The Bezzera BZ10 excels at its main tasks. It delivers what it takes for a perfect espresso with great consistency in terms of temperature and pressure. As one of the most affordable espresso machines in the dual boiler segment, it's a strong candidate for the price-to-performance podium in our test series.
Learn more about the comparison with 11 other dual boiler espresso machines here.
Great espresso! What more could you want?
If you mainly want good espresso, you can't go wrong with the Bezzera BZ10. It masters the essential tasks of an espresso machine. The brewing temperature is extremely consistent, fluctuating only slightly between 92 and 94 degrees. Rare spikes to 95 degrees barely mattered, as long as no more than one espresso was brewed per minute.
Bezzera BZ10 front view
The steaming performance of the Bezzera BZ10 also leaves nothing to be desired. Creamy milk foam is easy to create with this espresso machine. The pressure is sufficient and quality is just a matter of practice.
At a price starting from 1460 CHF in Switzerland and from 1100 € in the EU, the Bezzera BZ10 is an excellent entry-level choice for anyone primarily interested in beverage quality.
The machine makes compromises in certain areas regarding materials and comfort. If that doesn't bother you, you don't need to read further. However, if you have, for example, heat-sensitive fingers, you should take a look at the next sections.
If you want to learn how to prepare good espresso, visit our Home Barista Online Course or get a good overview with our article "Preparing Espresso".
Sharp edges and sensitive fingers
An espresso machine gets hot! Of course, because the water needs to be heated. With a dual boiler machine, the boiler is heated to over 120 degrees Celsius. The water flowing through the tube then transfers this temperature to the brewing water. Starting from the boiler, the temperature distributes throughout the espresso machine. In higher price segments, boilers are insulated to keep the temperature mainly in the boiler. With the BZ10, this temperature distributes generously everywhere – wherever temperature can be absorbed: in the metal!
Another heat source – in the BZ10 deliberately with its own heating – is the group head. Temperature also distributes along all heat-conducting parts from there. And with the BZ10 it gets particularly hot. You shouldn't touch group heads anyway. But buttons and switches?
The on/off switch of the BZ10 and the switch for espresso extraction can hardly be touched for longer than 2 seconds, even with milk foam-resistant hands. The temperatures at the switch reach well over 60 degrees! That's not very user-friendly.
The steam wand is a classic steam wand – so not a modern cold-touch wand. A rubber coating here allows for comfortable handling.
With the edges of the curved stainless steel body, Bezzera saves on deburring the edges. If the edges on the inside are sharp, that's not much of a problem and mainly requires caution, for example when removing the water tank. But even at the front, clearly visible corners of the machine, you can cut yourself when reaching quickly for your espresso cup. This could definitely be better.
Size, weight and technical information for the Bezzera BZ10
The Bezzera BZ10 is quite compact with a width of 25 cm, a height of 37.5 cm and a depth of 42.5 cm – but it weighs a respectable 19 kilograms. The vibratory pump is clearly audible and does cause some vibration, which for example makes the cover over the water tank rattle noticeably. The boiler capacity is 1.5 liters and the water tank holds 2 liters.
Tubes need to be inserted into the water tank to draw water. There are meanwhile much nicer variants with a drain in the bottom. But as I said – we're in the entry-level range of espresso machines and the Bezzera BZ10 was deliberately kept affordable.
Hot water dispensing from the machine is activated via a lever, as is the steam for steaming milk. A nice dual manometer shows both the boiler pressure and the water pressure during espresso brewing.
Barista trainer Michel Aeschbacher during testing of the Bezzera BZ10
The machine comes with a plastic tamper that's only suitable for the trash. The included basket is significantly larger than the stated 16 grams. We easily filled 21 grams into the basket. This has consequences for the size of the finished beverages. Following our recommended beverage ratio of 1:2.5, the finished drink is also correspondingly large (21 g*2.5 = 52.5 = 2 espressos of 26.25 grams each).
In the side view image, you can see that the drip tray is a bit short. 3 cm more would have prevented drops from constantly dripping over the front of the machine.
The check valve also contributes to there always being drops around the espresso machine. We explain this in more detail in the video.
Heated group head of the BZ10 vs. Faema E61 group head
Most dual boiler espresso machines are still constructed with the E61 group head, which is approaching its 60th birthday. The E61 group head is essentially brought up to temperature by a warming water circulation.
A group head is the front part of the espresso machine into which the portafilter and thus the coffee is clamped. The well-heated temperature of the group is important because otherwise the brewing water would transfer its own temperature to the metal and would no longer reach the temperature required for brewing espresso. In our tests, we defined a desirable temperature of 93 – 94 degrees.
The Bezzera BZ10 uses a group head with electrical heating. The consistent temperature of the BZ10 proves Bezzera right here, and the group leaves nothing to be desired.
Consistent brewing temperature of the Bezzera BZ10
From our perspective, neither an E61 nor an electrically heated group has fundamental advantages. What's much more important is that it ultimately delivers the right temperature to the group. But that doesn't depend on the group head; it depends on the overall context of the device. How far is the water's path from the boiler to the group? How quickly does the heat exchanger heat the water? When does the boiler reheat?
Disassembling the Bezzera group might be slightly easier than disassembling the E61 group head for maintenance, since only three screws need to be opened. But from our perspective, that doesn't carry much weight.
The machine's heat-up time is also not significantly faster. The BZ10 also needed a good 22 minutes to reach full temperature.
Conclusion on the BZ10 by Bezzera
The BZ10 delivers what it should. Good espresso and good milk foam quality. That's a joy! So if you primarily focus on beverage quality, you'll be very satisfied with the BZ10.
However, the machine makes compromises in build quality and included accessories. The plastic tamper included is not suitable for preparing good espresso. The machine has many spots that overheat, but which like the toggle switches for activating espresso extraction are actually important.
We also don't like the sharp metal edges on the machine, as they pose an injury risk in daily use.
As a very consistent espresso machine in the entry-level dual boiler segment, the Bezzera BZ10 is, despite its material weaknesses, a candidate for the podium in terms of price-to-performance for us. Consistency is particularly important for beginners in espresso preparation. And the Bezzera BZ10 undoubtedly delivers on this attribute!
Preparing espresso with the Bezzera BZ10
We are currently testing all commercially available dual boiler espresso machines and will follow up the test series with a comprehensive comparative test report.
