Saeco Incanto

This was our first Saeco espresso machine purchase about three years ago. The first 8 months were a dream until it started to develop problems, which I'll detail below. But first how it all works.

Why Automatic?
This is an automatic espresso machine, what sold us was the fact that any body can use the thing, it's compact, and creates less mess than manual machines. We were also sold this version 'Rapid Steam' as it has two boilers ...
...The idea behind this is that one boiler is dedicated to the temperature of the water for the coffee shot, the other to the steam for frothing the milk. Therefore you don't have to wait the 30 seconds or so for the machine to heat up/cool down between functions.

How it works
There's a tank at the back to fill fresh water and a bean hopper. Basically fill the machine, choose what size coffee you want (denoted by buttons) and strength ... more

This was our first Saeco espresso machine purchase about three years ago. The first 8 months were a dream until it started to develop problems, which I'll detail below. But first how it all works.

Why Automatic?
This is an automatic espresso machine, what sold us was the fact that any body can use the thing, it's compact, and creates less mess than manual machines. We were also sold this version 'Rapid Steam' as it has two boilers as opposed to one in the straight Incanto machine. The idea behind this is that one boiler is dedicated to the temperature of the water for the coffee shot, the other to the steam for frothing the milk. Therefore you don't have to wait the 30 seconds or so for the machine to heat up/cool down between functions.

How it works
There's a tank at the back to fill fresh water and a bean hopper. Basically fill the machine, choose what size coffee you want (denoted by buttons) and strength (denoted by a dial), press and the machine grinds it's own beans and delivers you a shot of coffee. To the side of the machine is a plastic wand that you use to froth milk. A tip I've leant is to froth the milk first, let it sit for the minute or so it takes to do the coffee shot, then you can a really nice thick, creamy milk. At the end of it, the old coffee is dumped into a little box and all the water waste is collected in a tray.

There's lights on the machine that flash to tell you when to refill/empty it. The thing we struggled with was the exclamation mark light. This light is for 'everything else' and can mean a range of things like the door is not shut properly or the tray is not in place and a list of other things!

Maintenance
The machine requires 'decalcifying' which basically means filling the tank up with solution and letting it run through the machine every few months. This cleans out the pipes and ensures there is no build up of limescale. There's a little light that reminds you of this.

Well these are the good points and we would have been very happy with this little number if it had not developed the leak I mentioned early. The problem began about 8 months or so after we purchased the machine. Up until then we'd had 8 months of trouble free espressos and cappuccinos. First we thought the tank had a crack in it, or maybe the tray that collects the drips, after a lot of investigating we took it into be repaired. Apparently there was a problem with it's boiler, and lucky for us the machine was still covered by warranty so it was fixed. We were told ours was not the first machine to develop this little problem. All went well for just under a year and then the same problem developed. Again we took the machine into be repaired but we could not justify the cost, considering how much the machine had originally cost. They struck is a deal on a trade in after admitting that it was quite a common problem to this model. So we upgraded and have been happy ever since. I would be very weary of buying this machine, however later versions may be ok if they have remedied the boiler problem.

Specs
Dimensions w*h*d 285x400x375 mm
Weight 11 kg
Capacity of the bean hopper 300 g
Removable water tank / capacity 2 l
Capacity of the used grounds container 13 pucks
Pump pressure 15 bar
Power Watt 1250 W
 

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