De'Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker
by Delonghi
List Price:
Our Price: $69.00
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Category: Kitchen
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: DelonghiBrand: DeLonghi
Model: EC155
Color: Grey and Black
Product features:
- Use convenient pods or ground coffee with the patented dual function filter holder. It makes espresso preparation simple and fast
- Easily prepares latte and cappuccino with the swivel jet frother, for perfect drinks every time
- Eliminate annoying start-up preparation with the self-priming operation
- Always brew espresso at the perfect temperature with two separate thermostats, which allow for water and steam pressure to be controlled separately
- Enjoy delicious espresso for years to come with the durable, high-quality stainless steel boiler and 15 bar pump pressure
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of De'Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker
Customer Review: irresponsible reviewers! words from an espresso master...
Summary: 5 Stars
This machine is fantastic and after i ordered (over great deliberation) and received mine, I could not wait to review this and rebuke other reviewers who clearly have trouble following simple directions or have no experience making espresso (point being, don't go so out of your way to bash something when you are clearly no expert). I was pretty put off by the bad reviews by seemingly well meaning and "intelligent" people. I've owned a really good espressso machine and the issues they were describing sounded like the sort of issues one might have if you didn't know what the heck you were doing. So I gambled ($60 bucks) and got this little thing. It ROCKS.
Here are some tips:
1. It's all in the grind, grimsy. If you grind your coffee into powder, you will not pull shots - period. You still want it slightly grainy - about cornmeal. All those one star reviewers (and others who rated it higher and actually thought they were making good espresso) who whined about the "soupy mess" left over - are getting it wrong. No espresso machine on earth will pull a good shot through powdered coffee - hence the water remains in the filter basket (= soupy mess and a crap cup of espresso) and does not get compressed through the grind. Duh. You should be left with a hard little red hot puck (I use chopsticks to dig this out).
2. The level and compression of the coffee grinds are important (not as important as the grind though). I also bought the metal 2 inch tamper that others recommended and I do think it's worth it but I also used my palm once and found that it worked great note, I am a contractor and I have a fairly fat palm so if you tend to be on the bony side - get the tamper).
Fill the "basket" with coffee. tamp it down until it is exactly at the rim. Not above it, and at most a millimeter below the rim (you'll understand "rim" when you see it, it's obvious). Push down on the coffee with the tamper or your palm with the same amount of presure you would use to squeeze toothpaste. It's not hard, with a little practice, to make it level - make it level. Clean ALL grinds off the rim or they wll get crushed into the part that seals in the pressure chamber.
If you pulled a good shot, you will get a nice, thick, crema with a buckskin or carmel color (this will settle more and more the longer the shot sits there). When you fill your shot glass and turn off machine, the crema should be around a quarter to half inch high. If it's really high (say, half the glass) you probably didn't tamp it hard enough or your grind is too course. If there is no crema, it's all wrong.
When you pull the basket off to clean it, you should have a hard, fairly dry (zero visible moisture/water on top - it should appear almost as damp dirt) coffee puck that is slightly resistant to coming out and has to be dug out with a little wooden stick (use chopsticks or a small wooden BBQ skewer).
NOTE: I actually tried to over compress it once - really torqued it on there and to my surprise, with my "cornmeal" grind, it still pulled the shot! I was amazed. I could probably go to a fraction more of a powdery grind but again - cormeal is the way to go and you can really compress it and i find that when i make coffee/espresso, it is less bitter if i don't make it too powdery - your call.
3. You can remove the little silver tray (it's superfluous and serves no great purpose) and just put a larger cup in the catch basket underneath - problem solved for all the whiners who complained about "no room." I love how small the thing is whereas at first I thought "Oh god, it's a toy." It's not.
4. My machine seemed to heat up in no time (10 minutes) and my shots were scalding hot (I have no idea what to say to those who complained that their coffee didn't get hot - mine would give 3rd degree burns and the cup is far too hot to hold). I admit there seems to be some confusion in the literature about warm up times (15 mins, 30 mins - what is it guys?) but I guess it involves the fact that you can preheat it (by actually using it to cycle water only, with no grinds involved) and reduce the actual "ready time" and by practice, this seemed to work (though, again, the instructions actually say "preheat for 15 mins, cycle water...and it should be ready... now wait 30 minutes" - what??? This is clearly a typo - text left in when it should not have been and as I used to be a technical writer (computer manuals, etc) I can tell you that's a common mistake - typos are eazy to see but sensible text, mistakenly left in is not since it does not at first blanch appear out of accord.
5. My steamer doesn't work, it only makes hot water, whaaaaaa!!! Yes it does, you just havn't had your cup of joe and you're still ASLEEP. You have to turn the knob....get ready for it, here it comes...to "STEAM." It does not make steam when the knob is in the "I want espresso" position - it makes hot water. Mine makes plenty of zero water steam and when it seems like it starts to run out, turn the knob off, and, in 10 seconds, it is ready to steam again. The knob doesn't say STEAM, or, I WANT ESPRESSO, but the little pictogram showing steam blasting out of a nozzzle that suspiciously looks like an espresso steam nozzle - should be enough, even for sleepy heads.
This thing also takes the pre-made "pods" of coffee and as far as I am concerned, I would never use something like that. Old school for me, all the way and I guarantee you my shots blow those hugely overpriced poodle pods out of the water.
So, there is a tiny little art to this but it's not that hard to get it right so long as you know the importance of the grind, and how hard you tamp it in (and thus the amount of coffee you use but how hard you tamp it in will dictate that - if there is too much coffe, it will be too high, simple). Have a little patience or you will be going back there to have teenagers make your $5 cup again which i don't really mind except I don't have time to stand in line for 30 minutes.
That's about it. I only just got the machine so can't say how long it lasts, reliability, etc, but from what I read that is not an issue.
Description of De'Longhi EC155 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker
Enjoy delicious espresso made your way with De'Longhi's pump espresso and cappuccino maker. You can choose to brew ground espresso or E.S.E pods with the unique patented dual filter holder. The choice is yours, making your espresso truly made to order. You can enjoy espresso or cappuccino at the perfect temperature with two separate thermostats. If you prefer cappuccino you'll enjoy using the easy-to-use swivel jet frother, which makes perfect drinks every time. Other highlights include self-priming operation to eliminate pesky start-up preparation, removable water tank and drip tray and a durable, high-quality stainless steel boiler to ensure many years of delicious espresso.Espresso Machines
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