The basics of a coffee machine: what’s what?
A coffee machine is one of the most important purchases you’re ever likely to make as a potential cafe, restaurant or coffee shop owner.
We completely understand that not everyone will know their group handles from their pressure gauges. We’re all new at some point!
So what exactly is ‘what’ on your expensive new purchase, don’t worry, we’ll explain so you can get on with making top-class coffee.
Coffee machine basics:
- Portafilter or group handle – this is basically the basket, filter, handle and spouts that you remove from your machine to fill with coffee and then reattach before brewing.
- Steam-wand – the small metallic spout that is often found towards the sides of your machine (not all machines have a steam-wand or need a steam-wand), this metal rod pushes steam out and is used to heat and froth milk. You’ll likely need a steam-wand if you want to make speciality coffee that relies on milk.
- Pressure gauge – this measures the pressure of the water tank, as well as the pressure of the water that is being forced through the coffee. This should be between 9 and 10 atmospheres for quality coffee extraction. Low pressure will result in lower quality coffee, and inversely too high pressure can result in low quality coffee.
- Controls – coming in many forms, you could have a machine that uses keypads, touchscreens or lever operation. No matter your machine though, you will have to get to grips with your control system to get the most out of your machine.
- Water-tank and boiler – As expected, these contain all of the water, heating the liquid to a predetermined temperature (which can usually be set by the user in advance).
- Drip-tray – this is a tray beneath the main body of the machine that catches the excess milk, water and coffee that may spill or drip when in operation. It’s important to empty and clean the drip tray regularly.
It’s important to understand these key areas of a coffee machine prior to a machine purchase, especially considering the cost of a quality machine and how frequently you are likely to use this integral piece of coffee making kit.
You might also want to consider:
- The size of the beverages you are going to serve; this will influence your choice and size of machine
- Whether your supplier provides you with a warranty and a replacement model if your machine needs a service? You don’t want to be in a situation where the biggest selling point in your business is out of action. Coincidentally, we do offer warranty services for if this annoying problem should arise.
- The amount of tea and coffee you’re likely to make each day, and what machine is best suited to your use-case scenario. A high level of usage will cause strain on a machine developed for low-level usage, this could affect machine lifespan, coffee quality and even brewing time. Make sure you do some research prior to jumping in head first, being over-prepared is a benefit in this scenario.
It’s worthwhile doing a little pre-research before you even think about pulling the trigger on a coffee machine purchase. It’s sensible, and it will really help if you understand all of the costs associated with your machine.
Knowing how to use your machine is a major benefit, but not essential as we here at Caffe Society do offer full training on any machine purchase. The biggest drain on your time and resources is likely to be machine maintenance, it is the biggest issue with any espresso machine. Understanding the basic principles of how your machine works will help you diagnose and even troubleshoot simple issues and day-to-day problems.
We wouldn’t sell a dud machine, and we want you to be 100% confident in using any machine that we purchase, we even offer free full Barista training to help you get the most from what is likely to be the biggest equipment purchase you will make.
Not only that, but our showroom is open for you to come and take a closer look at all of our top-class machines, giving you peace-of-mind before any major purchase.
Check out our Coffee Machine Guide if you would prefer to do all of your shopping online. There’s even a coffee machine chooser to pick the exact machine for you.