The Bezzera BZ10 performs its main tasks excellently. It delivers with remarkable consistency in terms of temperature and pressure exactly what you need for a perfect espresso. As one of the most affordable espresso machines in the dual boiler segment, it's a strong contender 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're mainly looking for great espresso, the Bezzera BZ10 is a solid choice. It masters the key tasks of an espresso machine. The brew temperature is extremely consistent, fluctuating only slightly between 92 and 94 degrees. Even rare spikes to 95 degrees hardly matter as long as no more than one espresso is brewed per minute.
Bezzera BZ10 front view
The steaming performance of the Bezzera BZ10 is also impressive. You can easily create velvety milk foam 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 when it comes to materials and comfort. If that doesn't bother you, you don't need to read further. But if you have, for example, heat-sensitive fingers, you should check out the next sections.
If you want to learn how to prepare excellent espresso, visit our Home Barista Online Course or get a good overview with our article "Making Espresso".
Sharp Edges and Sensitive Fingers
An espresso machine gets hot! Of course, because the water needs to be heated. With a dual boiler, the boiler is heated to over 120 degrees Celsius. The flowing 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 spreads generously everywhere – wherever temperature can be absorbed: in the metal!
Another heat source – intentionally equipped with its own heating in the BZ10 – is the brew group. Temperature also spreads from there along all heat-conducting parts. And with the BZ10 it gets particularly hot. You shouldn't touch brew groups anyway. But buttons and switches?
You can barely hold the on/off switch of the BZ10 and the switch for coffee dispensing for more 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 – not a modern cold-touch design. However, a rubber coating allows you to hold it.
Bezzera cuts corners on deburring the edges of the curved stainless steel housing. If edges on the inside are sharp, that's not a big issue and mainly requires care when removing the water tank, for example. But you can also cut yourself on the front, clearly visible corners of the machine when quickly grabbing for an espresso cup. This could definitely be better.
Size, Weight and Technical Information on the Bezzera BZ10
At a width of 25 cm, a height of 37.5 cm and a depth of 42.5 cm, the Bezzera BZ10 is quite compact – but still weighs 19 kilograms. The vibration pump is clearly audible and produces some vibration, which causes, for example, the lid over the water tank to rattle noticeably. The boiler volume is 1.5 liters and the water tank holds 2 liters.
Tubes must be inserted into the water tank to draw water. There are now much more attractive variants with a drain in the bottom. But as mentioned – we're in the entry-level segment of espresso machines and the Bezzera BZ10 was deliberately kept affordable.
The hot water dispensing of the machine is activated via a lever, as is the steam for frothing milk. A nice dual gauge shows the boiler pressure as well as the water pressure during espresso brewing.
Barista trainer Michel Aeschbacher testing the Bezzera BZ10
The machine comes with a plastic tamper that's only fit for the trash. The included basket is significantly larger than the stated 16 grams. We easily fitted 21 grams into the basket without any issues. This has consequences for the size of the final drinks. Following our recommended drink ratio of 1:2.5, the final drink is 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 somewhat short. 3 cm more would have prevented drops from continuously 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 Brew Group of the BZ10 vs. Faema E61 Brew Group
Most dual boiler espresso machines are still constructed with the E61 brew group, which will soon celebrate its 60th birthday. The E61 brew group is essentially brought to temperature by a warming water circuit.
A brew group is the front part of the espresso machine where the portafilter and thus the coffee are clamped. The well-heated temperature of the group is important because otherwise the brewing water transfers its own temperature to the metal and thus no longer reaches the temperature required for brewing espresso. In our tests, we defined a desirable temperature of 93 – 94 degrees.
The Bezzera BZ10 uses a brew group with electric heating. The consistent temperature of the BZ10 proves Bezzera right on this point, and the group leaves nothing to be desired.
Consistent brew temperature of the Bezzera BZ10
From our perspective, neither an E61 nor an electrically heated group has fundamental advantages. Much more important is that it ultimately delivers the right temperature to the group. But this doesn't depend on the brew group itself, but rather on the overall context of the machine. How far is the water 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 may be somewhat easier than servicing the E61 brew group, since only three screws need to be opened. But from our perspective, this doesn't matter much.
The machine's warm-up time is also not significantly faster. The BZ10 also needed a good 22 minutes to reach full temperature.
Conclusion on the BZ10 from Bezzera
The BZ10 delivers what it promises. Great espresso and good milk foam quality. That's a pleasure! So if you're mainly focused on beverage quality, you'll be very satisfied with the BZ10.
In return, the machine makes compromises in construction and accessories. The included plastic tamper is not suitable for preparing good espresso. The machine has many spots that overheat, but which are actually important for operation, such as the toggle switches for espresso extraction.
We also don't like the unfinished metal edges on the machine, as they pose an injury risk in everyday use.
As a very consistent espresso machine in the entry-level dual boiler segment, the Bezzera BZ10 is, despite its material weaknesses, a contender for the price-to-performance podium from our perspective. Consistency is especially important for beginners in espresso preparation. And this attribute is precisely what the Bezzera BZ10 delivers without a doubt!
Preparing espresso with the Bezzera BZ10
We are currently testing all commercially available dual boiler espresso machines and will subsequently compile the test series with a comprehensive comparative test report.
