Home appliances

[TypicalFashion]

yep, bakelite indeed. the Bauhaus Fuld Telephone c.1930s

[Emel]

Crossposted/moved from interior thread.

I am in love with Chemex coffee.. makers?
Minimialism at its best!
Even though the whole "touch and go" aspect of the espressomakers are lacking.

[galia]

Don't these glass things only look nice when they're new? I mean, they're bound to be mega gross once you've used them, and I think it's better to keep the mega gross conveniently hidden behind china or metal...

in other word, I don't think it's a great design if you actually plan on using it

[Emel]

What? Coffee rings? It's not like you put the grind directly into the bowl itself.
It uses a filter after all.

[t-bone]

Missed out on the coffee discussion here. I had a Rancilio Silvia (modified with a PID controller for stability) as my first machine. I have since moved up to a Rocket Giotto Premium Plus:


I can now pull great shots really consistently every morning, and they are almost as good as the ones from the pros at Stumptown or Grumpy (my go-to afternoon spots). I would steer clear of the superautomatics, I feel the need to have more physical interaction with the process to really get a handle on the finesse it takes to get it right every time, from adjusting the grind to distributing the grounds in the basket to tamping and polishing just right... i don't trust a robot to do these things for me. To put it in SZ terms, its a tactile experience, and learning to get it right is ultimately more rewarding.

Oh and the grinder is as important or MORE important than the machine. I got a commercial Mazzer Super Jolly on ebay that rocks, but the Mazzer Mini is a good option that you can find more easily at retail.

[galia]

What? Coffee rings? It's not like you put the grind directly into the bowl itself.
It uses a filter after all.

yes, coffee rings look grossssssss. plus maybe I'm clumsy, but coffe always gets EVERYWHERE whith me

[Emel]

yes, coffee rings look grossssssss. plus maybe I'm clumsy, but coffe always gets EVERYWHERE whith me

Embrace the Sabi! And stay away from my laptop

[Shucks]

Missed out on the coffee discussion here. I had a Rancilio Silvia (modified with a PID controller for stability) as my first machine. I have since moved up to a Rocket Giotto Premium Plus:


I can now pull great shots really consistently every morning, and they are almost as good as the ones from the pros at Stumptown or Grumpy (my go-to afternoon spots). I would steer clear of the superautomatics, I feel the need to have more physical interaction with the process to really get a handle on the finesse it takes to get it right every time, from adjusting the grind to distributing the grounds in the basket to tamping and polishing just right... i don't trust a robot to do these things for me. To put it in SZ terms, its a tactile experience, and learning to get it right is ultimately more rewarding.

Oh and the grinder is as important or MORE important than the machine. I got a commercial Mazzer Super Jolly on ebay that rocks, but the Mazzer Mini is a good option that you can find more easily at retail.

thanks for the feedback! i'm with you on the experience of mechanical vs electronic - that's why i'm looking at pretty classic ones. keeping in mind i'm a newbie when it comes to espresso machines, would you say the rancilio silvia is complicated to use? that's what i get from reading reviews of it online. how long before you could make a decent espresso and did you have any experience beforehand?

i'm a person who likes to keep things quite basic, as i don't have a lot of patience with technical details. at the same time the 'superautomatics' just don't seem right to me. i'm too conservative about food and coffee i guess.

if i can't find a machine which is simple enough and 'honest' then i guess i can stick to a bialetti at home and go out for my espresso - like most italians do anyway...

[Faust]

Can somebody recommend me a good humidifier?

[t-bone]

thanks for the feedback! i'm with you on the experience of mechanical vs electronic - that's why i'm looking at pretty classic ones. keeping in mind i'm a newbie when it comes to espresso machines, would you say the rancilio silvia is complicated to use? that's what i get from reading reviews of it online. how long before you could make a decent espresso and did you have any experience beforehand?

i'm a person who likes to keep things quite basic, as i don't have a lot of patience with technical details. at the same time the 'superautomatics' just don't seem right to me. i'm too conservative about food and coffee i guess.

if i can't find a machine which is simple enough and 'honest' then i guess i can stick to a bialetti at home and go out for my espresso - like most italians do anyway...

sorry, forgot about coffee discussion here as i've been keeping up with it in the other thread. none of these semi-auto machines are harder to use than any other. the basics are learning to grind to the right fineness and tamp to the right pressure to get the shot to pull in about 25-30 seconds, at about .75oz for a double.

the silvia (and other cheaper single-boiler machines) can be somewhat inconsistent on temperature, which is why i got mine modified with a PID controller to keep it in range. some people like to use "temperature surfing" to get into that sweet spot, which involves pulling a blank shot to bring the temp down at the head, then waiting 30-60 seconds before pulling your real shot to get it at just the right temp. too much work for me!

[jippos]

Humidifier

Can somebody recommend me a good humidifier?

Don't know if you still need this, but I use the Air-O-Swiss AOS 7144. I really don't have much to compare it to, but it works pretty well and is easy to clean.

http://www.airoswiss.net/AOS7144.aspx?DepartmentId=34

[Faust]

Too late, just bought a humidifier yesterday. I asked the guy at the store what the difference between inexpensive and expensive ones (they had a bunch of airoswiss), and he gave me one of those thinly veiled "you are an idiot if you buy an expensive one" answers, so I bought a cheap one.

[snafu]

anyone know any nice moicrowaves in steel ?

[surver]

the all-time most beautiful espresso machine ever designed - La Pavoni espresso machine by Gio Ponti... too bad it's out of production...

[nadir]

Most practical home appliance ever: