I'm getting THAT itch again

RE*AC*TOR

Starting to get a hang of the milk steaming. The difference in power was hard to handle at first, and my milk was all over the place. Still getting a little too much air into the milk (especially doing small volumes), but we're getting there.

Mr Magnolia

Nice. I'll be starting to make a few attempts at latte design soon. If you've any guides handy, post away. I've found some stuff on Home-Barista, I'll have a search of youtube, I know you said there was some good material on there.

Ordering the bottomless portafilter today too.

Khannie

NYOM NYOM!

So now that you've had it a while, would you recommend this machine for a noob like me? I will admit that I have no idea what an OPV is, but I'm prepared to mod things.

I seriously considered (and am still considering) your classic since you've tinkered it to perfection but I'm not sure if it'd suit my needs yet.

Khannie

B*stard has bumped the price to 545 including delivery. X(

Mr Magnolia

I'd recommend it at that money for small domestic home use Khannie, certainly for that money.

The OPV is an over-pressure-valve. The pumps that are in modern espresso machines can have an output range jumping from 15-19bar. The OPV regulates the output to the basket to a preset value.

The Gaggia classic is set around the 13bar mark, RE*ACT*OR and myself modified our valves so the output would be 9bar, perfect extraction pressure. There's a couple of threads here on it, you may have seen them. I'll be getting the fittings I need to ensure my mod is 9bar exactly later this week. I'll be reporting on that thread when I do.

RE*AC*TOR

Khannie:
I wouldn't recommend the Oscar to anyone who wasn't willing to do some serious plumbing and by this I mean,
taking the machine apart, unscrewing pipes, shortening tubes, inserting aftermarket stuff from plumbing stores, wrapping everything in PTFE, checking for leaks, disassembling and reassembling everything if there are leaks (I had to do this about 4 times). Obviously you have to source an OPV find space to fit it into the cramped insides of the machine, find space to run a tube back to the reservoir. It took me about a week to get all this done, it was an utter pain in the arse. If you are willing to go through all that then you will end up with undoubtedly the best value hx machine on the market.

As to whether the Classic meets your needs or not, I do not know. What are your needs? There are certainly pros and cons to it.

Pros: for the price you will get nothing comparable.
It is a very forgiving machine, less tempremental than Silvia (from what I've heard), and Oscar (from what I've experienced).
It's relatively small, very well built, and gets up to brew and steam temperature very quickly.
I found it very easy to steam milk to a lovely texture (haven't acheived that on Oscar yet).
Cons: the boiler is small. This means that brew temperature drops during the shot. Most say that brew temperature should be flat during a shot pull for optimum results, but there are notable high profile exceptions who say it should not be flat (https://www.espressoquest.com/Blogs/6/43.html).
The small boiler also means that steaming milk for more than two lattés at a time is a no go. It just runs out of oomph.

If you can buy and PID a Silvia I would say the Silvia would be superior. But I have never used a Silvia, so I am only going on what others say. If you google Silvia Vs Classic you will find many topics.

RE*AC*TOR

Jesus - yer man has definitely bumped up the price of the machines. The Oscar and Grinta now €720 delivered - I got them for €640. Still cheaper than I've seen it anywhere else though.

Khannie

Thanks for that reply. Fairly comprehensive.

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

If you are willing to go through all that

I am not.

I'll get back to you on the classic though (unless it's sold by then of course).

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

Jesus - yer man has definitely bumped up the price of the machines. The Oscar and Grinta now €720 delivered - I got them for €640. Still cheaper than I've seen it anywhere else though.

Yeah...I reckon he must have copped on to that and decided to bump it up. There's a "make an offer" option though.

Mr Magnolia

It's been a couple of weeks now, how's the new machine bedding in?

RE*AC*TOR

Well. I think I've gotten to grips with the temp surfing, and my milk is constantly improving.
Couple of niggling design issues. The drip tray while deep, hides a back compartment which is lower that the front visible area. So while you may think you have plenty of space left it may well be spilling at the rear.

Other than that I have no major problems to report.

Mr Magnolia

Good stuff. Glad it's working out for you.

Mr Magnolia

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

Starting to get a hang of the milk steaming. The difference in power was hard to handle at first, and my milk was all over the place. Still getting a little too much air into the milk (especially doing small volumes), but we're getting there.

I can't seem to get the correct consistency with the milk foaming. It's coming out too frothy. Did you have this problem with the Classic before the rancilio wand mod?

RE*AC*TOR

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

I can't seem to get the correct consistency with the milk foaming. It's coming out too frothy. Did you have this problem with the Classic before the rancilio wand mod?

It certainly got easier after I got the wand.
Are you using the full panarello?

Mr Magnolia

I've tried a number of different methods. Keeping the panarello to the top of the milk, semi-immersing it, fully immersing it and a number of variations of the above.

RE*AC*TOR

Unfortunately you can't make micro foam at all with a panarello. Before I got the steam wand I took off the main panarello bit and left on the little bit if screws on to. Gives you a little more length over the steam wand on its own.

You could also try blocking the hole in the side of the panarello. This is what is used to get all that air into the drink.

I'm still not getting consistently great milk. But I guess its down to practice in the end.

Khannie

Very nice looking. There I thought I just wasn't pouring it right.

Mr Magnolia

Congrats RE*AC*TOR, they look very good. I'll just go and order the new wand. Got the bottomless portafilter, very impressed. I hope to tune my OPV mod on Friday.

Mr Magnolia

Turned down the steam to the panarello today, big improvement on the foam. I really just cracked it open and no more. It took a bit longer for the milk to come up to temperature but a good improvement all round.

I still suck at latte design though