Espresso machine = environmental disaster?

Khannie

Bit of a noob question.....

So.....are they constantly keeping water hot? It just hit me that they may be a horrible way to abuse the environment. I try not to buy electrical products that I think will be constantly left on.....but I'm wondering if that's not half the point of an espresso machine.

Of course, a timer that turns it off after, say, 7pm and turns it on again at 6am would immediately reduce wastage by half.

Or can I leave it off, only turning it on when I want a cuppa and have a reasonable warm up period? (I'd wait at least as long as it takes a kettle to boil) Or is this the general way they're used?

RE*AC*TOR

Depends. With my Classic the heat up time is very short (10mins) so I could just turn on as required. The Oscar requires about twice that, so I tend to leave it for longer periods.

But I never leave them on overnight (unless I forget about them).

mkdon05

your best bet is to buy a single expresso pot that you put on the cooker. stick lavazza coffe in it, and hey presto, you have excellent expresso's in a couple of minutes!

RE*AC*TOR

mkdon05 wrote: »

your best bet is to buy a single expresso pot that you put on the cooker. stick lavazza coffe in it, and hey presto, you have excellent expresso's in a couple of minutes!

Any particular reason for Lavazza coffee?

Gran Hermano

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

Any particular reason for Lavazza coffee?

It makes the best 'expresso', personally I prefer a SO espresso.

RE*AC*TOR

Oh behave!

Seriously interested if there was a particular reason mkdon recommends Lavazza so highly.

I used to buy a lot of Lavazza bricks back in the day.

Khannie

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

Depends. With my Classic the heat up time is very short (10mins) so I could just turn on as required. The Oscar requires about twice that, so I tend to leave it for longer periods.

20 minutes!!!!!! Hmmmm. I don't think so. 10 would be fine...I think.

I'd be interested in their idle (i.e. maintaining temperature) electricity usage.

Also, is that 10 minutes to heat up all the water in the tank? That in itself would be fairly wasteful if you're only going to make 2 or 3 coffees before turning it off.

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

But I never leave them on overnight (unless I forget about them).

Makes sense. I think I'd probably invest in a timer so I didn't have to worry about turning off one more item before going to bed.

Nevyn

Moka pots ftw

RE*AC*TOR

Khannie wrote: »

20 minutes!!!!!! Hmmmm. I don't think so. 10 would be fine...I think.

I'd be interested in their idle (i.e. maintaining temperature) electricity usage.

Also, is that 10 minutes to heat up all the water in the tank? That in itself would be fairly wasteful if you're only going to make 2 or 3 coffees before turning it off.

With the classic the boiler itself gets up to temperature in about 3 minutes from cold. Its not the whole tank, just what is drawn into the boiler at any one point.
But you also need to heat the grouphead, the portafilter etc. Otherwise you get a big temperature fluctuation as heat is drawn out of the brew water into these components. This results in sour tasting shots.

The anticipation is part of the process anyway.

Khannie

Ok, that makes sense. How much water would the boiler in a classic hold?

BlueMonke

I was kinda dissapointed with my Gaggia Classic after making my first cuppa from it and waiting 8 minutes or so and it was still not hot enough. I was nearly at the stage of returning it as faulty when I found out that they do take about 20 -30 mins for the machine to heat up correctly.

I have found a way to speed it up. I boil the kettle first and then filll the tank with boinling water as well as the cups and shot cups. I run the boiling water through the system and this helps heat it up fairly quick and the cups are also really warm from the water to.

Gran Hermano

The Gaggia machines with the aluminum boilers should be fine to use in
10 minutes, again I'd run a quick shot through to heat up the lines, portafilter
and basket before pulling a proper double shot.

There is no way I'd pour boiling water into the cold water reservoir to speed
up the process. Pre-heat the cups by all means but leave the water heating
to the boiler.

RE*AC*TOR

Gran Hermano wrote: »

There is no way I'd pour boiling water into the cold water reservoir to speed
up the process.

I agree 100%, that's borderline madness. The pump isn't necessarily designed to cope with boiling water, as under normal circumstances it is only pumping cold water into the boiler. Seriously, the Classic is one of the quickest machines out there to get up to heat.

When you turn on the machine flush some water through, open the steam wand, let some water through that. Lock the portafilter in place. The ready light should definitely come on within 5 mins (if not quicker). When it does the boiler is up to heat. Then flush some more water through the group and portafilter, and that's help them get heated too.

Khannie

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

I agree 100%, that's borderline madness.

In fairness, I totally understand it. Using warm water (but not boiling) would probably be a winner.

fourmations

this is a no brainer folks!

with my gaggia I just turn it on to steam
for a minute when i turn it on and that will heat it up fast

then pull a blank shot with the water still really hot
to warm the portafilter quickly (stand back, hot steam splutters)

rgds

4

Gran Hermano

I'd be wary that setting the machine to steam will mean the water is too
hot for espresso and you'll end up scalding the coffee and end up with a
bitter shot. These domestic machine have small boilers which are designed
to heat up quickly, just pull a blank shot to heat the group head and
portafilter before making an espresso into a pre-heated cup/mug.

fourmations

hi gran

yep, i am aware of the "too hot shot" issue
i just turn off the steam let it settle for a few minutes before pulling,
its more about heating the portafilter quicker
which takes a lot longer than the boiler on a gaggia

rgds

4

mkdon05

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

Any particular reason for Lavazza coffee?

Just from trying different brands, also when i go to italy a lot of the Bars there use it.