Customer Reviews

Zojirushi CV-DSC40 VE Hybrid Water Boiler and Warmer, Stainless Steel

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I am a recently disabled adult that cannot get enough of a good cup of tea. So seeing this I thought it would make a nice birthday present for me, and make life a little easier around the kitchen. It performs as it says it will.

It looks bulky but is surprisingly lightweight and easy to handle. The whole unit spins on a lazy-susan device making it east to direct the steam vent away from kitchen surfaces.

You will need a water pitcher of some kind to fill this easily. I have a medium sized one sand simply filly the pitcher twice to fill this device once. The handle on top, removable lid, and notched corner makes emptying and cleaning a breeze.

The temperature features are splendid and accurate, there are three:
205 for noodles/ramen etc, herbal infusions, pu-er, Assam and some other black teas..
195 For Darjeeling or delicate blacks like Illam valley are at this temperature as well, let the water sit a few minutes in the brew pot befor adding tea leaves, if you have a very delicate tea.
175 for green or white teas. A few of the more delicate whites fill the tea pot first, then add the leaves. By filling your teapot dry first, this allows the water to lose 5-10F by just warming the pot. Often enough to make a better flavored tea.

On a given day I can go from pu-er tsocha right from boiling, and set the temp to 195. Make a pot of bold assam in the afternoon when at a full boil, then set the temp to 175. Now, after dinner it is set for making jasmine tea for dessert. All with a minimal energy usage and cost.

I have found it a good idea to refill it only 1-2 times then empty the remains, give it a brush inside with a towel, and then let it completely dry. My scale buildup was reduced quite a bit this way.

For a fully able person this unit -is- a bit of a luxury. A simple electric teapot with temperature control would do you just fine for a fraction of the initial cost. This will make cost up over time by the thermos nature though, just a fyi.

Have a chain tea drinker in your life though or thoughts for limited commercial use (like a small teahouse), or like tea but have a very full life and time schedule? This would make a great gift for you or even a small splurge to treat yourself.


UPDATE:
Almost two years later and it not only looks fine but functions just as well as the day I got it. I have to descale it about every 9 months or so. Other than that it is pretty maintenance free. Talk about longer term bang for your buck. If you drink tea or would use boiling water on a daily basis, this is a staple for your kitchen.

Some other uses I found. When making soup, rice, thinning a sauce, or deglazing a pan fill your measuring device from the Zojirushi set in slow pour. I now use water from the boiler and the hot water not only speeds up the process, but some flavors are left alone because the room temp water would have cooled the dish and altered the flavors.

I have also found the steel finish wipes very easily. A friend who bought the white version has some staining that stubbornly persists to this day. All in all if you get one you will not be disappointed.

(small edits made above with input from trial and error over the period I've owned this boiler.)

This is my third Zojirushi electric boiler and the best so far! It boils water quickly, dispenses water at a rate that prevents splashing and saves energy by using vacuum insulation. In response to an earlier review, I placed a digital thermometer probe inside a nearly full pot to gauge the accuracy of the unit. The selected temperature of 195 degrees Fahrenheit was measured to be 192 degrees. This difference seems insignificant considering thermometer margin of error. Also, the water temperature does rise above the highest setting of 208 degrees but this is ONLY after boiling. It does return to the selected temperature and maintains at this setting. Lastly, the unit is so well insulated that after choosing the "vacuum insulation" setting - which uses no electricity until dispensing water, 195 degree water was still 150 degrees 8 hours later. This is quite an impressive unit.

If you're looking for hot-water on tap for tea, hot cereals, instant soups, ramen, etc - this is a very convenient item.

I drink green teas heavily, and bought it based on the strength of reviews and the Zojirushi brand reputation. I was not disappointed.

I fill it up from the tap, move it to the counter and plug it in. It usually boils in around an hour, and then settles back down to the (adjustable) setpoint in another 1.5 ~ 2 hours. Although I haven't taken a thermometer to its output to verify consistency, I've had great results from the teas I use, so the variations can't be too wild.

As is common with Japanese consumer products the controls are well thought out. It has an unlock button to prevent you shooting water onto the floor or something else accidentally, and the double action lever to open the top makes it hard to have your hand in the way & get a steam burn as you open it.

The water level is clearly visible via a clear tube with a patterned background, and the 4L capacity suits my tea usage for somewhere between 4 and 7 days, depending on just how much I happen to feel like having.

I especially recommend it if you're a Macha tea fan, as it makes the process remarkably fast and easy, simply scoop your tea into a bowl, add some water straight from the Zojirushi, whisk and enjoy.

The only design annoyance I've seen is that the power plug relies on magnets to hold itself in the socket. This is itself a good idea, except most of the body is metal. So if you position the dispenser such that you 're trying to plug it up from behind and can't see where the plug should be exactly, the magnet sticks to the body anywhere you put it until you can feel around for the socket. A fairly minor annoyance, but one that could have been fixed by making the body out of plastic further around the plug socket.

Very solid overall product.

I've been using the Zojirushi DSC40 for almost 3 weeks now. The quality and build of this water broiler/warmer is superb. So easy to use and yet very high tech! My wife loves it. My mom now wants one for her place.

The vacuum temperature (no electricity) option works great! It will keep the water termperature at 150 degree for eight hours. If you want it hotter, just press the "REBOIL" button and you will have 212 degree hot water in approximately 7 minutes. Oh and when it does boil water, it's design to emit steam slowly or as less as possible so as to avoid having too much water build up on your cabinet above the unit.

Although the 4 liter capacity is a bit small for our family use, it's really no hassle at all to add more water when it's low. Come to think of it, the 4 liter is perfect because it's not too heavy to move it back and forth from the sink to the outlet when it's full of water.

This unit is definitely worth the high price. You won't regret it.

This is the first water heater I've bought although my in-laws have one. And it is exactly what one has learned to expect of a made-in-Japan electronic device: it is cute, functional, very easy to use, unobtrusive (except when if finishes boiling water and plays a short Bach minuet which my wife likes), and most importantly: operates exactly how you want it to with no annoyances! (What could be worse than a device that annoys you every time you use it?) Here's a small example of its design perfection: the unlock button keeps it unlocked long enough so that if you pause briefly to look inside your cup you can continue filling without pushing it again. Clearly a masterfully designed water heater. Its one small design flaw (that displays its primary intent for the Japanese market) is that the English text on the buttons extends slightly beyond the circles (whereas I expect the kanji would fit exactly in the circles).

Another issue that I now realize is important is power consumption. It claims to use only 17 watts when maintaining water at 195 deg (with room temp 68 deg). So I don't feel guilty leaving it on all night and can easily get my wife a hot cup of tea when I wake in the morning. I didn't see this power consumption number anywhere before I bought it, although now I would definitely compare power consumption between models before buying one.

This Zojirushi replaced an under-sink Insinkerator instant hot water heater (which seemed to fail every 18m). Bought this unit and love it -- fill it up in the morning, can draw a full 1.5l coffee pot (french press) much hotter than insinkerator. Then we set to energy-saver mode (no electricity, just insulated keep-warm mode). If I want a cup of tea in the afternoon and the water has cooled off too much, I hit reboil and in a short time (typically minutes), I can make tea...

Saves energy, ready quickly enough for my needs to not have to keep it on any of the 3 keep-warm-at temperature settings. Quiet, nice design... Plan to get one for my Mother-in-law for Christmas. Highly recommended...

After the recommendation of our family we invested almost $200 in getting a top of the line hot water dispenser. The hot water dispenser was a really great addition to the kitchen and we used it every day. After ten months, the pump just stopped working one day.

It would make a funny noise and that is it. I tried to call their customer service, but they could not find my registration even though I had sent in the card. Unfortunately I did not have the original receipt and even though I could produce the bank record, they pretty much said I was out of luck, even though the manufacturing code indicated the unit was less than a year and half old.

I called one of their service centers next, and they pretty much said it was $50 just to open it and take a look, and then the cost of parts and labor. Since I am a handy guy, I then tried to fix it for myself. They use a security screw, so you can't open it unless you have the special security nut driver.

So, would I buy this again? Probably not. I'm looking at installing an instant hot water dispenser for my sink which will run me about $300 with installation. This may seem to be twice as much, but given the electrical costs, lack of counter space and the ease of replacement, this seems a much better deal.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

My original selection criteria were the smaller 2 liter versions that provided certain temperature settings for my white tea and green tea. Unfortunately, this limited the number of models to choose the color schemes on the models that met my needs weren't very attractive to me (mostly plastic pink or beige colors). So, I chose this model based on looks and the vacuum ability.

It turns out that I drink almost 2 liters of tea per day. The manual recommends changing the water out daily, but I get lazy, so changing the water out every 2 days seems like an okay compromise. Also, I find that I do use the water for other things like cooking. Boiling eggs have been so much faster now that I'm using near 200F water. I also rinse out cups/mugs with the hot water so that it'll be easier to clean off the tea stains.

One thing I find that would've been nice is a temperature setting of 185F. I find some tea (like dragon pearl and jasmine pearl) infuses better with water temperature above 175F, but I'm a little concerned that 195F is a little high since it takes a few minutes more for the tea to cool down, which can imply that I may be overheating my tea in the beginning. This might not be a big deal since the tea I've used so far still tastes fine. Also, it would've nice to have a longer cord. It's just a little over than 3 feet, which limits where I can place it. Don't forget, this thing boils water, which releases much steam in the process, so you probably shouldn't put it directly beneath a wooden cupboard or on a shelf.

Just a note for those that may skip over the description, the stainless steel is only on the outside and does not refer to the top and bottom exterior or the fill level gauge. It is noticeable in the picture where the color is different. The interior is a non-stick-coated type (i.e., plastic-based), which is like most other water boilers of this type. This unit provides 175, 195, and 208F temperature settings, a timer, and a selectable water boiled audible alert that lasts for a several seconds. Also, it can rotate on its base.

This is a rebuttal to Jessie's review. She asserts that the water heater doesn't accurately heat the water to her desired temperature. What she doesn't know is that the water heater always boils the water first to drive out the chlorine, then the temperature drifts down to it's preset limit where it is kept warm. What Jessie needs to do is to fill the unit before bed, set the timer and when she wakes up she will be rewarded with water at her desired temperature. It will keep the water at that temperature until she fills it again, then it will boil the water again, and let it drift down to her pre-set temperature.
This is a terrific little unit: efficient, accurate, and a joy to those who read their instructions.

I have been using this product daily for about three months now. It has become one of those happy purchases for which I find more uses than I originally intended. I bought it when I switched from an automatic drip machine to a French press for brewing my morning coffee. I wanted a source of clean, hot, temperature-controlled water available quickly. I also make tea nearly every day, for my partner in the morning and myself in the afternoon. So I figured between the two uses I could justify buying an electric water boiler.

I decided on this model after comparing its electricity usage against less expensive models. The thermal carafe in this boiler means it actually uses less electricity to keep its water supply at the desired temperature. I thought its 4-liter capacity might be more than I could use, but I decided to splurge anyway.

Since I've received it I find I use it not just for tea and coffee but for almost all my hot-water needs. If I'm making pasta, I'll dump the whole contents in the pasta pot and have water at a rolling boil in less than five minutes, instead of 20 using tap water. When I bake bread I take some water from the pot and add tap water to bring it down to 120 degrees, then I add it to my dough to activate the yeast. Any other time I need hot or boiling water for cooking, I get it from the Zojirushi. Not only is it faster, I believe it is more energy-efficient to heat water in this device than to do so on my gas stove.

While I originally thought I'd never go through 4 liters in a day, I find in practice that I usually refill it at least once a day. I'd say my actual usage is probably around 6 liters per day. And that's just for the two of us.

The instruction manual advises regular cleaning with citric acid to remove mineral deposits. In the three months I've owned it, I have not noticed any buildup. We have pretty pure tap water here in the SF Bay Area, so my experience may be unusual. But so far maintenance has been a breeze: I dump the contents in the evening after dinner, let it air dry for a few hours, and refill it at bedtime with fresh water, setting the timer to have it ready for breakfast the next morning.

Sure, it's an extravagance. I could certainly live without this product, as I did for many years. But it's darned handy, and I'm really glad I bought it.