I like these threads a lot, but dream of the open source bread maker for sourdough bread. I’ve been collecting bread makers from junk stores and have a fleet of ESPs. I have no idea what I’m doing but it’s getting dangerously close to having to do it myself.
I make add flour and water to the starter at night. Add the rest of the ingredients in the morning. Knead in the evening and put it in a basket then bake.
I’d like a bread-maker that I can use for the daytime bit where it warms a little and stirs at intervals I can choose. It needs a pan that won’t have the coating come off after a few months. Every one I’ve tried and have been careful with has done this. I’ve never baked with any break-maker I’ve owned, just used various dough cycles and only my hands go into it, nothing sharp has scratched them.
They hate the acidity or alcohol or something from long ferments.
I don’t even want to bake it in the bread-maker, just control the knead and heat while keeping it relatively environmentally controlled. What I want is more like a complicated stand mixer with a warming element.
I have a Kenwood Cooking Chef (the older Version, has a 6.7L bowl). It kneads really well and has a heating function for up to 180°C (so you can also use it for cooking or continiously heating malt for bread baking). There is a functions where it stirs once every 15s and once every two minutes iirc. So its to frequent for the ripening but im sure there is a way to hack it. Or maybe check the newer versions they have a touch screen and might be configurable from the get go. The newer version also has a built in scale. There is also a "Patissier" version that is a little cheaper and can only heat up to 80°C.
And the bowl is made from stainless steel, so no coating that can come of.
1. add 500g strong white,2 tbl spoons starter, 300ml water, 10g salt to bread machine
2. start dough mix programme (go for longest duration one available)
3.leave for 24hrs or until has doubled in size
4. bake for 70 mins
Not the best sour dough bread. But I think still quite delicious. And really very low effort.
I hadn’t really thought about bread machine with sourdough, because it’s “supposed” to be rustic and old world. But having a box that does most of the work and I bake it the next day would probably increase my sourdough production which has averaged zero loaves for the last year or so.
This is paired with a Breville Barista Express. Unlike most espresso people I am not tempted to upgrade this because I am so used to the workflow and it is quite good for a consumer grade machine (except for its grinder). With the niche I can make something 90% of the fidelity of a good cafe.
https://www.home-barista.com/blog/niche-zero-grinder-review-...
The niche is interesting, and a far saner choice. My ‘70s orange isn’t for everyone, it’s like a traffic cone.
I have a Lelit MaraX and a Niche Zero. I really want to get a lever machine next, but it’ll be awhile before it’s in the budget. Besides, I’m still learning how to use this current setup, having had it for a year and change.
I love the e61 group head though.
I think my current dream machine is an Elektra MCAL. I am drawn to the idea of a machine with no machinery. Just a boiler and pressurestat and the spring lever to make coffee. The sweet sound of silence. Only the rush of water and the pouring of coffee to be heard.
I nearly got a Linea Mini, then discover the amount of electrics. The plastic, the fake lever. It got me thinking about what would last. I want manual. Prior to engaging the pump (pre infusion) you’re getting line pressure and it’s good.
I need to try a lever, and also a real Linea.
The Electra Belle is a ludicrous machine that looks amazing and is even less practical - saw one in the flesh in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand a while back. Old and tarnished and going strong.
My use case is a bit different from most as I don’t often have electricity, but honestly it’s better than most but the highest end coffee shops I’ve been to (across Seattle, Portland, LA).
Yeah the Robot is definitely very stylish but the Flair seems a bit more rugged and practical looking, in a camping way. Excellent to hear that they designed it to pack small and assemble quickly!
That machine requires some real TLC to keep in shape, as the clear coat over the brass will get damaged over time if water/coffee splashes are left on it. Once the clear coat is gone, the copper and brass will tarnish and then the machine needs a professional to restore it.
It’s the same story for their home models but on a much smaller scale, so a bit more reasonable for a loving coffee enthusiast to take care of. I’ve heard you can take the machine to some auto paint shops to get a fresh layer of clear coat sprayed on. People have also said you can repair chips/scratches with some touch up tools at home.
[0]: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/meticulous/meticulous-e... [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-dxaLZTfGc
Both of these things are surprisingly difficult to do properly, with enough consistency and control. I believe temperature profile can noticeably affect the roast, and being able to consistently hit a profile (and thus experiment and improve) is really difficult with something like a heat gun.
I did the heat gun thing for a while, and the air popper thing for a while, and even modified the air popper to be able to control fan speed and heating element separately. I got good results but hit a wall and needed more control. I started building an Arduino-controlled air popper to be able to get more consistent results, then decided brewing top-quality coffee coffee was challenging enough when roast quality was delegated to experts. Since then, I've been buying from local roasters.
Sounds like you need a popocorn maker :)
My go to is Yirgachefe.
Every so often I buy beans to see what I’m missing and I’m usually very underwhelmed. It’s time I did this again.
New Zealand is lucky as the importers don’t bring in much crap coffee and so the average is good. A large bulk is brought in by just a couple of companies and all seem to have high standards.
The key to home roasting for me is freshness. I like coffee a couple of days after it’s roasted. I can control this and struggled when I was buying beans.
I have such machine and for that price combined with not having to wait for a Faema to heat up, take a rather large amount of space and whatnot, and given that I drink one max two espressos a day, and that those are so close to what a professional automatic machine produces: totally worth it and no regrets yet. I used to dream of an espresso machine producing those super tasty beverages which in my country are really hard to find (compared to Italy of course), now I just have one, and it's maintainance and hassle-free as well and is going to last a very long time (basically only one rubber ring which is replacable). Which cannot exactly be said of automatic machines.
And whatnot. I started turning it off at night (not recommended by manufacturer) and at the same point in time I started charging an electric car that is used daily.
The power bill has gone down.
The electric car uses less power than the Faema E61. Not good.
it's definitely good, but needs love to become "really good"
Pffft... Jackpot! Great machine, especially by the looks!
All the best for your espresso adventure!