you need to freeze the bowl before making the ice cream, and some which have an in-built freezer which do this for you. This particular model does the latter, which is what I understand makes it more expensive.
In terms of ease of use, I found this a really easy machine to actually make ice cream. Everything is done by the machine, so after placing the required ingredients in, start it off, and ice cream is ready in around half an hour. What ingredients to use and their quantities are detailed in the book, just a mixture of milk, sugar, egg yolks and cream, although this can of course be varied to suit.
The unit can make just over a litre of ice cream, which I find sufficient, but for those that want a larger quantity, they'd of course have to set it off again after it's finished. For larger families, some planning therefore might have to go into how much ice cream is needed, but at least of course it's a product which can be easily frozen to use another time.
The unit is surprisingly quite heavy to lift although this does however also make the ice cream maker feel quite robust, and I've used it without any technical problems over the last year, so I feel that it will be quite reliable.
I do find that the machine is excessively noisy, I'm not sure exactly how much noise ice cream makers are meant to make, but this is a constant noise which is louder than I had expected. This isn't necessarily a problem as it can just be left in the kitchen, but I do find the noise it makes more noticeable than I had expected.
Getting the ice cream out of the unit I find quite difficult, and it's not clear whether there's a more efficient way of doing it. As the unit inevitably becomes very cold when the ice cream is made, this does tend to freeze up the parts, and holding the bowl to remove the ice cream requires covering your hands to avoid the cold.
Taste-wise, I think the ice cream that it produces tastes superb, no little ice crystals, just really fresh tasting ice cream. It's also great to know exactly what went into the ice cream, and to be able to add any extra ingredients that you want to. The texture of the ice cream feels quite smooth, and I've had no problems with lumps or areas of the ice cream which don't quite taste right.
Difficult as it is to see the ice cream ready and not start eating it, I do find that it's best to freeze it for another 20 minutes or so, otherwise it is a little too soft for my taste, and I prefer to properly frozen. But again of course, tastes will vary, and it's fun to experiment!
In terms of cleaning, I found that the unit was easy to clean. The outside of the unit does need to be wiped down regularly, and the inner parts of the machine can be taken out quite easily to wash. I noted that the parts can be washed in a dishwasher, although I find that hand-washing them is easier for me.
One of the advantages of having an ice cream maker is that you do have extra choice in what flavours and the like you want to try, and a small colour book of suggestions comes with the machine, which is a useful starting point to try some different ingredients.
One of these machines is certainly fun for families, with the kids being able to choose what flavours to make and what extra items to add. It is a lot of money to pay for a machine, so users do have to get a lot of usage to justify the cost, otherwise it'd be cheaper just to buy the ice cream from a supermarket.
The machine retails for 269.99 pounds, but at the moment is available on Amazon for 212.99 pounds including free delivery. I understand that this machine was bought from John Lewis initially for about 250 pounds.
Overall, I found that this machine did the job well, although was a little noisy and sometimes cumbersome. As I have this machine on permanent loan from a friend who decided not to use it, I do use it every few weeks but it is of course a lot of money to spend. However, this is more convenient and fun and gives extra flexibility on ingredients, and if you think you'll get a lot of use out of it, I'd recommend it.
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