bribery Senior Member Joined: 31 Oct 2012 Posts: 2 Location: NYC Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed Oct 31, 2012, 1:04pm Subject: Used, older commercial coffe machine at home?
Hi y'all coffee fellows,
After much lurking, I registered in this forum because I wanted to ask a question that's boggling me. I will be moving out of the US in about half a year. Since I do not have a good espresso machine, and because I will have a unique opportunity to bring whatever I please without it being taxed by absurd tariffs, I am facing the following dilemma: to buy a new for-home espresso machine (I can fork out around $1,000) and bring it home, or to buy a used commercial coffee machine over there.
The USD to ARS rate is 1 USD to $6.40 ARS, approximately. So for 500-1000 USD I could be getting a commercial coffee machine. Now, the machines that I see advertised show no specs, but that I can find out. The thing is, I don't know exactly what specs to look for, and how to weed out the cheaply made machines from the great ones. Can anyone help me? Below is an array of offers, although there are SO many it's overwhelming. Buenos Aires, my city, has a very strong coffee culture. People, and especially older folks, spend a lot of time at the coffee shop. It is the go-to hangout, and you won't see any laptops there. With a coffee shop per block, I assume there must be good commercial machines at low cost.
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,772 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Thu Nov 1, 2012, 6:15am Subject: Re: Used, older commercial coffe machine at home?
For the most part, commercial machines are not cheaply made, in fact, most often it is the reverse due to the harsh conditions that they work in.
With anything used, it is more about the current condition than anything else. Commercial equipment will be much larger than a machine designed for home use. If you have the room and don't mind the slightly higher electric cost (bigger equipment uses more power) there isn't a reason to not buy one depending on your use.
If you only make one straight shot, once a day, it is a bit silly to have a multi group machine heat up for that, commercial machines are designed to be on all the time while home machines are designed to be used then turned off.
The grinder though is the star of the show, it is nice and all to have a commercial machine but without a good grinder DESIGNED FOR ESPRESSO, you are wasting your money. A good grinder and a home machine will give you much better espresso than a commercial machine and preground coffee in a can or even fresh coffee ground in a blade grinder or cheap burr grinder.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
kafegeek Senior Member Joined: 24 Sep 2012 Posts: 61 Location: Czech republic Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: delonghi
Posted Thu Nov 1, 2012, 12:07pm Subject: Re: Used, older commercial coffe machine at home?
calblacksmith Said:
For the most part, commercial machines are not cheaply made, in fact, most often it is the reverse due to the harsh conditions that they work in.
With anything used, it is more about the current condition than anything else. Commercial equipment will be much larger than a machine designed for home use. If you have the room and don't mind the slightly higher electric cost (bigger equipment uses more power) there isn't a reason to not buy one depending on your use.
If you only make one straight shot, once a day, it is a bit silly to have a multi group machine heat up for that, commercial machines are designed to be on all the time while home machines are designed to be used then turned off.
The grinder though is the star of the show, it is nice and all to have a commercial machine but without a good grinder DESIGNED FOR ESPRESSO, you are wasting your money. A good grinder and a home machine will give you much better espresso than a commercial machine and preground coffee in a can or even fresh coffee ground in a blade grinder or cheap burr grinder.
NobbyR Senior Member Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 1,661 Location: Germany Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Poccino Opus One, Ariete Grinder: Eureka Mignon Istantaneo,... Vac Pot: N/A Drip: Melitta Linea Unica de Luxe Roaster: N/A
Posted Fri Nov 2, 2012, 12:28am Subject: Re: Used, older commercial coffe machine at home?
In addition to what Wayne wrote: If you're willing and able to refurbish a used commercial machine yourself, it might be worth a try. If you have to take it to a repair shop, depending on what need to be done and what parts need to be replaced, the cost of repairs might easily exceed the price of a new home machine.
calblacksmith Said:
... Wth anything used, it is more about the current condition than anything else ...
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