[geeks] Barbeque Geekery

[Dan Sikorski]

Sheldon T. Hall wrote:
> Saith Dan Sikorski ...
>   
>> That La Marzocco is a serious machine!  I'm not surprised
>> that it doesn't have problems getting the water hot and
>> keeping it that way.  
>>     
>
> On the other hand, you have to leave it on all the time, since it takes
> about an hour to get really up to temperature.
>
> On the third hand, the excess heat it threw off, along with the heat from
> the SGI Challenge, meant the furnace didn't have much to do in the winter.
>
>   
Yeah, not quite the machine that would work well for me then. :)
>> The Silvia is obviously in a completely different category.
>>     
>
> I've had some great coffee from Silvias.  However, for real espresso, the
> grinder is arguably more important then the brewing device.  Before I got
> the La Marzocco, I had a fairly pitiable Braun single-boiler machine.  At
> first, I used some FPOS plastic grinder, and I had predictably
> undistinguished results.  Then I bought a rebuilt commercial espresso
> grinder.  It was a revelation; even with the Braun, I got real espresso.
> What my friend Annie once called "creamy coffee goo."  It got better when I
> started using the La Marzocco, but not a lot better.  The LM makes it easier
> to churn out coffee for a dinner party, since it's a comercial machine, but
> just for making coffee, a top-notch grinder and a single-boiler machine will
> do very nicely.
>
>   
I've found that the grinder makes a huge difference in any type of 
coffee.  From reducing the amount of sludge in the bottom of drip brewed 
coffee to just generally offering more consistant results, I've been 
very happy with the additional money i spent on the Rocky.  Even if you 
just make drip coffee, a burr grinder will give much better results than 
the spinning blades of death. :)
>> My current home coffee equipment is the following:
>> Technivorm Clubline KB741
>> Bodum French Press
>> Bialetti moka pot
>>
>> I don't use the moka pot much.  i 
>> don't find the coffee it makes to be that great, so i just 
>> use it when i 
>> want to make strong coffee to be mixed with something else.
>>     
>
> After you fill the moka pot and put it on the fire, put a couple of teaspons
> of cold water in the upper chamber.  I think this keeps the coffee from
> tasting burnt, as it serves to keep the bottom of the upper chamber cooler.
> Also, don't tamp the ground coffee in the moka pot, or use too fine a grind;
> either will require increased pressure to force the water through it, and,
> since that's steam pressure,ot pump pressure, the water will be too hot.  
>  
>   
I think I'll make myself some moka pot coffee right now, and see what i 
get.  One of the other things that I do is first boil my water in a 
kettle, then put it in the moka pot.  That way the ground coffee doesn't 
get heated as much.  That made a big difference in taste.  Hmm...  this 
coffee is a bit better than what I remember from the moka pot in the 
past.  Perhaps the grind was too fine.  While I never tamped the coffee 
into the moka pot, I was a little short on coffee this time and didn't 
quite fill the filter, so that certainly made a difference.  Now i can't 
wait to get some more coffee to have a chance to experiment a little more. 

Thanks, you've made an old toy new again, i don't think I had used the 
moka pot for over a year before tonight. :)
>> I'd really like to get an espresso machine and a vacuum pot. 
>> I've never had vacuum pot coffee, but i would expect it to
>> be pretty good, and since the whole thing looks like it
>> belongs in a chemistry lab, I think 
>> it would be fun to use.
>>     
>
> They are, particulary the glass ones.  The coffee can be good, too.  Not
> espresso-good, but far, far better than the usual drip stuff.
>
> Of course, for extra geek points, you can get a siphon setup, maybe one of
> the ones that extinguishes its burner automatically, like
> http://coffeetea.about.com/cs/coffeemaking/a/siphon.htm ...
>
> It's just another hobby that can absorb tons of money and time, like old
> computers.  The difference is that you can drink the results.
>   

Hrm, the siphon like the one pictured there might be a little farther 
than i want to take it right now, but they certainly look cool!  I think 
a decent glass vacuum pot will be the way to go.  That is, after I spend 
some more time with the moka pot.  :)

    -Dan Sikorski