General knowledge of coffee machine basic understanding of Italian household machine

Because there is a difficulty, there are all kinds of Italian semi-automatic coffee machines on the market, and there is no way to cover all aspects. In addition, I think Xiaomi has more say in machinery, especially I am not very familiar with all kinds of domestic machines.

So, let's start like this:

"if you're right, you spent a sum of money on Italian semi-automata.

Not only for a good cup of coffee, but also to learn about espresso through it. "

If this is the reason, the home machine can indeed satisfy you, and even to some extent, though you are not as skilled as the baristas in the cafe, you are likely to know more about coffee than they do. Because you have no time pressure, you can choose your favorite coffee beans, the boss will not force you to do the production method that you do not agree with, and so on.

In various coffee training schools in Australia, a common feeling among trainers is that family amateur baristas have a better degree of study and attitude towards coffee than many professional baristas.

Therefore, instead of spending a lot of space describing the pros and cons of each machine, it is better to get back to the basics. What is the purpose of buying a home Italian machine?

I have written a lot of diaries about espresso since the beginning of 10 years. But here, I will make a brief summary. If you need to study carefully, you can refer to my early diary about extraction, powder pressing and grinding machine.

The fundamental purpose of the espresso machine is two:

1. Extracted coffee

Through (1) the high temperature is about 93 °, (2) 9 atmospheric pressure of water passes through (3) grind the finer coffee powder and extract about 25-30ml coffee in about 30 seconds. We call it Espresso.

2 dozen milk foam

Lattes or cappuccinos can be made by injecting milk into the air with dry steam of about 110 °and raising the temperature of the milk to about 60-70 °.

Whether it is a La Marzocco Strada worth more than 100000 yuan or a home machine worth about 1000 yuan on the market, their core function is the above four points.

Commercial Mistral

Strictly speaking, the core functions of household Rancilio are exactly the same.

In other words, we know 4 points and basically have a little idea about espresso. Then let's take it step by step:

(1) high water temperature. Does everyone know? This is the core of almost all espresso machines. It is not only to achieve such stability, but more importantly, how the water temperature is kept constant. Because in the extraction of coffee, when the water in the boiler is extracted or milked, the coffee machine should replenish cold water and keep heating to ensure a constant temperature. If you make 1 or 2 cups of coffee, it's not a big problem, but if you keep making it, it's like a water heater in our house, which always rinses with hot water, and the water temperature always fluctuates. Such fluctuations have a great impact on Italian extraction. About 1 °up and down, you can completely change the flavor of the coffee.

The best way to solve this problem is to have a large capacity boiler to hold enough hot water. Even better, two boilers can be used, one responsible for steam and the other for extraction. But we should know that the space for home machines is limited, and the budget should not be too high. So the boiler will naturally be much smaller.

But do you remember the premise I said earlier? If we keep making coffee, we need bigger boilers. Therefore, at home, there is no time pressure, we control the rhythm of production, this problem can be greatly avoided. Specifically, we will talk about it in detail later.

(2) the biggest difference between barometric espresso and ordinary coffee is that it has oil. The main reason for the production of oil is from high pressure. Because through high pressure, we can emulsify substances that could not have been integrated into the water. Therefore, air pressure is the key to the coffee machine. But I need to point out in particular that once nine atmospheres are passed, the difference becomes smaller and smaller. In other words, after nine atmospheres, the size of the air pressure should not be the first condition of our choice. If you choose a home coffee machine to see that there are 13 atmospheres and 15 atmospheres, it can be regarded as 9 atmospheres.

(3) if the first point of grinding can be avoided by human operation, the second point can basically reach the third point of coffee machines on the market, and the thickness of grinding is an important part of baristas to study. Before that, we need a reliable grinder that can grind the powder evenly each time and maintain a certain fineness. Because if it is too thick, the high-temperature and high-pressure water will penetrate instantly, and the coffee will become coffee before the substance is absorbed. At this time, the coffee will be very sour, even without the mellowness of Italian coffee. If the thickness is not uniform, high-temperature and high-pressure water overabsorbs its material when it encounters fine particles, and does not absorb enough when the particles are coarse. Ask yourself a question: would you like to throw a piece of blue cheese into a cup of fat-reducing milk? Although it's all milk, we need the same taste. That's why, as I mentioned earlier, espresso, I have higher requirements for the grinder than the coffee machine.

With the cooperation of the grinder, I can still adjust the flavor of espresso

(4) High temperature steam

The real purpose of steam is to inject air into proteins through high temperature and high pressure. Because water is much heavier than air, the drier the steam, the more stable the foam. As for the temperature, the higher the better, the higher the temperature, the faster it is, and it is difficult to control. But it is too slow and ineffective to form a bubble at the right time.

Of course, steam is on the one hand, because it is injected with protein. Therefore, the protein content of milk is also an important factor in milking. As the steam in household machines is generally low, we can often make up for this problem through high-quality milk and improved milking technology. But what I need to make clear is that it's not easy. And to some extent, this should be the biggest difference between household and commercial machines, that is, the fusion of milk and foam.

I may not be able to do this with my current home phone.

But I can still pull flowers.

Indeed, I didn't mention how good and how bad a particular machine is. It is true that a penny is worth a penny, but if you have a piece of equipment worth more than a thousand yuan, do not improperly belittle yourself. Because we can still learn about coffee in a desirable space through corresponding adjustments. More importantly, the taste is not necessarily bad.

Around 2009, Mark Prince, the owner of Coffeegeek, competed with the Canadian coffee champion, the former a veteran coffee maker, but his Espresso made by Synesso worth more than 100,000 lost to the Canadian champion's coffee made by home machines.

Revelation: the equipment ultimately depends on human adjustments to make good drinks.