Advice - Single Boiler with PID

[Deshlert]

I currently have a Gaggia Classic paired with an Capresso grinder. I’ve been using this combo for 3-4 years now to make Americanos every morning. I do cappuccinos every once in a while, but mostly don’t froth milk very often.

I’ve been having a terrible time with my portafilter slipping out during brewing (even after replacing the gasket with a new silicone one) and am now thinking about upgrading.

Given that I don’t do much steaming I’m looking for a better quality single boiler. Also, with my Gaggia I would often get differed quality shots day to day - and even one pull after another - which makes me wonder if the brew temperature is not consistent. Thus the PID idea.

I do my coffee making in the morning and don’t mind a 7-10 minute heat up time. The Gaggia heats up pretty quick. But I don’t want to wait longer than 10 minutes. I gather E61 groups require a long heat up time. Don’t know if that’s true.

Any recommendations? I don’t want to spend more that $1,200 or so. But could go up a little more if a machine a couple hundred more is way better.

Thoughts?

 

[shadow745]

A typical boiler setup is going to take a bit to superheat everything. Some like the Breville Dual Boiler and Profitec Pro 300 have group heaters (maybe others do as well) and can be ready in maybe 8-10 mins tops. The Classic can be rather consistent if you have a routine dialing it in with time/temp surfing. I used a Silvia in that manner for quite some time and got great results. The Silvia is definitely a better machine based on my use of both it and a Classic and the build quality is night/day as the Silvia is basically commercial components in a home package. It does take a good 15-20 mins and a bit of blank flushing to really heat it up though. Plenty of decent options, but some might not meet your specs for intended use. FWIW you could also do the manual lever route as in a Robot, Flair, etc. and use an electric kettle for that and Americanos and still save a bit of $. I will say that although I made good use with the Capresso Infinity I had it will bottleneck a quality machine as it just doesn't have much range to dial in.