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Nine Bar Basics product guide

KitchenAid KF7 KES8557 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine

Households wanting one-touch milk drinks from a supplied milk container with four saved profiles

The KF7 gives 20 or more drink types, four named profiles and a 3.5-inch touch screen on a 2.2-litre tank, with an automatic milk system fed from a 0.8-litre container and a removable bean hopper. Setup covers water hardness, a filter and a grind regulator behind the service door, and every removable part is hand-wash only.

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Published specifications

  • Manual: 20+ drink types, 4 named user profiles, 3.5-inch touch screen
  • Manual: 2.2 L water tank, 0.8 L milk container, water filter
  • Manual: cup clearance 3.5-5.4 in (89-137 mm)
  • Manual: 120 V, 1450 W, grounded 3-prong outlet only
  • Listing: 18.5 x 10.2 x 14.3 in, 40.1 lb
  • Two-year limited warranty from date of delivery

Fit and limits

Strengths

  • Milk container with hose and lid is in KitchenAid's box list for this model
  • Four user profiles with names, and settings stored indefinitely
  • Manual documents grind, water hardness, filter life and each cleaning cycle

Caveats

  • Listing bullet contradicts KitchenAid and the listing's own details about the milk container
  • No removable part is dishwasher-safe, including the tank and dispenser
  • Strength levels 4 and 5 are marked in the manual for the KES8558 only

What the KES8557 is

This listing is the KF7 in Cast Iron Black, part number KES8557BK. The manual's model line for the KES8557 gives 20 or more drink types, four user profiles with names you can set, a removable bean hopper, an illuminated dispenser, a milk container, dual milk-based beverages and a 3.5-inch touch screen.

Cup clearance is 3.5 to 5.4 inches, or 89 to 137 millimetres, in the same table. The water tank holds 2.2 litres, the milk container 0.8 litres, and the machine runs at 120 volts and 1450 watts from a grounded three-prong outlet, with no adapter or extension cord allowed.

The listing's details table gives dimensions of 18.5 inches deep by 10.2 wide by 14.3 high and a weight of 40.1 pounds. KitchenAid's specification panel would not open when we read the page, so those two figures rest on the listing alone.

The milk container question

The listing bullet tells you to place the milk hose into a separate milk container of your choice. KitchenAid's own page says to fill up the included milk container, and its box list names a milk container with hose and lid. The manual also lists a 0.8-litre milk container as supplied with the KES8557.

The listing's own details table then contradicts its bullet twice: one field says the milk container is included, and another describes it as clear glass with a black lid. The listing's included-components field, meanwhile, lists only the tank, hopper, milk tube, cleaning tablets and filter.

So KitchenAid's documents say a container is in the box, and the listing says both things. Confirm with the seller before buying if the container matters, and note the manual's instruction to connect one end of the milk hose to the container lid and the other to the side of the dispenser.

Setup: water hardness, filter and grind

The first start walks through language, water filter and water hardness on the touch screen. The manual says to dip the supplied test strip, wait a minute and pick the matching level from a four-level chart whose factory setting is level 3, and it notes that using the filter means descaling is needed less often.

The filter lasts about 50 litres of water before the display asks for a new one, and the spoon supplied in the box doubles as the tool for screwing the filter into its holder. KitchenAid says to use only cold fresh tap water, never deionised or mineral water, and to refresh the water daily.

Grind fineness sits behind the right-side service door and may only be adjusted while the grinder is running: left for finer, right for coarser. KitchenAid recommends a finer setting for light roasts and a coarser setting for dark roasts, and the manual's troubleshooting table lists too fine a grind among the causes it covers.

Drinks, profiles and beans

The manual marks the frothed milk drink as available on the KES8557 and KES8558 only, and marks strength levels 4 and 5 for the KES8558 only, so this model runs 1 to 3. First use needs four or five coffee drinks before results are satisfactory.

Four user profiles are available here, and the manual says they can carry personalised usernames. Settings for each drink can be changed individually within whichever profile you have selected on the touch screen.

The hopper twists off for a bean change and a Purge Beans routine in the cleaning menu clears the grinder; KitchenAid's page calls this Auto Purge between batches. Only roasted, untreated beans go in, because sugar-coated, pre-ground or freeze-dried coffee will damage the grinder. Pre-ground coffee goes through the separate grounds shaft, one level spoon at a time, and shots are not adjustable in that mode.

Cleaning: prompts after every milk drink

After each milk drink the display asks for an Easy Milk Rinsing, and the manual says to run it as soon as possible and at the latest before switching the machine off. A Deep Milk Clean with a milk-system detergent is a separate program, and the frother itself has to be taken apart and washed by hand from time to time.

The brew unit pulls out through the service door and is rinsed under cold running water only, with no detergent, before each cleaning program; a brew-unit tablet goes inside for the two-phase cycle. Descaling is prompted on screen, must not be interrupted, and vinegar is ruled out.

No removable part is dishwasher-safe. The manual names the water tank, dispenser, service door, drip tray and milk container lid among the hand-wash items. The listing summarises the cycles as descaling, milk rinsing and deep cleaning; follow the manual's own steps rather than a summary.

Limits, storage and the two-year warranty

The manual restricts the machine to household use, rules out commercial use and mobile installations, sets a maximum altitude of 6500 feet above sea level, and says the machine must not be placed in a cabinet while in use.

An Evaporate System routine empties residual water before storage, and KitchenAid warns against exposing the machine to temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Standby defaults to 30 minutes and is adjustable from 8 minutes to 8 hours in the settings menu, alongside language, sounds, millilitres or ounces, accent colour and a factory reset.

KitchenAid's page and the manual both give a two-year limited warranty, running from the date of delivery in the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, and extending to later owners. It does not cover use beyond a normal single-family home, accident, alteration, misuse, fire or flood, or shipping costs to a service centre, and the manual says not to return the machine to the retailer.

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Primary sources

  1. KitchenAid product page for the KES8557BK Fully Automatic Espresso Machine KF7
  2. KitchenAid owner's manual W11616369 rev D for KES8556, KES8557 and KES8558

Primary sources checked .

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