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I don't have a lot of espresso machine experience, but how does this compare to the Gaggia Classic Evo Pro?
I have the Gaggia and the main thing that bothers me isn't the heat up time, but the way it cycles the heat on/off. If you aren't sitting there watching the light turn on and immediately start it, you might catch it in the middle or the end of the heat cycle during your shot. It's a pretty short window, basically the time it takes to pull the shot.
Is that how all espresso machines work?
I don't have a lot of espresso machine experience, but how does this compare to the Gaggia Classic Evo Pro?
I have the Gaggia and the main thing that bothers me isn't the heat up time, but the way it cycles the heat on/off. If you aren't sitting there watching the light turn on and immediately start it, you might catch it in the middle or the end of the heat cycle during your shot. It's a pretty short window, basically the time it takes to pull the shot.
Is that how all espresso machines work?
TL;DR, no, the duo temp will not have this issue.
Your machine uses a boiler, and as you mentioned heats in waves. users will either utilize a technique called "temp surfing" or will install something called a PID to mitigate this. The duo temp uses a thermoblock with a PID that will heat the water to 94C when pulling a shot.
I don't have a lot of espresso machine experience, but how does this compare to the Gaggia Classic Evo Pro?
I have the Gaggia and the main thing that bothers me isn't the heat up time, but the way it cycles the heat on/off. If you aren't sitting there watching the light turn on and immediately start it, you might catch it in the middle or the end of the heat cycle during your shot. It's a pretty short window, basically the time it takes to pull the shot.
Is that how all espresso machines work?
This is not a starter machine. But I had an old school Italian espresso (made when I went there) machine for years and it did teach me how to properly program my now semi-automated Breville and also keep the pressure low enough. Since this is old school and has a boiler without a proper PID what you should do it pretty easy. Get another portafilter (aliexpress or the like) with the single wall and pull an empty shot for your normal extraction time 15-20 sec. Machines w/ PID are better w/ double wall and more back-pressure but a boiler it doesn't matter. I have a Breville Infuser (PID). Th other option is to get a bottomless portafilter and use the original for pre-heating. You can learn a lot from a bottomless by how it flows and the crema. So I would say read up on that.
This means an empty shot just water coming out. This will cause the boiler to call for heat so that your temp is in the correct zone-ish in 30-60 seconds. The reason why to use a second portafilter is that you really don't want to have one wet when you pull your actual espresso because of channeling. Since these old school boilers are super hard to control I would use the double wall or consider adding a pre-screen if you find it is too hot. While this is not as scientific as a PID or thermocouples it will work. Some people are crazy for perfection, you will never get it with this machine. A bambino is cheap and temp control is good and you can adjust the group pressure. I won't advocate wasting money tho, so just chill on this one and flush and you should be ok. You could add a PID to this, IMHO don't bother. I did to my old Italian one for a science project and to learn but it was not trivial.
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TL;DR: Generally the Bambino Plus is the better option, but also depends on what you're looking for.
I have the Gaggia and the main thing that bothers me isn't the heat up time, but the way it cycles the heat on/off. If you aren't sitting there watching the light turn on and immediately start it, you might catch it in the middle or the end of the heat cycle during your shot. It's a pretty short window, basically the time it takes to pull the shot.
Is that how all espresso machines work?
I have the Gaggia and the main thing that bothers me isn't the heat up time, but the way it cycles the heat on/off. If you aren't sitting there watching the light turn on and immediately start it, you might catch it in the middle or the end of the heat cycle during your shot. It's a pretty short window, basically the time it takes to pull the shot.
Is that how all espresso machines work?
Your machine uses a boiler, and as you mentioned heats in waves. users will either utilize a technique called "temp surfing" or will install something called a PID to mitigate this. The duo temp uses a thermoblock with a PID that will heat the water to 94C when pulling a shot.
I have the Gaggia and the main thing that bothers me isn't the heat up time, but the way it cycles the heat on/off. If you aren't sitting there watching the light turn on and immediately start it, you might catch it in the middle or the end of the heat cycle during your shot. It's a pretty short window, basically the time it takes to pull the shot.
Is that how all espresso machines work?
This means an empty shot just water coming out. This will cause the boiler to call for heat so that your temp is in the correct zone-ish in 30-60 seconds. The reason why to use a second portafilter is that you really don't want to have one wet when you pull your actual espresso because of channeling. Since these old school boilers are super hard to control I would use the double wall or consider adding a pre-screen if you find it is too hot. While this is not as scientific as a PID or thermocouples it will work. Some people are crazy for perfection, you will never get it with this machine. A bambino is cheap and temp control is good and you can adjust the group pressure. I won't advocate wasting money tho, so just chill on this one and flush and you should be ok. You could add a PID to this, IMHO don't bother. I did to my old Italian one for a science project and to learn but it was not trivial.
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