Customer Reviews

Zojirushi CD-FAC22 Zutto Micom Electric Dispensing Pot

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've used this pot for some months now on a near daily basis and had absolutely no problems. It is a must for the tea enthusiast. Not only is it more stylish than most dispensing pots, it is in a league of it's own for selecting temperature and sustaining temperature over time. It is quick to boil, and can silently keep your water ready for tea for all-day use.

The cost of this pot is higher than your average boiling pot, but it shows in the extra features and in the build quality. The pump action is a much-loved feature, as is the break-away safety cord (all appliances should have such a cord in my opinion). You can just tell that the people that designed this knew what they were doing and cared.

On the downside, I wish for 3 things: 1) the ability to set the temp to more degrees (such as between 160 and 180 for green tea instead of 140); 2) an on-off switch instead of always just disconnecting the cord; and 3) a slightly deeper indent behind the spout so that more tea pots can easily fit under the spout.

If you are serious about tea, buy this unit.

I like the looks and the feature set -- 3 temperatures, autolock with "unlock" button -- is just right.

Boiling a full fresh 2-L pot takes several minutes. I tend to keep mine topped up whenever it gets down to about half, and that takes much less time to bring up to temperature. It does seem to re-boil the water whenever the top is opened, rather than only bringing it up to the set point. That's probably a very good thing, as far as keeping it from becoming a microbial breeding ground.

I used to unplug it when I left the house because I was worried about fire hazards; I stopped after the first few weeks because the outside barely gets warm to the touch, except at the top near the vent, where it's quite warm. When it's boiling water, it does let off a bit of steam through the top vent. When not running the boil cycle it lets out very little steam - I can comfortably cup my hand over the vent for several minutes; the plastic is warmer than the air above the vent - so I usually leave it shoved under a cabinet except when I've just added water. The underside of the cabinet is about 4 inches away and I cannot feel any temperature difference between that surface and the other cabinets nearby.

I do wish I'd bought a larger one. When I purchased this, I thought I'd use it for a cup of tea or two a day and 2 liters would be plenty. Now that I have plenty of hot water on demand, and at just the right temperature, I drink a lot more tea and my roommate has joined me. I also use it for all sorts of other hot-water needs (instant soups and cereals, for example) so that it needs refilling daily.

With that note about the heavy use it gets, it functions beautifully with minimal cleaning. Every now and then when it runs empty I wipe out the interior. Beyond that, I've only descaled it once in over 2 years, and that was because the calcium build-up on the heating element was making it take too long to boil my water -- there was no clogging or pressure/volume reduction.

I didn't review this when I bought it because as much as I loved it, I expected the calcium in the local water to clog it in a matter of weeks to months. Now I have something more valuable to say: it keeps working, month after month, with minimal attention, for years.

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Edited to add: I've now owned this dispenser for just over 4 years, and I still use it daily and love it every bit as much. It might be time to descale it again (the second time since I bought it), and again that's due more to scale insulating the heating element than to any clogging or loss of dispensed volume. I'm considering buying a second one, not because anything is wrong with my first one, but because it still works _so_ well that I've become thoroughly spoiled to piping hot water on demand and now feel put-upon needing to go all the way downstairs for a cup of bedtime tea or a bowl of instant miso soup in the morning. This dispenser kept on my nightstand, filled with filtered water, plus my Aero Press coffee maker, would be the best coffee-in-bed-first-thing solution ever.

I originally purchased this item in July of 2006 and in November of 2011, it's still working well. I've only had to descale it twice, and I leave it plugged in all the time. It's definitely a well engineered product.

My review from 2006: I've been pretty pleased with this little water heater. It lets you select three different temperatures (though I wish that it provided more options than that), has a handy water gauge on the front, a magnetically attached power cable, and a set of two buttons to hit so that you don't accidentally engage the water dispensor. I'm pretty pleased with it.

Unfortunately the Zutton line of products bombed out in Japan so they sent them over here to try. Zojirushi is normally known for its quality products (and you can't beat the longevity on their "Made in Japan" potto dispensing pots) however, the entire Zutto line was tested by me and found to be less than promising (if you go to Japan and visit a department store, you will see the Zutto line in a quiet corner drawing no attention). The problem is that it tries to present itself as trendy and perhaps even metallic in nature. When you get the actual product you discover that it is in fact plastic and flimsy (just lift the lid on the Zutton Dispensing Water Pot and you can feel the quality or lack thereof). None of the Zutto products have any substance. To make matters worse, they must sell in this country for more than they sold in Japan. This reason is unknown other than the fact that they are trying to promote it as a high-end item when in fact it is plastic. Stick with the high-end rice cookers other than Zutton line (Made in Japan only)... For more information in Japanese see www.zojirushi.co.jp

Although the initial heat-up period is a bit long (I think about 15 minutes...long enough for me to forget to keep track anyway :-), once the water reaches the proper temperature, this is a wonderfully convenient product--so far we use ours primarily for those evening cups of tea, but occasionally we find it useful for other applications needing a quick dose of hot water. The steel with black exterior fits in perfectly with the other stainless appliances in our new kitchen as well so we don't feel a need to hide it--although there is a decent amount of hot steam released during the boil-mode (I just slide it forward so the steam is not captured under the cabinets), the exterior remains a comfortable temperature to touch. Except that we found it to be a bit high in price, we are very pleased with the function and appearance overall and would eagerly recommend it.

I'm an avid tea drinker who used to boil water via the microwave. A few years back, I sprang for an electric kettle and swore never to go back to the microwave. The problem with my kettle was that its only function was to boil water, which made using it to brew green or white teas rather tricky. I looked extensively at water boilers with temperature settings but never quite found one that I liked. While at a high-end tea shop, this dispenser caught my eye and was highly recommended by the shop's employees. It seemed a bit of a steep price but I sprang for it and have never regretted a single penny I spent on it.

The unit has three temperature settings: 208, 195, and 175. 195 is still a bit higher than the recommended temp for greens but since the unit is manufactured in Japan, I figured they know a thing or two about green tea. This is the setting I use most consistently as I drink a lot of green tea and I've found it to be an ideal temperature setting for greens. In the past, greens sometimes tasted bitter or cooked due to the water temp being off but that is now a thing of the past. I simply need to plug my unit in, set it to 195 and, once the water reaches that temp, I can brew the perfect cup of green tea all day long.

I also love that the unit is a dispenser and not just a kettle. This enables me to have tea at pretty much the instant I want it. If I decide to drink a black or an herbal, I simply need to adjust the temp setting and wait for the unit to heat the water to the appropriate level. Water can be dispensed at any time, whether or not the water has reached the programmed temperature.

I've been using this machine for a year now and it still works every bit as beautifully as it did the day I bought it. When the scale builds up, I simply run the machine through its descaling cycle using a mixture of water and white vinegar, which works perfectly. The machine is really well constructed with several thoughtful features, such as a swivel base and a cord that connects magnetically to the unit, allowing quick and easy removal of the cord when the unit needs to be tipped over a sink and emptied. I absolutely adore this machine and would never again want to be without it.

I use this exclusively for baby formula at 140 degree. The water at 140 degree is still kind of hot, so I still add cold water to mix the formula. Very solid and easy to use. The lid come off for easy pour of water and cleaning. The electrical cord is magnetic so fells off with slight pull, which is good to prevent tripping of the cord and pulling of the pot with hot water in it. This is a good safety feature, if you have toddler or baby, they might tug on the cord and if the cord is fixed on the pot it will spill hot water all over, which is dangerous. But not this one. FYI, this is made in China.

This replaced a ten-year old hot water dispenser of the same brand. It's fairly compact considering how much water it holds. The electronic controls are nice--there are a couple selections but it is not overdone, any more choices would just be useless. It is fairly quiet except during the indicator beeps which is not too frequent but I fail to see any benefit of the audible alerts. It's well built. The level gauge reads is a meaningful way.

During the winter months we didn't drink as much water as we should because drinking cold water seem to make us colder, so we bought the electric water dispenser.It's easy to use, well insulated to maintain temperature for a long time, and a sanitary interior lining for easy cleaning. Making coffee, or instant noodles is quick too. Not exactly cheap, but nice to have.

I Love this electric dispensing pot! Fill with water in the morning and there is hot water all day for tea., cooking., chocolate drink., etc. Of all my small electrics this Zutto is the best.