Kitchen Aid Pro-Line

[auto]

About a year ago I received aKitchen Aid Pro-Line trade from a Capresso C1000 from Williams Sonoma. I have not been able to get this machine to brew consistent espresso. I have tried different beans, tamping differently, different grind consistncies, the whole nine yards. Espresso will come out thin and watery or almost slow to a drop with bitterness. This is not my first rodeo, but this machine is trying my patience. :evil:

 

[Breaddrink]

I've become quite disheartened with kitchenaid of late.
I've been trying to sort out my mixer problems with them for three months now.

I own a 6 quart mixer, and the pro line coffee burr grinder.
Before that I tried out the little retro burr grinder they sell...The A-9?
The manufacturing and design faults are hideously obvious in their new lines and it just reeks of trying to make a fast buck. I can only presume the other items in the pro line are similar.
I sent the first unit back. The glass jars were warped and the seal on the top lid was beyond cheap and ill fitting. The gasket was a rubber band and the whole thing rattled when it was switched on.
The replacement lid they sent had a proper gasket that was ENORMOUS, obviously intended to fill the gap of the mistake they made in sizing the components yet they never admit to any of this when asked even though it states clearly in the manual that the lid was meant to be a sealed press to fit affair.

The actual grind is pretty good, but poor fitting glass components and lids that just shouldn't be on a piece of kit costing what this did really do spoil it...The worst fault is the interior of the hopper. It screws into the body of the unit OUTSIDE of the opening where the coffee enters the burrs. The gap this leaves between the glass and the outer lip of the body fills up with fragments of coffee instantly, and I now have to pick out lumps of bean every time the hopper empties. It's painfully obvious to anyone who enjoys coffee that they would not want to risk old beins being trapped.

BUT, having said that, the surrounding market for decent burr grinders is pricey, and I couldn't find one that ground as well for around this same price so I stuck with it and bought another one. *shrug*

I know this isn't about your coffee machine, but I just wanted to point out that their so called pro line is seemingly rather shoddy and rushed. You paid a lot for that machine so it's not right, no.
They may even fix these issues given enough production runs, but that doesn't forgive the thousands sold in the mean time does it?
I suggest you goto kitchenaids site and ask on the forum for advice. The public nature of the forum seems to get more done than simply calling, as they're striving to make public displays of good customer servicem as do most of the regulars who don't work for them too. It can get quite sickening but you might strike it lucky and get something done, or bump into someone with the same machine who can offer you some advice.
The staff will likely be about as helpful as asking if you've plugged the machine in.
http://forum.kitchenaid.com/forums/default.asp

Good luck!

Rob.

 

[auto]

Thanks for the advice, will probably just return to Williams Sonoma for an exchange, I do love that place. Will probably hit the forums first. :wink:

 

[Breaddrink]

A direct link.

http://forum.kitchenaid.com/forums/foru ... ORUM_ID=48

Direct link for you.

I'm not sure if yu'll be able to view if you're not a member, but that's the one to goto after anyway.

Let me know how it goes.

Rob.