Best coffee maker under $100

Table of contents:

• Built-in programs
• User profiles

Cappuccinator: automatic or manual

In this case, you will have to beat the milk yourself (manually), for which you will have to practice a little and work out the appropriate skill. However, if you learn how to froth milk with a manual cappuccinatore, then after a while you can easily "adjust" not only the temperature of the milk, but also the height and density of the foam. It is this method that will suit lovers of latte art.

Automatic milk frother, as the name implies, will prepare milk foam for you on its own. As a rule, all that is required from the user is to select one of the foam levels (more / less). It is clear that such a device will significantly save time, but as a result it will give a certain average result. If that suits you, great. If not, you can pay attention to models that have two cappuccinators at once - both manual and automatic. Such a decision should suit absolutely everyone.

We also note that automatic cappuccinators can be made in the form of a separate jug (you need to pour milk there, which implies the need for timely cleaning of the jug). The second option is a tube that should be lowered into a bag of milk (you will have to allocate a place for it next to the coffee maker). Caring for such a cappuccinatore is usually easier, and the quality of milk frothing is approximately the same, regardless of the method of technical implementation.

Correct and incorrect cappuccino

Speaking of cappuccinators, one cannot but mention the right and wrong ways to make cappuccino. The fact is that many coffee machines on the Cappuccino program first pour foamed milk into a glass, and then add espresso to it, which is fundamentally the wrong way. The correct cappuccino is prepared in reverse order - first espresso is served, and then frothed milk is added to it. Note that not all coffee machines have mastered this method. Therefore, if you want to get the right cappuccino at the touch of a button, then you should not blindly trust the presence of a program of the same name: you need to make sure that the model you are interested in prepares cappuccino as expected, and not haphazardly.

Built-in programs

The number of built-in programs determines how many different drinks our Best coffee maker under 100 can prepare. It is clear that in the general case, the more programs, the better. However, let's not forget that you will inevitably have to pay extra for additional programs, and therefore - if the range of drinks you drink is limited to only a few items, then you do not need a device with a dozen (or even two dozen) programs.

But what can be important is the ability to intervene in the program and adjust the factory settings - change the amount of ground coffee, adjust the temperature or volume of water or milk, etc. The easier it is to get to these functions, the better. After all, the final quality of the drink often depends on the exact settings.

At the same time, let's not forget that we can get basic espresso-based drinks manually (by increasing or decreasing the amount of water), and most of the edited programs, in fact, should be considered as slots for saving recipes. By default, the manufacturer's recipes are recorded there, but no one forbids you to save your own settings there and get a completely different drink. Some manufacturers, however, do not let you get too carried away and limit the upper and lower limits of the settings so that the user does not deviate too much from the recommended values. So, for example, you will be allowed to adjust the flow of 80 ml when preparing espresso (although everyone understands that this is not espresso at all, but lungo), and they may not be allowed to save the flow of 100 ml of water on the same button. Why? No reason!

User profiles

Another definitely useful (but not for everyone!) feature is that the coffee machine has several user profiles. They are arranged in much the same way as profiles in the operating system: each user can set and save their own settings, after which the preparation of various drinks will occur in accordance with the established preferences. Depending on the model, the coffee machine may have two or more (three, four, five) profiles. This way, if there are several coffee lovers in the house, then each of them will be able to set up their own espresso or cappuccino (and, of course, all other drinks too). Subsequently, when you turn on the device, it will be enough to select the desired profile, after which any recipe can be prepared at the touch of a button.

Note that despite the fact that this function does not look very complicated in technical terms (by and large, we are talking about more advanced software), as a rule, the manufacturer will significantly increase the cost of a device with profiles compared to the same model with only one profile to save your favorite recipes.