Coffee machine

[cadenceblur]

Once you’ve had a dual boiler machine it’s hard to get used to anything else 

[michaelbiker]

I have a Lelit MaraX and love it. It takes about 20 minutes to get to temp - so no big deal. There has to be some give and take and buying a good manual machine is not about convenience. If I wanted that then I would have stuck with my Delonghi automatic that couldn't froth milk and made pretty meh espresso. Now I ride home to have coffee! I have a smart plug and have gotten into the habit of turning the machine on when I get to the top of Constantia Nek.

[splat]

I have a Sonoff smart switch with timer that makes sure my machine is warmed up before I wake up or get home from my ride.

Some of the fancier machines have built in timers controlled via an app.

[Chadvdw67]

8 hours ago, MphatiPyga said:

how does the steam time compare to the Breville? Is there a delay between doing the espresso and being able steam? I currently have a Breville, great machine but the steam wand takes forever, I am a bit spoilt as I have Wegas at work.

The steamer is a fair bit quicker, takes around 45 seconds to steam milk, you can also change the temperature of the steamer, so you can make it steam even quicker, it is also nice that being a dual boiler, there is no delay between brewing and steaming, and you can control brew temp and steam temp independently, it also has an adjustable OPV so you can dial that in to your taste as well.

I will admit that the Breville, for me at least, was easier to get good texture in the milk, I struggle a bit with the Gemilai.

 

In line with some other comments, it does take a little longer to get up to temperature, around 5-8 minutes, I leave my phone in the kitchen at night, so I just turn it on when I get up to turn my phone alarm off, and by the time I have got dressed and whatever it is ready to use.

 

I leave the portafilter in the machine while it is heating up as it helps heat the portafilter up, and then just pull a 10 second manual shot to get hot water through it to make sure it is nice and hot for the first shots to be pulled.

Edited 10 minutes ago by Chadvdw67