Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

[Raymond Lin]

If it had been closer to say £500-£600 I could be tempted but they’ve crammed lots of features in, probably more than really needed for a home machine. I have to agree that money gets you into a totally different class.

I think my classic was a bit over £200 many many years ago.

Prices back in 2012, found this in my email.

 

[Kainz]

I almost choked on my morning toast here thinking those were todays prices!

 

[jpaul]

That's inflationentertainment
( dedica still sub £200 - 95% of a BE/baby )

 

[jpaul]

had forgotten how good they are V - that digital multimter with plugin thermocouple would be useful

new guy doing some fact based videos on the dedica, given that you can get warehouse ones <£100 they still seem a good deal
WORTH THE UPGRADE? DELONGHI DEDICA vs GAGGIA CLASSIC
perhaps he's on retainer with delonghi

 

[Grimley]

More tinkering with Silvia. Looks pretty good. Hard to catch in a pic, so turned the main lights in the kitchen off lol! 6 x led downlights (24v) with a driver mounted to the rear under the water guard, although both that and the LEDs are IP67 rated. There's also a low water warning flashing yellow led to the left of the brew switch now as well. Comes on when the water needs topping up. I do need to strip the frame right down though and tackle the rust that's formed. Either that or replace with a new stainless frame, but that'll be north of £100. We'll see.

Mines going that way sadly. I would like to replace the frame but its a big job for me, I'd be worried I'd get something wrong and end up with a non working machine. I just dont have the time these days, my machine is a daily drive so it would be a big loss if I did muck it up. It would be an excuse to upgrade though.

 

[haaammit]

Mines going that way sadly. I would like to replace the frame but its a big job for me, I'd be worried I'd get something wrong and end up with a non working machine. I just dont have the time these days, my machine is a daily drive so it would be a big loss if I did muck it up. It would be an excuse to upgrade though.

I do know what you mean as a daily driver, but the job itself looks pretty straightforward tbh - they entire brew assembly seems to be only held in place with two bolts and will come out as one entire unit (plus a nut for the steam wand). Wires and stuff are easy enough to either label or photograph. Once I've decided which way I'm going to go, I'll try and take some pics of the whole process. I've had my unit apart several times with the various upgrades over the years!

 

[nst68]

Has anyone got a Ninja Luxe Cafe, would you recommend one?

 

[jpaul]

I'd keep your eye on barista express refurb availibility https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335769280132 £266

 

[jpaul]

something for Rocky and his Bezzera Mater

existing burrs were aftermarket, like new ones, not sure I like the fact new one has fewer blades ... would you accept it ?
(hadn't previously considered that aspect of them)

e: fix link

 

[jpaul]

installed them - seem ok, level zero is now at number 10 on the adjuster;
used some IPA alcohol for cleaning seating for burrs, screws were a bit tight,must have been me when I did them for first time 5+ years ago.

 

[jpaul]

installed new presuurestat + citric descale, pf& dispersion plate are a bity dillapidated, only citric seems to fully remove coffee residue
will monitor whether dead-band frequency of boiler heating is increased now.

e: fix image

 

[jonneymendoza]

There are so many other machines I would get for £1800....

Could get a far better machine for 1k

 

[Jonny69]

@jpaul Puly Caff in hot water will get the coffee residue off. Citric is good for descaling but it won’t shift the hardened oily coffee residue.

 

[currantloaf]

Looking at upgrading my setup. Have a safe barista express which I have been using for 4 years. Tend to drink espresso based drinks and so was looking to add a df64 gen 2 grinder. Can’t see anything that comes close to beating it for the price at around 330 new. Anything else worth considering ?

 

[Jonny69]

Looking at upgrading my setup. Have a safe barista express which I have been using for 4 years. Tend to drink espresso based drinks and so was looking to add a df64 gen 2 grinder. Can’t see anything that comes close to beating it for the price at around 330 new. Anything else worth considering ?

DF64 is definitely the grinder to have at the moment. My only comment/concern is that there have been a number of machines like that which have come onto the market and then disappear. Some of them have had teething problems and longevity issues. I think treat the DF54/DF64 just as that - it’s a potentially one-off machine, it grinds well now but might not last long and in a few years time there’s a good chance it won’t exist and the company making it will be long gone.

 

[jpaul]

Puly Caff in hot water will get the coffee residue off. Citric is good for descaling but it won’t shift the hardened oily coffee residue.

usually put the pf w/o basket with a tsp of pulycaf in it in a saucepan(not on hob) and pour in boiling water ...and leave to soak, but it doesn't shift all the coffee residue ,
but, perversely, citric succeeds

 

[Jupiter]

Looking at upgrading my setup. Have a safe barista express which I have been using for 4 years. Tend to drink espresso based drinks and so was looking to add a df64 gen 2 grinder. Can’t see anything that comes close to beating it for the price at around 330 new. Anything else worth considering ?

I'd save the time searching and go for it at that price.

 

[Street]

Has anyone got a Ninja Luxe Cafe, would you recommend one?

One of my missus's mates bought one and it's actually OK. She likes coffee but isn't a coffee nerd so wanted something simple but a step up from her Nespresso machine. It pretty much tells her what to do, grinds well enough and she can get a decent cup with minimal faff. My only concern would be longevity and repairability, however I've got a few Ninja devices that are years old so hopefully it should last.

 

[AndyCr15]

Sorry, coffee n00b here. On advice of some folk on this forum I've recently purchased a Delonghi Dedica and some ESE pods to use in it. Watching some videos using ground beans, they say one cup is about 12g to 14g, but these ESE pods are 7g. Why would they be so small? Should/could I use two? Or, one after the other?

Also, already I'm rather tempted to try grinding some beans. What would be a good beginner grinder option and recommend some beans (pref with a link?) Thanks!

 

[LuckyBenski]

Sorry, coffee n00b here. On advice of some folk on this forum I've recently purchased a Delonghi Dedica and some ESE pods to use in it. Watching some videos using ground beans, they say one cup is about 12g to 14g, but these ESE pods are 7g. Why would they be so small? Should/could I use two? Or, one after the other?

Also, already I'm rather tempted to try grinding some beans. What would be a good beginner grinder option and recommend some beans (pref with a link?) Thanks!

Just go straight to fresh beans TBH. The biggest quality step change I ever saw was moving to grinding my own coffee.

They're small to save costs basically - you won't be getting a mega tasty, complex and luxurious coffee from something in a packet.

TBF espresso dosing has gone very high also, with speciality coffee circles often considering 18g a normal dose.