Bialetti Venus Induction 'R' Stovetop Coffee Maker (10 Cup)

Edit - 26th March, 2018. I bought a new 4 cup by another brand and am pleased with it. This one I am now using to make tea. I use one heaped teaspoon of loose tea. Of course the pot took a lot of cleaning to get rid of the coffee from before. My house is cold so I like this as it makes a piping hot cup of tea without phaffing around heating up a china pot and I don't have to have a separate tea strainer. They make stainless steel teapots so I thought why not.I have had this for two weeks now and don't like it very much. I am using it but am probably going to buy a different one to replace it pretty soon.The first problem was that the coffee maker arrived with a thick sticky oil in the groove inside the top of the pot at the base. This smelt like mechine oil. The inside has a raised platform and it is between this and the wall where this black oil was stuck. Cleaning this groove prooved to be extrememly difficult with detergent and boiling water so I ended up having to use a steam cleaner, five or six times, and wedging fine cloth into the groove to pull out the oil.I wrote to Bialetti and they said they had not sold the 10-cup for quite some time. The USA site has a different range of pots available and the Venus does not feature at all. I therefore think the 10-cup Venus is old stock (although on the Bialetti site written in Italian there is a 10-cup Venus). In fact I am confused, I thought Bialetti was Italian made but my 10-cup was made in China.The handle cannot be used to assist the taking off and putting on of the top. I can see no rivets and it feels slightly wobbly when picking up the pot to poor. I support the pot with a thick towel as I don't want it to come off in my hand and spilll boiling coffee everywhere. I don't think the handle will last long.After a few uses the coffee started to taste tainted despite rinsing out the pot and removing the upper filter and seal when leaving to dry. The pot after a few uses smells bad, very metallic I got around this by rinsing out thoroughly then putting the coffee maker on without any coffee in the basket, then dismantle whilst hot (use heavy toweling or oven gloves) and leaving to dry from the heat. The pot does not dry well on its own and needs heat to assist it. I put through the hot water two or three times at the end of the day. then leave to dry.This particular pot is very sensitive (I don't remember my old Moka pot being so sensitive to parameters). Today I ground the coffee too fine and slightly pressed it. The coffee would not come through more than a couple of tablespoons and burnt as the pot was on the stove too long.This particular pot I own does not build up a good enough pressure to deal with too fine a grind, nor to fully empty the reservoir of water when the basked it filled with coffee. The water condenses at the lid and runs down the handle.So although I am using it I am on the lookout for a different one. In the meantime, I put it on the smallest gas and turn it half down. This helps stop the coffee burning and stops the condensate running down the handle. I stop the heating well before the lower pot has emptied and this also helps stop the coffee burning. I don't quite fill the basket and use quite a coarse grind. I poor the coffee straight out and if there is too much I decant it into a glass or pottery jug.On the plus side I do prefer the stainless steel to the aluminium. It heats up quickly. It makes a good cup of coffee when I get the grind and quantity right, and the level of gas. I like Bialetti and like the look of thier new espresso stovetop pot but it is aluminium which I don't want to use.One thing I have found though is that an ordinary cafettiere makes absolutely great frothy milk from warmed full fat milk. I saw it on you tube and it takes seconds to makes milk swell to three times the volume when froathed ( so don't put too much milk in the pot).In two minds whether it was a two star or three star but because of the oil, the handle, and its finickyness with the gas level I wouldn't buy this model again in this size so settled on two stars.

We had one for years. It would still be in use now if it hadn’t been damaged by an accident.Makes a good amount of delicious coffee. Works perfectly on an induction hob.Didn’t hesitate to buy the same again when we damaged the old one.

Really well made and works a treat on top of my log burner.

Great product that makes superb coffee.We use 500ml water that makes 2 large mugs of coffee.Happy to recommend product and sellerMany thanks

I spent ages trying to find out how much coffee this makes from a full reservoir of water, and figures supplied by users varied of course depending on which model they'd had bought. So, this is the 10-cup model; it's nice, heavy gauge stainless steel, it could have been made to fit on the small "burner" on my induction hob, and for the record, one fill of the reservoir to the level of the safety valve yields 500ml of coffee in the pot, and a dribble of 30ml or so in the reservoir (intentionally, to stop the pot boiling dry). 500ml isn't quite enough to fill two large mugs, but if you fill the ground coffee funnel anything like full, you'll possibly want to add a little hot water to top up your mug anyway. Unless you enjoy buzzing round the lights like a bluebottle.She Who Must Be Obeyed was very complimentary about the sleek, almost elegant, design - much preferring it to the traditional angular thingies. I saw a few comments from users on various makes of coffee maker about handles coming off and as I can't see any sort of fastening on the inside of the pot near the lid hinge, I'd avoid using the handle as a lever to unscrew or tighten the pot to the reservoir. You shouldn't need to anyway; the thread is quite free-running and should remain so by comparison with the aluminium ones.All in all, nice. Very pleased. Now they just need to make one the size of a small bucket for when you have friends round.

I love these coffee makers. We started with the 6 cup around 6 years ago and it is so simple to use. Just remember not to go over the fill mark (the steam valve screw) when adding water and do your best not to use the handle when unscrewing / screwing. I wait until this is cool / cold to twist with a towel - works for me. Also for anyone concerned about steam when pouring - I found that I like to watch my coffee push into the chamber so I leave the lid up and I don't have any problems with it. I seem to get a better crema too doing it this way, which I love. Using a Smeg induction hob it takes about 20 seconds on high but I have used it on gas and that is much slower and I didn't want the flames to engulf the sides so I had to expect that extra cooking time. So in a nutshell, love it, that's why we bought the 10 cup. We don't actually have that many espresso's although they are very good from this coffee pot, we make our (espresso) coffee ( the best for me is Machu Picchu from Cafe Direct. Amazing, organic, fair-trade and readily available at a great price in most supermarkets) the same way and then add it to warmed milk/almond milk or oat milk and a 1/2 tsp honey for a healthy and tasty latte. It's a little bit of heaven with a bit of peace and quiet ! This 10 cup coffee pot is also drastically lower in price than a partnership dept store where I often shop, so don't hesitate save your money and buy this ( and if you're feeling adventurous try my latte recipe), it's a winner ! Oh and I must add being 18/10 stainless steel was a must for me - there are so many health concerns about aluminium and so many coffee posts (amongst other things) are made from this. If you don't know what I am talking about, do some research online. Buon Appetite !