Pequod

Once you start milling your own flour and have bought a proofing box, you’ll have officially gone off the deep end.

I like to think of it not as being anal, but putting your geek credentials on display for all to see. I mean...coffee waveforms...how Geeky Cool is that? I can design my own flow profiles and test the results in the cup. The recovering fluid dynamicist in me is downright giddy.

Not right off, mostly because I've never looked at them closely. I suspect the Breville you're looking at would work well, and you already have a backup grinder if the built in one doesn't do it. Just accept the fact you'll be dropping $5k on a higher end machine a few years from now.

That definitely works. Should be able to use that for espresso too with a Breville or Gaggia.

Got it. Gotta match your lifestyle for sure. Just be prepared. Espresso is a bit finicky and a slippery slope. You think you can just get by...and the next thing you know you're buying a $3,000 grinder. We bought a "just get by" $200 grinder with our Gaggia. It was upgraded in less than a month...just couldn't dial in a shot. Great espresso is great. Unfortunately, it's hard to make. Bad shots are very easy. Just fair warning. Have you considered a nice pourover or Chemex setup? Much easier, cheaper, and more error tolerant than espresso. If espresso is brisket, pourover is pulled pork in terms of ease to achieve great results.

Hi Tom. What is the fan? Does it plug into the KK guru port?

Yes. Keep your grinder and espresso machine separate. The rule of thumb is that the grinder is more important than the machine. You'll likely upgrade over time, and you'll find the grinder is likely upgraded much more frequently than the machine. If you combine in one unit, you are locked in. Keep your beans as fresh as possible by keeping oxygen away from them. Do not store in a hopper. I keep small amounts of mine in an airscape container and then dose by weight to the tenth of a gram, grinding one dose at a time. The Orphan Espresso Pharos is excellent. I also have a Kinu M47 for brewed coffee (can also grind espresso). The Sette 270 is a decent single dosing grinder. I'm eying a Kafatek Monolith Flat as my next grinder.

NO! No hopper. Keep your beans fresh until ready to use.

There's that slippery slope of espresso I couldn't decide between the many excellent options, so I bought them all in one software Defined machine.

A Breville Double Boiler would be a good choice. Pair that with a Baratza Sette 270 grinder and you'll be in good shape.

I opted for the pro model, which is a tad more expensive, but has high end components for continuous, high volume, commercial use. And yes... coffee has health benefits. Diet Pepsi not so much.

The nice thing about the DE machines is that they are very compact relative to most. But if you’ve never done espresso before, start with a Gaggia Classic or Rancilio Silvia

Decided to upgrade my espresso game and went with the Decent Espresso DE1PRO. It uses the software on the tablet to design custom flow/pressure/temperature profiles which then control a unique water heating, pumping, and mixing system to achieve the design profile. It comes with several preset profiles that emulate other machines or are designed for particular results (e.g. milk drinks, straight espresso). But the real power is in designing your own, or downloading one somebody else created. An extensible library of profiles. Two pics. One has better lighting for the machine itself. The other better shows the tablet. Engineers will get the reference to “software-defined”, as in software defined radios. Very similar concept in which The radio can generate just about any waveform you program it to. The profiles here are the same thing...coffee waveforms. Cool, eh?

Side note: La Tienda is also a great source for all things Paella — equipment AND authentic ingredients. Got both of my paella pans there. And bomba rice, Spanish chorizo, etc.

I partially fill with pellets to a level below the side holes. Drop in a lit starter cube. Leave the top off the smoker until the starter extinguishes. This leaves a good bed of smoldering pellets. Then I top off and put the lid on.

Tried it?? Their HQ is practically in my back yard. Some folks' cars are covered with pollen in the Spring. Mine is covered in Dizzy Dust.

Well...spoke too soon. Apparently Amazon had some sort of shipping snafu and it wound up getting sent back to the seller. They are refunding my money, so I need to reorder. Fortunately, it is now down to $29.27, which is 72 cents under list! MEGA-BARGAIN!!

Ya know. It’s always a little weird to see Dennis post something on Instagram, start drooling, and then realize I cooked it. Somehow it always looks better when he posts it.

Yay! I should spin some ribs with that. Dizzy Pig on a dizzy pig!

Bagged it at $29.92 -- 7 cents UNDER list. Can you say BARGAIN??

Good tip. Sort of a reverse sear with some extra flavor added in the middle, with the Konro for the sear step. Makes sense.

My wife is in the “make your burgers with lots of mix-ins and overhandle the meat” camp as well. Mostly inspired by Food Network recipes from decades past. She enjoys it. We roll with it. For me, the perfect burger is the one I grind myself from a mix of beef cuts (or just chuck), then gently handled.

YUP!

Spun a chook on the 32. Looks a tad lonely, but there was a pan of root vegetables on the indirect side that was removed before this pic. Using the MEATER, of course.

Down to $30.33 on Amazon. Once it drops another 34 cents I’ll no longer be morally opposed and can pull the trigger.