[geeks] Barbeque Geekery

[Sheldon T. Hall]

Saith Dan Sikorski ...
>
> That La Marzocco is a serious machine!  I'm not surprised
> that it doesn't have problems getting the water hot and
> keeping it that way.  

On the other hand, you have to leave it on all the time, since it takes
about an hour to get really up to temperature.

On the third hand, the excess heat it threw off, along with the heat from
the SGI Challenge, meant the furnace didn't have much to do in the winter.

> The Silvia is obviously in a completely different category.

I've had some great coffee from Silvias.  However, for real espresso, the
grinder is arguably more important then the brewing device.  Before I got
the La Marzocco, I had a fairly pitiable Braun single-boiler machine.  At
first, I used some FPOS plastic grinder, and I had predictably
undistinguished results.  Then I bought a rebuilt commercial espresso
grinder.  It was a revelation; even with the Braun, I got real espresso.
What my friend Annie once called "creamy coffee goo."  It got better when I
started using the La Marzocco, but not a lot better.  The LM makes it easier
to churn out coffee for a dinner party, since it's a comercial machine, but
just for making coffee, a top-notch grinder and a single-boiler machine will
do very nicely.

> My current home coffee equipment is the following:
> Technivorm Clubline KB741
> Bodum French Press
> Bialetti moka pot
> 
> I don't use the moka pot much.  i 
> don't find the coffee it makes to be that great, so i just 
> use it when i 
> want to make strong coffee to be mixed with something else.

After you fill the moka pot and put it on the fire, put a couple of teaspons
of cold water in the upper chamber.  I think this keeps the coffee from
tasting burnt, as it serves to keep the bottom of the upper chamber cooler.
Also, don't tamp the ground coffee in the moka pot, or use too fine a grind;
either will require increased pressure to force the water through it, and,
since that's steam pressure,ot pump pressure, the water will be too hot.  
 
> I'd really like to get an espresso machine and a vacuum pot. 
> I've never had vacuum pot coffee, but i would expect it to
> be pretty good, and since the whole thing looks like it
> belongs in a chemistry lab, I think 
> it would be fun to use.

They are, particulary the glass ones.  The coffee can be good, too.  Not
espresso-good, but far, far better than the usual drip stuff.

Of course, for extra geek points, you can get a siphon setup, maybe one of
the ones that extinguishes its burner automatically, like
http://coffeetea.about.com/cs/coffeemaking/a/siphon.htm ...

It's just another hobby that can absorb tons of money and time, like old
computers.  The difference is that you can drink the results.

-Shel