West Bend 57040 Electric French Press: Discontinued, and What to Buy Instead

The West Bend 57040 was a four-cup electric French press: a press pot with a heating base that boiled the water for you, so you never had to touch a kettle. Plug it in, add coffee and water, flip the switch, and about five minutes later you plunged and poured. It is discontinued, and a reader named Claudia asked in the comments below where one could still be bought. The honest answer is nowhere, and that is worth explaining, because the reason is more interesting than the machine.

What it was

• 4-cup capacity, roughly enough for two decent mugs
• Heating base that boiled the water in the carafe, so no separate kettle
• Cordless carafe that lifted off the base to pour
• Stainless steel mesh plunger filter
• Single start switch and automatic shut-off
• Dishwasher safe, about 10 by 10 by 13 inches

The appeal was that it collapsed two appliances into one. A normal French press needs a kettle, which means a second device, a second thing to fill, and a second thing to wait for. The 57040 heated and brewed in the same vessel, which is genuinely convenient in an office, a dorm, or any kitchen short on outlets and counter space.

The honest verdict, and its two real flaws

The original version of this review was mostly positive, and the machine did work. But two complaints came up often enough to be the story rather than footnotes.

It dripped. Owners reported water seeping from the reservoir into the pot even when the machine was switched off. On a few units this seems to have been a genuine seal problem rather than user error. On a discontinued machine with no parts channel, that is not fixable.

Four cups is not four cups. As with every coffee maker, a “cup” here is about 4 to 5 oz, not a mug. Four cups is realistically two normal mugs of coffee. Plenty for one person, frustrating for two, and useless for guests. A lot of the disappointment with this machine traces back to that expectation gap rather than the brewing.

There is also the thing nobody wrote about at the time: an electric press heats water in the same vessel it brews in, which gives you almost no control over brew temperature. French press wants water around 195 to 205 F, a little off the boil. A machine that simply boils and brews tends to over-extract, which is why coffee from these often tasted harsher than the same beans in a manual press.

Why electric French presses basically disappeared

This is the useful part, and it explains why you cannot replace a 57040 with a newer version of the same thing. Search for an electric French press today and you will find almost nothing. The category never really took hold, for a few honest reasons.

A French press is already the simplest brewer there is: a jug, a mesh, and a stick. Adding a heating element, a base, and a switch turns a $30 unbreakable object into an appliance with a cord, a failure point, and a footprint. Meanwhile, electric kettles got cheap and fast, so the problem the electric press solved, boiling water, stopped being a problem worth buying a dedicated machine for. And the temperature issue above meant the coffee was rarely as good as the manual version.

What survived instead were two different things: insulated presses that keep coffee hot after brewing, and cheap fast kettles paired with a normal press. Both are better answers to what the 57040 was trying to do.

What to buy instead

Pick the replacement that matches why you wanted the electric one.

If you wanted coffee that stays hot, which is what most 57040 owners actually wanted, get an insulated press. A double-walled stainless steel French press keeps a brew drinkable for hours with no electricity, no cord, and nothing to break. The Stanley Classic Stay-Hot and the Secura double-wall presses are the two that consistently sell best in this category, and they solve the heat problem far better than a warming base ever did.

If you wanted the no-kettle convenience, the honest modern answer is a press plus a cheap electric kettle. Together they cost less than the 57040 did, boil faster, and the kettle earns its counter space for tea, oatmeal, and everything else. If you want to control the brew temperature properly, a variable-temperature kettle lets you hit that 195 to 205 F window the electric press never could.

If you genuinely want a plug-in press, there is essentially one option left: a Stoke Voltaics electric French press, a 120V two-in-one that boils and presses in the same body. It is built for camping, travel, and hotel rooms rather than kitchen counters, which tells you something about where the remaining demand for this idea actually lives.

For getting the most out of whichever press you end up with, our guide on how to make French press coffee covers the ratio, grind, and timing that matter far more than the machine does.

Frequently asked questions

Can you still buy the West Bend 57040?

No. It is discontinued and does not appear at major retailers in any form, new or refurbished. Used units occasionally turn up on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. Given the known dripping issue and the total absence of replacement parts, it is not worth hunting for.

Is there a modern electric French press?

Barely. The category has almost vanished. The main survivor is a portable 120V boil-and-press unit aimed at camping and travel. For home use, an insulated press or a normal press plus an electric kettle does the job better and cheaper.

Why does my electric French press drip or leak?

On the 57040 this was usually the reservoir seal, and it happened even with the machine switched off. There are no parts available to fix it. If yours has started leaking, that is generally the end of its useful life.

How much coffee does a 4-cup press actually make?

About two normal mugs. A “cup” in coffee-maker terms is roughly 4 to 5 oz, not a 10 or 12 oz mug. If you are buying for two coffee drinkers, look at a 32 oz or larger press rather than a 4-cup machine.