Established in 1925, Le Creuset has been making world-class cookware from its foundry in Fresnoy le Grand, France for almost 100 years. Innovation remains at the forefront of their success – they’ve expanded the types of products on offer and have taken advantage of many technological advances since its beginnings. We used a thermometer to record the temperature of each cafetiere for one hour to find out which ones cooled down the fastest. Ease of cleaning If you want a simple way to make a decent cup of coffee, the best cafetière is an excellent tool to have in your kitchen arsenal. Also known as a French press, a cafetière merely requires you to spoon in your ground coffee, top up with boiled water, then place the filter lid on top and leave for a few minutes before plunging it to take the grounds to the bottom. The coffee is then ready to pour and drink. Learn more about cleaning and caring for your Le Creuset Stoneware. Cafetiere With Metal Press Features Be careful not to leave it for too long, though. Once you go past the four-minute mark you risk over-extracting the coffee, which gives you a very bitter brew that most people will find unpleasant to drink. Five things we learned testing cafetieres

To find out how much each cafetiere lets through, we poured the contents of each cafetiere through a separate filter screen and assessed how much was left on the screen.

Take the plunge and make a better cup of coffee with these stylish and convenient cafetières

The stainless steel cafetieres cooled more slowly than any of the other cafetieres we tested. The best stainless steel cafetiere for heat retention lost less than half the heat in the first 10 minutes than the worst glass cafetiere did. The filter screen in your cafetiere should effectively push the coffee grounds to the bottom of the beaker without letting too many through. Cafetieres that filter poorly will leave you with bitter grounds floating around in your cup.

However, if you find cleaning that filter a bit of a fiddly chore, then the One Brew definitely does have one up on the french press as it’s very easy to clean. As the name suggests, you can only make one cup at a time, but if this isn’t an issue, you’ll be pleased with its neat, minimalist design. Four minutes is the generally accepted amount of time people let their cafetieres brew for before pressing, and is how long we left each cafetiere to brew for in our tests. A Le Creuset Cafetiere is a must-have for any country kitchen lover and a key part of your Le Creuset collection. Le Creuset Stoneware is crafted by artisans using specialist clays and bright, beautiful, glazes. This sleek yet striking Le Creuset Cafetiere is strong, scratch-resistant and simple to clean. The Le Creuset Cafetiere features the iconic Le Creuset three-ring design on the lid which will fit perfectly into your existing Le Creuset collection of stoneware and cast iron. The dense stoneware is made with specialist clays and fired at the highest temperatures to achieve exceptional thermal resistance and it maintains an even temperature. Available in a choice of colours, the fully enamelled exterior is easy to clean and is scratch-resistant so that it keeps its good looks. The surface keeps it hygienic and free from absorbing odours and flavours. A cafetiere should be comfortable to hold and pour, and you shouldn't need more than a gentle push to press the filter down.We measured the rate that the temperature of each cafetiere dropped over one hour, and discovered that a 1,000ml cafetiere containing 350ml of coffee cooled down faster than a fully filled 350ml cafetiere.

Cafetières come in different sizes and they can be measured in litre size or by cup size. The 350ml version makes one large mug, two smaller mugs or three cups. You can also buy ones that make six cups, which are usually 650ml in size. The one-litre versions are a good family size or for entertaining as it makes about eight cups. Nowadays you can get everything in between, too, from four cups right up to 12 cups. We’d always suggest going for slightly bigger than you’ll need as most of us are used to big coffees, and you might be surprised at just how small one cup is in the cafetiére world. With this in mind, and to be precise, we’ve specified the sizes of the cafetières in our roundup below in mililitres and litres. What kind of coffee should I use and how much? Crafted from famous Le Creuset stoneware for a robust and high-quality finish, this coffee pot with a metal press makes morning and after-dinner coffee a special occasion. The cafetiere will brew your coffee to perfection, keep it hot, as well as commanding a bold presence on your dining table. Cafetieres can be a nuisance to clean. Coffee grounds easily get lodged in the nooks and crannies of the press, so it's important that your cafetiere is easy to take apart and clean. Add ground coffee beans and boiling water and plunge the mesh sieve through the press for a stronger-flavoured coffee. Filter screens with small amounts of granules and sediment earned higher filtration scores than those that let more through. Heat retentionIf you prefer your coffee to be milder, let it brew for less time, and if you like your coffee stronger and more bitter you can leave it for longer. Le Creuset has continued to use the hand-crafted techniques and the original process of forging and casting in the manufacturing of its cookware. This attention to its heritage is also characteristic of the design. The Cocotte, or French Oven, was one of the first cast iron items produced by Le Creuset and is still the most popular item sold in a range of bright retro colours, with Volcanic (orange) the company’s trademark. MPN: 60706084080003, 9102820006, 9102820042, 60706086420003, 91028200444, 9102820020, 60706087160003, 9102820000, 9102820017, 9102820009

We selected and bought 16 bestselling cafetieres that were widely available from leading UK retailers at the time of testing and were often recommended online. Ease of pressing and pouring We judged how convenient each cafetiere was on each of these factors and penalised them if they poured messily or took a lot of effort to press. Coffee grounds filtration As for how much you use, it will depend on the strength of coffee and the strength you personally like your drink. As a rough guide, use 6g (about three tablespoons) of coffee per 100ml. If you’re a real coffee lover, be prepared to try different coffees, grinds and brew times to work out your favourite blend. Most cafetières have two main parts: a cylinder or beaker and a filter that fits tightly inside the cylinder, which is attached to the lid by a pole running through, with a plunger at the top. Push down when the coffee is ready to drink, and the filter pushes down on the coffee grounds, leaving you with grounds-free, tasty coffee. The filter is usually stainless-steel wire or nylon mesh, although more traditional ones can be made of cheesecloth (though this is rare these days). What features should I look for?While it’s not a french press at all, strictly speaking, Barista & Co’s One Brew deserves a spot in our roundup. The brewing process is actually very similar. Rather, the main difference is the omission of the cafetière’s all-important plunger. Instead, the One Brew’s silicone seal and stainless steel filter ensure that no grounds escape into your cup. Stainless steel cafetieres are popular for keeping your coffee insulated, and our heat retention tests confirmed that they're effective.