Automatic espresso machines are NOT espresso machines and do not produce ESPRESSO

Since I have talked many times about automatic espresso machines and how they don’t produce ESPRESSO, even though the robot is deified in everyone’s commercials, this time I will refrain and make the voices of the forum members heard. I never cease to be amazed by the fabulous reactions of those who have abandoned capsules and machines, and now drink an ESPRESSO at home for the first time in their life, after years in which they simply did not think that something like this could be achieved in the home environment:

If the shot above is called ESPRESSO, then what an automatic produces can only be a surrogate, an imitation, an illusion. All at the price of “enviable” reliability.

But let’s take the microphone and ask the citizens on the forum 🙂

Mircea:

«Automatic espresso machines have a complex construction because they have to save us from some manual operations. This is why there are many areas that allow the accumulation of old coffee.
The regular user empties the containers of residues and periodically starts automatic cleaning.
That automatic cleaning is very superficial, it has partial effects on the path from the brew chamber to the waste pipe. This is very little, in my opinion.
Serious cleaning involves:
– extraction of the infusion group from the device, disassembly of the same, washing of the parts and reverse assembly operations
– disassemble the grinder and clean it, less often, but necessary
– clean at least the other accessible internal parts without completely dismantling the device
Some automatic machines have the advantage of allowing the infusion group to be easily removed from the device. How about dismantling and cleaning the built-in grinder? This is however a serious challenge for the average user. For those interested, a video on cleaning the coffee group.

But isn’t it enough to simply wash the brewing group? It has to be dismantled practically piece by piece. Why do I insist on serious cleaning of the automatic espresso machine? Why I was scared when I saw what was developing inside a Jura Impressa E85 espresso machine that I had disassembled:

Coffee, humidity and heat work wonders, they are an ideal environment for mold and bacteria. Since then, I’ve switched to devices that are as easy to maintain as possible. I found more concerns about mold in German. Those interested can Google «Schimmelbildung in Kaffeevollautomaten».
Relevant video material, for example!:

Does anyone still want to use automatic espresso machines? So let’s see what lies under the case, because many people live with the impression that an automatic means pressing a button, don’t worry, it cleans itself:

Finally I want to make one more clarification: Coffee machines are not espresso machines! It is not possible to get espresso coffee from a vending machine. And if it is ever achieved, it will be a far cry from the optimal extraction achieved on a real espresso machine. Anyone who has worked on an espresso machine knows how little wiggle room there is between under-extraction and over-extraction. Reasons?

The machine does not adjust the grinding degree based on the age of the coffee or the quantity ground.
The machine must be fed with more coffee than an extraction, it will always have blown coffee in the tank.
The machine grinds approximately 7-11 grams of coffee per infusion, while the most popular extractions are obtained at a dosage of 17-19 grams.
The machine does not level and homogenize the grinding in the sieve correctly.
The machine grinds and presses very conservatively to avoid blocking the device.
The machine has no thermal stability, the water reaches the coffee with a chaotic and immeasurable temperature.
The machine normally produces a watery, fast-dissolving, cream-free stream. The espresso-style infusion has a highly emulsified, tiger-colored flow lasting at least 20 seconds.
The machine produces a foam that is not espresso cream, because it is obtained through technical tricks (pressurization and forcing of the liquid through a hole).

Therefore the liquid part with the dissolved and suspended substances has a different structure than the espresso, because the infusion was made with different parameters.

I add a further opinion extracted from the German Wikipedia Espressomaschine, selectively translated:

«These machines, in most cases, are not capable of producing a real Italian espresso, contrary to the presentation that the manufacturers promote to us. The reason: the plastic infusion group, which does not resist the infusion pressure necessary for a correct preparation of the espresso»

RaduCarutasu:

«And I have explained everywhere, where I have had the opportunity, that an automatic machine is not an espresso machine and the drink dispensed is not an espresso. They are completely different devices and you have shown, in the series of arguments above, why. Each of them is aimed at an audience, with different profiles of coffee consumers.

For automatic machines the consumer is hasty, without attention to detail, comfortable and less pretentious, while for serious semi-automatic espresso machines the consumer is informed, with more sophisticated tastes, inclined to detail and perfection and willing to learn.

Most of the time the former move to the second category and very rarely vice versa!

What is interesting is the fact that users of automatic machines have similar expectations to those of users of espresso machines and imagine that they can drink espresso just like the latter. If the former just wants to press a button and enjoy perfection, the latter puts a little effort into it. This effort is precisely the measure of the qualitative differences in the results in the cup. Hence the numerous dissatisfaction and frustrations that, despite the producers enticing them with beautiful advertisements and lists of mind-boggling technical parameters, when they begin to «ask» the machine for the promised results, it «obstinates» and delivers into the cup only what it can and for which it was built to prepare in a real way.

Only the Handsome Fat Man managed in the stories to transform the stable horse into a beautiful horse that flies like an F16, by feeding him the ox’s head 🙂
The machines don’t really want to turn into espresso machines, even if they get the freshest coffee beans.»

Successful extractions for everyone, obviously, with a semi-automatic espresso machine, whatever it is, a separate coffee grinder and freshly roasted coffee!