Re: Do I need a double boiler?

On Feb 17, 8:41 pm, "wantcrema" <capsti...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm mostly a
latte gal. I'd like to be able to pull back to back shots and steam at
the same time. Can't plumb in.

If you're doing a lot of milk drinks and rarely straight shots,
there's not much downside to an HX machine, I don't think. An HX
machine allows you to pull shots and then steam immediately
(simultaneously?). And can probably handle back to back and then some.
The disadvantage of HX, as I understand it, is that nailing the right
temperature for pulling shots good enough to drink straight is a bit
of a learning process and an ongoing process, with flushing and
whatnot. But you're shots don't need to be perfect in a milk drink -
just reasonable. Hell, I had a latte at Starbucks the other day (out
of town, nothing else nearby) and it was perfectly tolerable. But I'd
NEVER drink a straight shot there. You can do much better than that
with an HX, so that should be more than good enough.

I'd think a double boiler would be most desireable if you did a lot of
milk drinks AND a lot of straight shots and wanted really good
temperature stability at all times for the shots. I'm kind of in that
boat, but nowhere close to upgrading, so I'm making do with a PID
Silvia and keeping the volume down to several per day. But that
doesn't sound like your situation.

-Ray

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