HOme use Vs Commercial use Espresso makers

[mascon]

As home use Espresso makers is about 5-10 times cheaper than commercial use Espresso makers.

May I know the difference in term of quality of the espresso brew, consistency, and durability of these machines? :?

 

[CCafe]

I haven't found a home machine yet that can produce the consistency of a commercial machine. On a 1 to 10 scale (10 being the best) I rate even the best home machines between a 6 and 8. Then again what do you consider a home machine?

My personal opinion is anything less then $1500 is a home machine, this only applies to traditional machines. After $1500 you start to get in to low-end 1 group commercial machines.

To be honest with you I didn't see much of a difference between a Pasquini Livia 90 and Rancilio Silvia in the terms of espresso quality. Neither one could stand up to producing multiple drinks in a row without 1st letting the temperature rebound. Granted the Livia is much faster then the Silvia, it still doesn't cut it if you have a small gathering of people.

But if you’re just producing espresso for yourself then either or would be suffice. Granted the Pasquini would be a lot fancier, the Silvia is a lot cheaper.

Any thing less the $400 in my opinion, is usually made of plastic and the life expectancy is maybe a few years at best. Most home espresso machines are thrown away after they die. There are a few brands out there that only the factory can service, like Capresso. Capresso charges a flat fee, which is based on the machine type. This isn’t a bad concept unless you know for a fact that what ever broke only costs a few dollars to fix and you’ll end up paying a small fortune.

One other thing, most commercial and some higher end home espresso machines have a maintenance cycle. Unlike their low-end counterparts there are a few parts that are expected to be replaced biannually. This is just the cost of operating commercial equipment.

I have noticed a lot of people tend to forget this and complain due to the somewhat high maintenance costs. Commercial equipment also needs to be babied. Water filtration, water softening, and regular maintenance is a must! This too seems to cause headaches for a lot people.

 

[mascon]

Thank you so much for your great information, CCafe.
As I need this information for my new cafe. My partners and myself are still figuring to go for the home use or commercial use type?
After checking out a website on Livio 90. It can manage around 20cups of espresso an hour which I think is pretty good.
As I am totally raw in coffee business, I am searching for a espresso machines which gonna suite my new cafe

 

[mrgnomer]

As home use Espresso makers is about 5-10 times cheaper than commercial use Espresso makers.

May I know the difference in term of quality of the espresso brew, consistency, and durability of these machines? :?

I used to own a Rancilio Silvia espresso machine and a Rancilio Rocky grinder. While that set up wouldn't be considered a cheap home use espresso set up I recently upgraded to a good semi automatic e61 heat exchanger machine and a better commercial quality grinder and my espresso has taken a big leap forward as far as quality and consistency goes.

It depends on what you consider a home use espresso maker. If that's a steam machine an entry level pump machine will make much better espresso. Having owned an entry level pump machine I can say that the lack of adjustablitiy and control with respect to things like the pump pressure and the brew temp really make pulling good shots difficult. A commercial quality machine is adjustable with respect to both it's pump pressure and boiler pressure and with an HX machine getting used to flushing for brew temp isn't hard and once you get understand it you have control of your brew temp and can fine tune it to your tastes.

The difference then between home espresso equipment and commercial grade home equipment would be like the difference between a tool designed to be cheap but do the job for a home handyman who'll use it just once in a while and a quality professional grade tool designed to do the job right. The home tool is adequate but can't be pushed too far nor can one expect much of it while the professional quality tool not only will allow a skilled hand to get excellent results it's good design and quality make it a joy to use.

A good prosumer e61 HX machine will make excellent espresso. With a smaller boiler of around 1.5L steaming buckets of milk might be a problem but pulling back to back shots wouldn't be. A strict commercial machine would most likely be double boiler and both the boilers would probably be pretty big in order to maintain temperature stablity and power for an environment where it'll pull lots of back to back shots and steam for lattes and such. With respect to espresso quality I think the grind, the beans and the hand of the barista will make more of a difference than the machine once you get to the prosumer $1000+ level.

 

[mascon]

Thanks mrgnomer for your advice.

I have currently shortlisted 3 brands of 2 grps esp maker for my cafe. (La Scala Eroica, Grimac Ten series, La marzorcco). 1 of my supplier said that only La marzocco and 1 brand have double boiler expresso maker.

He keep asking me to get the double boiler machine but the cost is way to high than single boiler machine. Does a double boiler make a really significant difference on my coffee?

 

[mrgnomer]

Thanks mrgnomer for your advice.

I have currently shortlisted 3 brands of 2 grps esp maker for my cafe. (La Scala Eroica, Grimac Ten series, La marzorcco). 1 of my supplier said that only La marzocco and 1 brand have double boiler expresso maker.

He keep asking me to get the double boiler machine but the cost is way to high than single boiler machine. Does a double boiler make a really significant difference on my coffee?

In a high volume setting a double boiler might make a difference. A double boiler machine has two boilers: one dedicated to espresso brewing and one dedicated for steaming. One boiler then can be held at espresso brewing temp/pressure and one can be held at steaming temp/pressure so what you end up with is greater temperature stability, reliability and potential speed. A double boiler machine really can pull espresso and steam/supply hot water for Americano's and such all at the same time. Double boiler machines wouldn't have to be flushed to bring the machine to temperature after a periods of idling like HX machines. The grouphead on a double boiler I believe cools as it idles so a brief flush is needed to heat it back up but you won't have to flush for temp like an HX which could improve speed and ease of operation as well. An HX with a boiler big enough to handle a low/med volume commercial setting would have to be big so it'll need more warm up time and more flushing after idling.

With a single boiler machine, heat exchanging machine, if you exhaust the boiler temp/pressure wise you'll have to wait for it to recover not only just to steam but to pull shots. There are big boilered HX machines like the Elektra A3 or an Astra Gourmet that I think one would be hard pressed to pull and steam faster than the boiler can recover but the prosumer, 1.5 L home type machines won't keep up to continuous demand. As well I think most mulitple grouphead higher end consumer machines are double boilered unlike low volume, prosumer, fit for the home machines which are mostly single boilered.

I don't know that much about commercial machines. The Linea is said to be o.k. But this machine http://www.chriscoffee.com/products/cof ... li/aurella I heard really impressed spectators at a recent espresso show. It's temperature stability kept up with simultaneous espresso brewing and steaming.

 

[Sheajar]

yes, i think so...