expired Posted by PennyFound | Staff • Nov 16, 2021
Nov 16, 2021 7:12 PM
Item 1 of 5
Item 1 of 5
expired Posted by PennyFound | Staff • Nov 16, 2021
Nov 16, 2021 7:12 PM
KitchenAid Semi-Automatic Espresso Machine w/ Automatic Milk Frother Attachment
+ Free Shipping$280
$450
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Still have to reiterate the importance of a good grinder to allow this machine to work to its full potential. If someone is entry-level and trying to pull good shots out of this, they shouldn't think they can do it with any old $50 grinder off the Kohl's shelf.
There are also significant downsides. I think these like Calphalon machines are made by sunbeam. Schematics and replacement parts are not available. No idea if the pressure is properly regulated or adjustable. The casing is plastic apart from the more expensive stainless model.
Edit: The Calphalon iQ and Amazon Commercial espresso machines have the same 3-eared 58mm portafilter design. These machines probably share components and perform similarly. Still haven't seen a technical review, schematic, or teardown of any of them.
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note: i don't personally understand what the water hardness settings do
Excerpt from manual
PROGRAMING THE WATER TEMPERATURE AND WATER HARDNESS1 21 2
To change pre-programmed Water Temperature: Toggle the Mode button to select Espresso, press and hold for 3 seconds.The indicator lights will show the default factory setting or previous saved setting (see Indicator light chart for reference).Toggle the Mode button between Low-Mid-High to select desired temperature.To save your selection, press button or wait for 10 seconds.11 21 2
To change pre-programmed Water Hardness: Toggle the Mode button to Water, Press and hold for 3 seconds.The indicator lights will show the default factory setting or previous saved setting (see Indicator light chart for reference).Toggle the Mode button between Low-Mid-High to select desired water hardness. To save your selection, press button or wait for 10 seconds.
INDICATOR LIGHT CHARTTIP: To restore all factory settings, Press and Hold "Dose button" for 3 seconds. All indicator lights will blink indicating that all settings are restored.Water Temperature or Water HardnessLowMediumHighNOTE: Water Hardness - Low: 0 to 60,ppm, Medium: 60 to 120 ppm, High: more than 120 ppm
PROGRAMING FUNCTIONTIP: To restore all factory settings, Press and Hold "Dose button" for 3 seconds. Changing the factory default Espresso or Water Volumes may impact the intended performance of the machine.
This doesn't come with a grinder, which for espresso you're going to likely spend a good 200+ to get an entry level electric grinder (could go for a nice manual commandante if you want to save money and build arm muscle). The tamper also looks like garbage, so you'll want to replace that if you actually want to compress the edges too.
Hoffman has a ton of useful information for any beginner looking to get into coffee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avM-XsaTBIc (espresso machines under $100)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1LUkfp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HIGdYy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgjvLQu5NlE [youtube.com] (general guide to grinders)
TL;DW; if you just want nicer coffee... do a v60 or french press with a nice $100 grinder and fresh coffee. If you want to drop $1k and make nice lattes... just watch the videos.
This doesn't come with a grinder, which for espresso you're going to likely spend a good 200+ to get an entry level electric grinder (could go for a nice manual commandante if you want to save money and build arm muscle). The tamper also looks like garbage, so you'll want to replace that if you actually want to compress the edges too.
Hoffman has a ton of useful information for any beginner looking to get into coffee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avM-XsaTBIc (espresso machines under $100)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1LUkfp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HIGdYy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgjvLQu5NlE [youtube.com] (general guide to grinders)
TL;DW; if you just want nicer coffee... do a v60 or french press with a nice $100 grinder and fresh coffee. If you want to drop $1k and make nice lattes... just watch the videos.
sure, it's not as upscale and tasty as shaken hobo coffee....
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sure, it's not as upscale and tasty as shaken hobo coffee....
Espresso is very complicated... you're putting a puck of coffee under high pressure to extract just the right amount of flavors from it. Don't extract enough? Super sour. Extract too much? Super bitter. Bad puck prep or a bad machine? Channeling through one spot, causing overextraction of the coffee and underextraction of everything else. Repeatability is king, even if your coffee is just okay... a bad machine and cheap grinder will make it nearly impossible for anyone not already experienced.
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That said. I just bought this kitchenaid, and 60%+ sure I will be returning it. Just got to try because people saying the build is good. Also saying it makes bad esspresso, but maybe they just don't know what they are doing whatsoever. I'll see soon.
Espresso is very complicated... you're putting a puck of coffee under high pressure to extract just the right amount of flavors from it. Don't extract enough? Super sour. Extract too much? Super bitter. Bad puck prep or a bad machine? Channeling through one spot, causing overextraction of the coffee and underextraction of everything else. Repeatability is king, even if your coffee is just okay... a bad machine and cheap grinder will make it nearly impossible for anyone not already experienced.
https://www.bedbathandb
It's more of an 'espresso' device. I use a fine grind of espresso (more like med-fine because I don't have a good grinder yet, and I don't want to be hard on my grinder). Great esspresso/capacino/latte like drinks with a frother.
People make reg coffee in it too. When I do reg coffee, I do pour overs in a plastic hario v60
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006IKM...hario
$10. I use the plastic one because it doesn't steal the water's heat like the ceramic/glass/steel ones do. for those you are expect to preheat them in hot water first.
With the v60 I use these filters ($10):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...UTF8&
For better info, watch youtube videos. search for 'aeropress' 'v60'
The above is great for anyone who wants way better-than-almost-all-crappy-local-coffee-shop stuff. I'd say about 9 out of 10 coffee shops whose employees act like baristas make complete crap. Predictably, in rich affluent areas there will be a a few places that make great espresso. I'm in a regular town, and what I make at home with cheap aeropress and v60 is better than anything around here by far.
Strangely, I hate starbucks cofffee, but their pour overs are somewhat consistent and can be pretty good. They hate making them though and will give you crap, starting with asking you if you would like an americano instead (making one is fast). I can like a pike pou rover. Ask them if they have anything besides Pike avail for a pour over. Some of the others are good, some are horrible. I think their sumatra is crap, even in pour over. The pike can be anywhere from crap to excellent depending on the bean that day. It varies wildly. Regardless of what coffee you get at starbucks, the pour over far better than the ready made. They just harass you when you order one. Takes them 5 min to make one. They often go to next customer before starting your pour over, and if they do start it they forget about it for 10 min.
Those are my best coffee tips. don't take them lightly, I'm older, not my first rodeo.
Espresso is very complicated... you're putting a puck of coffee under high pressure to extract just the right amount of flavors from it. Don't extract enough? Super sour. Extract too much? Super bitter. Bad puck prep or a bad machine? Channeling through one spot, causing overextraction of the coffee and underextraction of everything else. Repeatability is king, even if your coffee is just okay... a bad machine and cheap grinder will make it nearly impossible for anyone not already experienced.
What this guy is saying is totally true. I've been through all of that. The sour under extractions, the bitter over extractions. It's very complicated. The fineness of the coffee makes extraction faster. The temp of water makes extraction faster. Speaking of regular coffee. For light coffees you want to use the hottest water you can, boiling. For dark beans you don't want to go much over 190F or a chemical comes out that tastes like crap, and also high temps over extract dark coffee and tastes like crap on a second level.
Oily beans completely goo up your grinder, making them needing to be cleaned after one grind (pretty much). Also, cheaper grinders can face instant death if you put oily gooey dark whole beans in. I have a pretty good cheap grinder that has been doing great for over a year, and I think it's because I stick with a med/fine grind of medium coffees (never oily beans). Because I don't try to put it on the fine settings, and because I use low-oil beans, that grinder is doing a good job so far. I advise the same for any grinder that cost you less than $150.
I consider myself a pretty diligent smart guy on how I approach things like coffee. Trying to make a decent cup took a lot more attempts over a lot more years than I'd want to admit when young. I've got the pour over and aeropress and french press coffee down pretty good. Really good actually, yet still not perfectly consistant. Now I want to get an espresso machine and am baffled on how to select one logically. The no brainers cost thousands, but I cant afford that. I'm sure they are getting better at the 400-1000 range, but how many am I supposed to buy to figure out which one is good? sucks.
Oily beans completely goo up your grinder, making them needing to be cleaned after one grind (pretty much). Also, cheaper grinders can face instant death if you put oily gooey dark whole beans in. I have a pretty good cheap grinder that has been doing great for over a year, and I think it's because I stick with a med/fine grind of medium coffees (never oily beans). Because I don't try to put it on the fine settings, and because I use low-oil beans, that grinder is doing a good job so far. I advise the same for any grinder that cost you less than $150.
I consider myself a pretty diligent smart guy on how I approach things like coffee. Trying to make a decent cup took a lot more attempts over a lot more years than I'd want to admit when young. I've got the pour over and aeropress and french press coffee down pretty good. Really good actually, yet still not perfectly consistant. Now I want to get an espresso machine and am baffled on how to select one logically. The no brainers cost thousands, but I cant afford that. I'm sure they are getting better at the 400-1000 range, but how many am I supposed to buy to figure out which one is good? sucks.
The better machine you use, the more consistency you'll have between shots. We upgraded to a DE1+ and used the Sette 270 for a while. It worked pretty well, but dialing in was always like... super picky. A single notch difference would make or break pretty good to awful. We upgrade to a Niche and my god now I understand why people always say the grinder is one of the most important pieces of your equipment. If you end up going cheaper on the machine, try not to cheap out too much on the grinder.
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