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Home espresso machine worth it or likely to collect dust?
08-21-2014, 05:03 PM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Houston
Posts: 1,448
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Home espresso machine worth it or likely to collect dust?
Looking at a $500 semi-automatic espresso machine for the kitchen. We drink drip coffee 7 days a week. When we're travelling, we get lattes at starbucks, but rarely when we're at home due to the poor value of paying $4 for coffee.
Is this the sort of thing that's cool for a year and then just collects dust?
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08-21-2014, 05:08 PM
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#2
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,350
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Forget it.
Same category as the bread machines mentioned in another thread.
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08-21-2014, 05:33 PM
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#3
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 12,901
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Ours -a wedding gift- collected dust until we gave it away.
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08-21-2014, 05:38 PM
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#4
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Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,212
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I've had 3 different espresso machines - ranging from a cheapo braun one to a midrange saeco one that was a few hundred bucks on sale. We end up using our moka pot more often. If you want steamed/frothed milk Bodum sells a milk frother thing - it looks like a french press but the plunger has a finer mesh screen. You heat the milk on the stove or in the microwave then plunge it to froth it.
We make moka pot coffee all the time - it's very similar to espresso (though technically not - since it isn't brewed under the 15 bars of pressure or whatever the official standard is.) It's easy and cheap.
Moka pot:
http://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-Expre...words=moka+pot
milk frother:
http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-1446-01U...m+milk+frother
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08-21-2014, 05:47 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FIREd
Ours -a wedding gift- collected dust until we gave it away.
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Of course, finding someone in this situation and buying it for pennies on the dollar might also be an option, but it may take time and effort to find such a "motivated seller".
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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08-21-2014, 06:21 PM
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#6
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 12,901
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rodi
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+1 on the moka pot (the one my grandmother used) and separate milk frother.
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08-21-2014, 06:33 PM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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Since many of us enjoy someone else making our treats and live within a 10 minute walk to several excellent coffee houses, it doesn't seem necessary to make any capital investment at all.
In an average week I will go to Starbucks once or twice with my GF down in her beach community, go to 2 coffee houses downtown,
and maybe two more in my home neighborhood.
I particularly meet interesting people in one place very near to The Pike Place Market, where in summer I meet many interesting tourists from all over.
Cocooning, or whatever it was called, just doesn't turn me on.
Ha
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"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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08-21-2014, 06:59 PM
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#8
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 421
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My neighbor bought one a couple of weeks ago, he hasn't been able to sleep since. Don't think it will last much longer.
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08-21-2014, 07:08 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,259
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I've got one and really enjoy it.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy
The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
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08-21-2014, 07:16 PM
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#10
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: San Diego
Posts: 880
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It is just hot water and ground coffee. It takes a $500 machine to do that? We still have a food processor we never use. It looked like a good idea until we realized it wasn't.
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Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
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08-21-2014, 07:22 PM
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#11
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Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,212
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliforniaMan
It is just hot water and ground coffee. It takes a $500 machine to do that? We still have a food processor we never use. It looked like a good idea until we realized it wasn't.
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LOL - I used my food processor 3 times yesterday.
1) - blending pie dough.
2) - mixing up the pumpkin pie filling.
3) made some pesto.
(Have to say - I'm not a fan of washing all the gizmos... but it makes the food prep process easy - especially pie dough)
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08-21-2014, 08:00 PM
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#12
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Portland
Posts: 4,946
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I have a midrange Saeco (Aroma) that I use several times a day, pretty much whenever I want a coffee. I hardly use the old Melitta filters or french press any more. I've had this thing for several years now.
If you use it solely for making half-caf soy lattes, light on the foam, extra cinnamon on top, then, yeah, it will get old quickly and become one with the FoodSaver and the Bella Cucina Waffle Maker. If you recognize that you can use it for pretty much any cup-o-joe, er, caffe americain or whatever, it is really convenient for fresh brewing single cups on demand, and way cheaper per cup than that swoopy plastic capsule 'brewing' (instant whatever in a plastic cup) machine.
Mine sits on the counter next to the little Hario grinder and sealed containers of french roast and decaf beans. I just checked, and I made two cups of regular and two decaf today, no foam...
I believe I'll have another...
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08-21-2014, 08:22 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,259
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Those capsule machines are not as good as expresso or a drip machine, in my opinion.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy
The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
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08-21-2014, 08:48 PM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Houston
Posts: 1,448
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We use our food processor and stand mixer every week or two, because we like to cook, so I could see us using this appliance. But I could also see it falling out of favor.
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08-21-2014, 08:59 PM
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#15
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 124
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I make a latte (regular or iced in the summer) for my wife every morning. We keep a few different flavors of syrups on hand, so there's lots of variety. She loves it, and says it's better than Starbucks.
Costs under $1 a serving, so it's saved us a lot of money, but it takes a little over 10 minutes to make each drink and clean up.
I have this machine (and a breville grinder), it's been going strong for about a year now.
Café Roma Espresso Machine | Breville
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08-21-2014, 09:33 PM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,437
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Use my Nespresso every day.
Very little work. Not it's not as nice as stuff you can get at Peetes or wherever but I don't have to walk over to it, though it's probably not a bad idea to do so.
I have a cup before work. When I'm FIRE'd in a couple of weeks, I guess I could just walk to the cafe occasionally. But would have to deal with rush hour traffic and workers trying to grab lattes and so forth on their way into work.
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08-21-2014, 11:10 PM
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#17
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Alberta / SoCal
Posts: 34
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We found ours in the clearance section of Home Depot, $50. We use it several times per month, Starbucks Lattes are pushing $6 dollars here so it has more than paid for itself. We do enjoy the occasional Starbucks for a treat.
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08-21-2014, 11:41 PM
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#18
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 277
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Have a $500 Gaggia super automatic espresso machine. Wife and I love it. Used it everyday for over 4 years and still running great. Mostly Americano style with coffee from Sleepy Monk in Cannon Beach Oregon. Great for entertaining friends and family too.
Recommend it only if you desire quality taste and high quantity of drinks and minimal prep/clean up time.
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08-22-2014, 02:50 AM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,300
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We've had our espresso machine for 15 years and probably used it a dozen times, even though we have espresso drinks a couple times a week. I've just newer been able to make espresso at home that was even as good as Starbucks, much less like any of our local independent coffee houses. I'd sell you our like new Braun for 10 cents on the dollar if it wasn't such a hassle to arrange...best of luck.
After wasting a few bucks when we were younger, we've learned that less is more in the kitchen for us. We'd rather have the best quality basic versatile cooking tools than any of the specialized tools. We rarely use our food processor, immersion blender, mandolin, bagel slicer, ricer, espresso machine, warming plates, pasta maker, etc. The added productivity usually doesn't justify the cost, space or (especially) subsequent cleanup for home cooks like us.
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No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57
Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
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08-22-2014, 03:24 AM
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#20
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 410
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We bought a Delonghi espesso maker used for about $600 (retails for over $1000 in China) about five years ago and it was one of our best household purchases ever. DH and I are both coffee addicts. I will splurge on another one if/when this one ever dies.
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