Are they.?

Does a £30 Bialetti perform any better than a £5 TK max job.?

how about an £18.00 one

Got a £5 one from Asda. Shite!
However my Bialetti is still going strong 3 yrs on
APF

My cheapo “Espresso Gift Set” (probably from TinkyMaxx) is still going fine, after a couple of years irregular use. Rubber seal looks a little bit worn tho.

My Bialetti Mukka Express makes mornings a little more bearable …

Mine from Tesco is ok, but only that.

I use them a lot and have had all sorts – cheap lookalikes to Alessi. Std Bialetti Moka Express (the tapered hex one) is the best there is by a mile.

Even cheap ones can be fine, but you want to make sure the seal material is silicone based, rather than rubber based. The rubber based ones tend to die rather rapidly and not work. If it’s rubbery seal bit is transparent or semi-transparent then it’ll probably be fine for a long time.

Also, if you’re going to use it a lot, Think about getting the stainless Bialetti ones rather than alu, I find the Alu ones corrode easily and I’m not keep on the idea of drinking lots of Aluminium with my coffee.

So is the extra £25 for a silicone-based O-ring?!
Or is there some other difference in the design and construction of the Bialetti?

Mine was on special offer from M&S – £20 for a mokka.

got one of these, far too nice to use though 🙂

Burny tasting coffee though no?

(I’m fully aware that the fact that some people “like” burny tasting coffee was established last week sometime 🙂 )