I finally got a couple of roasts in on the Huky 500 that I inherited from my brother. I agonized for a long time about how to set it up. My situation is complicated by the fact that I live in a condo where they require any use of propane to be done 10 feet away from the back porch. I finally got a cheap folding table and beach umbrella from Costco. I also needed and purchased a 50 foot extension cord for supplying power. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the setup but I will next time.
Category: Coffee
Breville 920XL — Descaling
Here are a few notes on descaling the Breville 920XL (DBD).
- Start the descale program before draining the boilers. You can remove the filter from the reservoir and add the water and Dezcal solution beforehand.
- This time I’m using 1 litre of water in the water reservoir with 100 ml of Dezcal (10% of 1l or 1000 ml)
- Don’t re-install new filter until last step. I don’t know why but that is what the instructions say!
Stacy’s presentation
We went to the local cafe this morning and ordered our usual, a short black double shot and an almond cake for me, a latte for Tui. Our very lovely waitress Stacy gave me a special presentation of my almond cake this morning!
Kor’s short black and almond cake with mango
Tui’s special presentation
Coffee possibilities in New Plymouth
We will be heading down to New Plymouth on January 16th so Tui has been doing some investigation into the coffee situation there. It looks very interesting! For a start there is Ozone Coffee Roasters
THE BEANSTORE 47A KING STREET, NEW PLYMOUTH
MONDAY – FRIDAY: 7AM – 3.30PM, SATURDAY: 8AM – 3PM & SUNDAY 9AM – 2PM
Links to information about coffee
Miss Silvie Arrived yesterday
My Rancilio arrived yesterday and I’ve been trying to get the hang of it. I spent a couple of hours this evening using the coffee beans that they sent with it. I’m gradually getting the hang of it. I still need a lot of work on the steaming though.
Miss Silvia out for delivery
Miss Silvia will definitely arrive on Monday. The tracking page says it is scheduled for delivery on the next business day. Yippeee!
Miss Silvia is on the way!
After a couple of years of use, the Gran Gaggia espresso maker that my brother gave me finally died. Well, it probably can be repaired but my wife and I both agreed that it would be better to get a new one and the only choice for a “low” price espresso maker is the Rancilio Silvia, affectionately known as Miss Silvia. It is considered the best inexpensive espresso maker, having many of the same features and components as the high grade home espresso makers. Mostly what it lacks is a separate boiler for brewing and steaming. This is more important if you are making several cups of latte, one after the other.
I ordered the Silvia from Seattle Coffee Gear. They have a very nice web site with lots of instructional videos made by Gail and Kat, two employees of the store. They provided free shipping, Fedex 5 to 9 day. It has finally showed up in Connecticut and should arrive this coming Monday. I am very excited. The Gaggia worked quite well but it lacked enough pressure to create the kind of espresso that is ideal. I think that lack of pressure also prevented me from being able to make Latte art. But we shall soon see if that is really true or just an ignorant excuse.
Tortui 