Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 Review
A great-value bean-to-cup machine with milk frothing
Verdict
The steam wand may prove a little fiddly to use, but given the overall price and quality, the Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 is a great budget bean-to-cup machine that lets you make a variety of drinks.
Pros
- Compact
- Easy to use
- Great results for the price
Cons
- Steamer wand is fiddly to use
Availability
- UKRRP: £329
- USAunavailable
- Europeunavailable
- Canadaunavailable
- Australiaunavailable
Key Features
- TypeThis is a bean-to-cup coffee machine that can make espresso automatically. It can hold 125g of beans (half of a regular bag), and it offers manual milk steaming.
- DrinksYou can make any drinks that require hot water, including espresso and Americanos, plus you can manually froth milk for lattes, cappuccinos and other drinks.
Introduction
After being impressed by the simple Beko CEG5301 for making espresso, I now have the Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 in for review. Effectively the same machine, this one adds a steam wand into the mix for frothing milk.
Quality drinks and espresso mixed with a small body and low price make this a great budget choice.
Design and features
- Compact
- Very simple to use
- Hot water and steam options
While most bean-to-cup machines tend to be fairly large, the Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 keeps its size down at 380 x 236 x 436mm. That’s similar to a large capsule machine, such as the Nespresso Vertuo Next. Impressively, this machine is no bigger than its expresso-only stablemate, the Beko CEG5301.
The main difference between the two is that this model includes a steam wand on the front, which you can use for frothing milk. Going for a steam wand, rather than an automatic system, makes a lot of sense on a budget coffee machine, since you’re more likely to get decent results.
What makes the Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 stand out from the competition, though, is how easy it is to use. There’s a simple bean hopper on top that holds 125g of beans (half of a normal bag), plus an adjustment dial to change the fineness of the grind.
Round the back is a 1.5-litre reservoir, which lifts out for easy refilling. It’s a good size, especially considering the overall size of the coffee machine.
Once you’ve powered on the machine, you’ll see the touch controls light up. For regular coffee, this machine is as easy to use as a pod machine, such as the Nespresso CitiZ. There are buttons for strong espresso (a regular shot) and mild espresso (a double shot in terms of volume, although the same amount of coffee is used). There’s also a button for topping up with hot water.
All three buttons are programmed to deliver a set amount of liquid, but you can override the defaults by pressing and holding a button, releasing it when you have the desired volume. Once programmed for your cups, set volumes make it easy to do things like make an Americano, which is a shot of espresso added to hot water.
The spout at the front slides up and down to allow for mugs of up to 12.7cm tall, which covers larger mugs with ease.
On this machine, you also get a button to turn on the steam. Tap this once and the Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 heats up to steam temperature and then quickly fires the steam wand to eject water. Once ready, you put your milk jug under the wand and then hit the button again to deliver steam, tapping it again to stop once you have your finished drink.
Coffee quality
- Slightly foamy crema
- Decent taste
- Good temperature
For your first use, you’ll need to pull a shot of coffee and throw it away; the first one was a bit watery. Once the grinder is primed with beans, the second shot onwards is good, although I found that I needed to put the grinder on its finest setting to achieve the best coffee.
The Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 can pour a very good shot of espresso. The crema is a little bit foamy; the best espresso has a more oily texture to it. However, given the price of the machine, the results are impressive.
I measured the temperature at 66.7ºC, which is on the hotter end of an idea an espresso, but still perfectly good. It’s hot enough to extract the flavour of the coffee beans during brewing, but cool enough to drink quickly.
There’s a good richness to the espresso, with the pronounced acidity of my test beans coming through. The shot is, perhaps, a touch more bitter than from the best coffee machines, but there’s really nothing to complain about.
Milk frothing
- The wand is fiddly to use
- Good results are possible with practice
Milk frothing takes practice, but one of the keys to getting it right is being able to position the milk jug correctly under the wand. Here, it’s a little tricky, since the Beko Bean To Cup CEG5311 has a wand that only swivels side to side; it doesn’t lift up. Trying to get a jug underneath with the wand just under the milk’s surface is a little difficult and will require some practice. It took me a few goes to get right.
When you do, it’s possible to get a nice foam on the milk, and warm it through – although it’s hard to get a swirling vortex going. Once I’d finished, I had to tap the jug to get rid of bigger bubbles and gave it a good swirl to mix.
Pouring out the final drink, you can see from the image above that the milk still contains a few larger bubbles. Overall, though, it had a fine texture with lots of microbubbles. Again, you can do better if you upgrade to a more expensive machine, such as the manual WPM KD-270S.
Maintenance
- Rinses automatically
- Cleaning solution in the box
- Easy to clean
When you turn the Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 on and off, it rinses automatically. I recommend wiping down the steam wand with a wet cloth after use, and then turning the steam mode back on: this will eject any milk stuck in the wand.
Other than that, this coffee machine is largely easy to maintain. Used coffee grounds drop into the bin that you pull out with the drip tray. Since the grounds can be quite wet, it’s worth washing out this bin regularly.
When you clean out the bin, you should also pull out the brew unit from the side for rinsing.
Finally, a warning light will glow on the machine when it’s time to clean the Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 using the provided powder. This will be once a month, and three sachets of cleaning powder are included in the box.
You might like…
Best Offers
Should you buy it?
If you want a small and well-priced bean-to-cup coffee machine with the option to steam milk manually, then this Beko is a good choice.
Spend more on a bean-to-cup machine and you’ll get full automation, including milk frothing, which may make life easier.
Final thoughts
Spend more on the likes of the Melitta Caffeo Barista TS Smart and you’ll get a greater number of features and even better coffee – but it’s far more expensive. Here, the Beko Bean To Cup Coffee Machine with Steam Wand CEG5311 gets the basics right and delivers manual milk frothing as an option. It’s a great budget choice, but check out my guide to the best coffee machines for alternatives.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every coffee machine we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always reveal what we find. We never accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main coffee machine for the review period
Tested for at least a week
We roast our own beans for regular coffee machines, so we can fairly compare each machine; pod machines are tested with a variety of compatible capsules
Depending on capabilities, we test each machine’s ability to make espresso and cappuccino
FAQs
It can hold 125g of beans, which is half a normal supermarket bag of coffee.
Yes, you can. It has a steamer wand on the front for manual steaming.
Specs
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
