Learning

The Wilfa Zense has 30 grind settings running from fine to coarse. There's no single correct number — the right setting depends on your brew method, your beans and your taste. Start in the middle for filter coffee, brew a pot, and move two or three steps at a time: finer if it tastes sour and thin, coarser if it tastes bitter and heavy.

The Uniform Evo gives you more control than almost any grinder at its price, which is exactly why a new one can feel intimidating. Forty-one settings, ten micro-adjustments between each of them, and a scale built into the lid. Here's how to use all of it without spending a week on it.

The Wilfa grinder range changed this year. Svart and Uniform are on their way out, Zense and Uniform Evo are in, and there's a £200 spread between the ends of the range. Here's what that money actually buys.

If your grinder has stopped performing, clean it before you do anything else. Coffee oils and compacted fine particles build up around the burrs and change how the grinder cuts. Unplug it, empty the bean container, brush out the burr chamber, wash the containers in lukewarm soapy water and dry them completely. Do this monthly.

A thermal carafe keeps coffee hot for around three and a half hours with no heat applied. A glass jug sits on a warming plate that switches itself off after 40 minutes by law. If you drink a pot within the hour, glass is fine and cheaper. If your pot lasts all morning, a thermal carafe is the only one that works.

You brewed a pot at eight, came back at nine, and the machine has switched itself off and the coffee has gone cold. Nothing is broken. It did exactly what it was built to do.

You'll find the letters ECBC on almost every Wilfa coffee maker, usually in small type near the bottom of the specifications. Very few brands explain what they mean, which is a shame, because it's one of the only claims in the coffee aisle backed by something other than marketing.

More people are disappointed by their coffee maker because of the dose than for any other reason. The machine is fine, the beans are fine — there just isn't enough coffee in the basket.

Most of the things that look like a broken coffee maker aren't one. Before you start thinking about a replacement, it's worth five minutes with this list — the majority of what reaches Wilfa support turns out to be limescale, an empty tank, or a switch nobody knew was there.

A cup of filter coffee is around 98.5% water. It's the largest ingredient by a very long way, and it's the one nobody thinks about — we'll happily pay £12 for a bag of beans and then brew it with whatever comes out of the tap.

Every Wilfa product bought after 1 September 2020 carries a five-year warranty for private household use. You don't need to register anything — your receipt is the warranty certificate. The ProBaker Stand Mixer, Powerfuel XL Blender and Powerfuel Digital Blender carry an extended ten-year warranty on the motor.

Descale your Wilfa coffee maker at least every three months, and more often if you live in a hard water area.