I'm sure many of you have been to IKEA, seen their moka pot, and wondered, "is that worth buying?" At $20, it might seem too good to be true considering an equivalent stainless Bialetti is upwards of $43.

I recently bought one myself to replace my 4-cup aluminum Bialetti and (hopefully) answer this question with a quick review!

Construction:

• 200 series stainless steel, brushed and polished on the outside, and just brushed on the inside; pretty much identical to the Bialetti. Not the best quality steel, but it's safe to use and didn't have any strange finishes (coatings) that might cause a concern.

• Sturdy and simply built. Some parts are just bent together (like the hinge) and might corrode over time, but 200 series stainless steel is mildly corrosion resistant and should last for at least a few years of daily use. Bialetti models are probably made of 300 series stainless which is more corrosion resistant.

• The main problem is that the included gasket fits too loosely, and as a result will not seal the two halves of the moka pot, possibly leading to bad brews. (More on this later)

Brewing:

• Simple to use as any moka pot, but since the outside is polished and round, it can be difficult to screw the halves together without a rubberized heat-resistant glove. If you don't pre-heat your water then this isn't an issue, but I do. I end up having to use the pressure relief valve for leverage.

• The main reason I switched to stainless is because aluminum made my coffee taste tinny/metallic. I didn't notice any weird flavors with this moka pot, though!

Bottom Line: yes it's worth $20, but you'll need to spend an extra $6 or so to buy a replacement gasket for the best experience (see below)... this is still cheaper than buying a stainless Bialetti.

Since the loose gasket is the only really bad thing about this moka pot, I researched how to fix it using the replacement gaskets from Bialetti:

1. Gasket size chart

2. Basket size chart

Using calipers, the IKEA moka pot has a sizes of:

• Pot inner dia.: 2.85 in.

• Basket outer dia.: 2.565 in.

• Gasket: inner dia.: 2.175 in. / outer dia.: 2.825 in.

So now we can see why the gasket is loose; the outer diameter is only 2.825 inches and is fitting into the pot which has an inside diameter of 2.85 inches! 1/40^th of an inch might not seem like much, but this prevents the gasket from sealing the entire area, especially since rubber gaskets tend to shrink slightly with use.

Going back to our charts, it looks like the Bialetti 6-cup stainless gaskets will fit, which I can order for $6:

• Gasket outer diameter: 2.875 in. / basket outer diameter: 2.563 in.

Looks pretty close to the IKEA pot. We actually want our gasket to be slightly bigger than the pot diameter so that it fits snugly, even when it shrinks.