How to choose a coffee machine

One of the most popular drinks, besides plain water, is coffee today. Most people don't miss the opportunity to drink at least 1 cup a day. Most often, coffee is drunk in the morning to recharge the energy for the day ahead. The highest quality and tastiest coffee is considered to be made in a special coffee machine. Instant powder and other types are hardly a good drink. However, the problem is that brewing good coffee yourself is a rather laborious process. And in special establishments, the cost of one cup is not so small.

The urgency of the stated problem was determined back in the 19th century. Around that time, the first devices began to appear that made it possible to facilitate and automate the process of making coffee. Much time has passed since then and these devices have changed a lot, reaching the modern automatic coffee machine. Today, using such a product, it is enough to press one button and in a few minutes the drink will be ready.

It is rather difficult to overestimate the convenience of such devices. In this regard, many people are interested in which coffee machine to choose and what parameters should be paid attention to. Knowing how to choose a coffee machine for your home, you can purchase the highest quality and most reliable machine that will delight you for more than one year.

General principles and design of modern coffee machines

To begin with, let's take a closer look at the general principles of modern coffee machines. This will allow you to deal with some of the nuances and facilitate the choice in the future. As stated above, a coffee machine is a special technical unit that allows you to prepare coffee from whole or ground coffee beans. All that a person needs to do to get coffee is to pour or pour the original product inside, then press the corresponding button, placing an empty cup under the mechanism.

Any coffee machine consists of basic modules that can be found in almost every model. We are talking about the following components: a heating module, a boiler, a temperature sensor, a heat exchange tank, valves for supplying substances inside the mechanism, a boiling water tap, and a dispensing group. You should not consider the principle of operation of coffee machines in too much detail, since this process is rather complicated and there is no need to know it in detail in order to purchase a quality product.

If we simplify the process of making coffee with an automatic machine as much as possible, then it looks like this:

1. The owner of the coffee machine falls asleep or pours the source material into a special compartment. Ground or whole beans, as well as liquid concentrated coffee can be used as starting material.
2. After that, the contents of the compartment are pressed with a special tamper and closes the compartment.
3. At the next stage, the user can set certain settings and start the brewing process, after placing the cup under the tap.
4. Immediately after starting the machine, water is supplied through a special module, which passes through the group and goes into the cup.At this time, steam is supplied from the boiler, which heats the boiling water, and can also whip milk.

In the most advanced models, the cup itself can be heated. This is done by a boiler or electric heating element.

In addition, it is important to note that not only the quality and reliability of the coffee machine itself plays a significant role. The raw materials used also require special selection. If you have purchased a low-quality product, then even the best machine cannot make good coffee out of it.

The main types of coffee machines

Now let's look at the most popular types of modern coffee machines. There are 4 main types. These are drip, pump, steam and capsule coffee machines. It is worth disassembling each species more similarly.

Drip

If you drink coffee too often, and also prefer to make it weak, then drip models are a good option. The preparation of coffee in such units becomes possible due to the formation of steam, which subsequently turns into condensate when the desired temperature is reached. Thus, the resulting droplets pass through the feedstock and form the coffee.

The technology used involves the production of weak coffee. In addition, it should be noted that most of these models provide a heating element for a container with coffee. This is especially true when preparing a drink for a large company.

Pros:

• In one cooking process, you can prepare many portions per company;
• If you wish, you can make tea using such a product;
• Easy to operate even without instructions;
• It does not require special care;
• Most models have a heating function;
• Most of the models can be purchased at a fairly attractive price.

Minuses:

• If you like strong coffee, then this model will not work;
• Drip technology does not allow preparing espresso or cappuccino;
• The containers must be washed after each preparation procedure.

Steam

The next type is steam coffee machines. Here, a horn is used as the main element, into which the raw material is placed. The preparation of coffee occurs due to the release of steam, the temperature of which is about 100 degrees Celsius. This steam passes through the horn, processing dry coffee in it.

The main disadvantage of such models is the loss of aroma due to too high a temperature. However, this method makes the coffee richer and stronger. The power of steam coffee machines ranges from one to one and a half thousand watts. The coffee preparation procedure takes no more than 3-5 minutes.

Pros:

• Strong coffee;
• Acceptable cost.

Minuses:

• Due to processing at too high a temperature, coffee aroma is lost;
• If we compare the speed of preparation with other types of coffee machines, then this category is inferior.

Capsule

Capsule coffee machines are considered one of the most demanded. They are the most automated among all analogues. As a raw material, as the name implies, special capsules are used that contain compressed coffee. Such a capsule is placed in a special compartment of the unit, where it is automatically pierced and the required amount of water is passed through it.

After that, the resulting freshly brewed coffee is poured into cups using a special tap. It is noteworthy that the considered models of coffee machines do not have the ability to adjust additional settings. The user can only start the cooking process. This is due to the fact that the capsules used require certain constant indicators.

Pros:

• Compactness;
• Acceptable price tag;
• Easy to operate;
• Capsules have a long shelf life exceeding 1 year;
• Low noise level during operation, since there is no procedure for grinding beans, because the capsules contain pressed ground coffee.

Minuses:

• Cooking parameters cannot be changed;
• Capsules are quite impressive;
• It's impossible to experiment.

Pump

And finally, the last type of coffee machines that will be discussed in this article are pump units. As in the case of steam, here the horn is used as the main element, where the raw materials for cooking are placed. Water passes through an internal heating mechanism, where it is heated to a temperature in the range of 90-100 degrees.

The water then flows through the horn, where it absorbs the coffee. At the same time, the required temperature level is maintained, which does not spoil the coffee aroma. The power of the models under consideration varies from one and a half to two thousand watts. Moreover, the cooking process itself will take less than a minute.

Pros:

• The rich aroma of coffee is preserved;
• Maximum absorption of coffee;
• This type of coffee machine makes coffee faster than anyone else.

Minuses:

• The most expensive option.

The best manufacturers and sellers of coffee machines

Before considering the most important parameters that you should pay attention to when choosing, we will consider the most popular manufacturers of coffee machines today. This will be relevant for those who do not have time to understand all the intricacies of choosing the right model, but he does not want to make a mistake and purchase a low-quality unit.

In the following list, you can familiarize yourself with companies that have good experience in the coffee machine market and have proven themselves on a good side. By purchasing their products, you can not worry that the model will turn out to be of poor quality and unreliable. The list itself looks like this:

• Bosch;
• Krups;
• Melitta;
• Saeco;
• De Longhi;
• Kambrook;
• Siemens;
• Bork;
• Jura;
• Philips.

In addition, it is worth considering the most reputable stores where it is recommended to buy such equipment. By purchasing goods from them, you do not have to worry about being sold to a fake or defective model.

• Top-Shop;
• Ozon;
• M Video;
• Ulmart;
• El Dorado.

Home coffee machine: selection options

It's time to deal with the choice factors themselves. Let us analyze in detail the most important parameters and characteristics of modern coffee machines.

Heating element type

Today, all manufacturers of coffee machines use a boiler or thermoblock as a heating element for water. In this case, the boiler is the most common, however, there are models with the second module. Let's consider each of them in more detail.

1. A boiler is a small container that is placed inside the body of the coffee machine and is not visible to the user. As long as the coffee machine is connected to the mains, it always maintains the required volume of water in the boiler, as well as its temperature. As soon as the owner has used the device, as a result of which the water level has dropped, the device automatically refills and heats it up again. The main disadvantage of the boiler is that the water is constantly in a heated state. In this regard, scale forms much faster. And also the taste of the water itself is lost.
2. As for the thermoblock, its design looks the same as the boiler room. However, only the right amount of water is collected here for one cooking procedure. It is heated immediately before starting the process. Thus, this option consumes much less electricity, retains the taste of water, and also forms scale on the walls for much longer. And also the speed is worth noting. The fact is that in the boiler it is necessary to wait until the entire volume of water is heated. Here it happens much faster, since there is much less liquid.

Coffee volume per cycle

It is worth considering the performance of the coffee machine. This indicator is determined by how much coffee can be prepared at the maximum in one brewing cycle. The chosen indicator should depend on the place where the car will be installed, as well as on the number of people who will use it.For example, for a family of standard sizes for home use, a coffee machine with a volume of up to 1 liter is suitable. However, if the unit is installed in an office, cafe, commercial area, and so on, then volumes above 2 liters will be required.

The presence of a cappuccino maker

A coffee machine with a cappuccino maker allows you to prepare more complex types of coffee, namely cappuccino or latte and other types that involve the use of milk. The cappuccino maker can be automatic or manual.

In the first case, the user just needs to pour milk into a special compartment and start the automatic procedure. It is noteworthy that more advanced models allow you to set parameters for this procedure. That is, the user can adjust the height of the foam and the level of its airiness.

Sometimes there are coffee machines where you have to whip milk yourself. For this, an additional tube is provided from which a stream of milk is supplied. The user needs to correctly adjust the cup and catch the difference between foam and liquid in time. At first glance, this process may seem quite time consuming, but you just need to adapt to it over time.

Type of millstones

A millstone is a mechanism that is used in some types of coffee machines to grind coffee beans. The millstones can be steel or ceramic. It is worth considering in more detail each option.

1. Obviously, steel millstones are much stronger than ceramic and also more efficient. Even if some stone or other hard material gets into the working space, it will not damage the mechanism. However, the main disadvantage of this option is the properties of the steel itself. It heats up too much, which leads to overheating of the beans and a deterioration in taste later. It is worth noting that many manufacturers are trying to get rid of this problem and equip their products with electric drives.
2. Ceramic millstones have no such drawbacks as steel ones. However, they are more fragile and can break easily if too hard material gets under them.

Additional functions

Let's consider additional functions that can be useful in modern coffee machines:

• The most advanced models have the ability to automatically descale the container;
• The ability to adjust the degree of grinding. This value is measured in levels and can be from 3 to 12;
• The ability to prepare coffee in two cups at the same time;
• Based on the standards for making coffee, then the drink should be poured into an already heated vessel. Therefore, many coffee machines have the function of heating dishes;
• The ability to adjust the temperature of the coffee from warm to scalding;
• The ability to adjust the portion size from one cup to a liter or more;
• The ability to adjust the strength of the coffee;
• Inner memory. Some models can store multiple combinations of settings. This is especially true for families where each person prefers different coffee settings. If you have internal memory, you do not have to constantly set all the parameters for yourself. You just need to select the desired settings profile;
• The presence of a filter for water purification. This is true for those who use tap water;
• Some models may have a second boiler for milk processing. This significantly speeds up the preparation of cappuccino, latte and other types of coffees with milk.