The Complete Beginners Guide To Operate Espresso Machine At Home

Some things are better when they’re done by hand: making bread, driving a stick shift, and yes, brewing espresso. Pod espresso is easy (and lame), and your neighborhood coffee shop can get you in-n-out in minutes; but home espresso brewing offers the pinnacle of connection to your brew. Pulling a great shot of espresso is not easy; but with the following tips on how to use espresso machine, you can skip much of the painful learning curve.

 The key to making good espresso is consistency. You can still make good espresso without weighing your coffee, but you’ll leave nothing up to chance if you know exactly how much you’re using each time. When dialing in your first shot, using a scale is a good idea.

1.PREHEAT THE ESPRESSO MAKER

If you’re making espresso at home, your machine likely has a water tank that will need to be filled before getting started. Once you have enough water in the reservoir, switch your machine on. Most models will automatically draw water into the boiler and begin heating it to the right temperature. Let it heat up while you move on to preparing your espresso beans

2.GRIND AND MEASURE YOUR COFFEE

Freshly ground coffee will yield the best results. Remember to finely grind your coffee beans so the resulting texture is similar to somewhere between sand and powder. A burr coffee grinder can help produce more uniformly sized grounds for even extraction. Some models have a specific espresso setting to take the guesswork out of the grinding process. Learn more about types of grinders to find the best one for you.

3. Tamp your grounds so the bed is flat and even

You’ll want your beans roughly evenly distributed before tamping. This can be accomplished by lightly tapping the side of the portafilter with your hand, or even by leveling the espresso grounds off with the side of your finger as we showed you above.

Once you’ve done that it’s time to get tamping.

The key to tamping well is to press down straight – you do not want to have an uneven puck. You’ll want to use a fair bit of pressure her, although the age-old wisdom of 30lbs of pressure is probably overkill. A good rule to follow is tamp until the grounds stop settling, always ensuring that you have a level top (1). Perfect Daily Grind explained why doing so is important 

Give your tamper a quick spin to polish the top of your espresso puck. Brush off any excess grounds clinging to the top or side of your portafilter and you’re ready to get brewing!

4 .Pulling a Shot

Place the portafilter in the grinder, and press the button.Our grinder has two settings: double shot and triple shot.
Remember to check your portafilter's brew basket and see which setting you need to use.

Use the metal tamper to push the mound of coffee grounds down into a neat little puck.
The top of the grounds should be smooth without breaks or straggly bits.
Wipe clean any excess grounds from the edges and top.

Our grinder has two settings: double shot and triple shot.
Remember to check your portafilter's brew basket and see which setting you need to use.
Use the metal tamper to push the mound of coffee grounds down into a neat little puck.
The top of the grounds should be smooth without breaks or straggly bits.
Wipe clean any excess grounds from the edges and top.

5. Steaming milk

If you’re making a latte, a macchiato, a cortado, or a cortadito then the next step for you would be milk steaming. Our machine has a steam wand built in.

Using your machines steam wand – Start out with cold milk poured into your stainless steel milk pitcher. Turn on your steamer wand briefly to eliminate any condensation that may have accumulated in the wand.

Next, put the steamer wand tip below the surface of the milk. Turn on your steamer and froth the milk until it reaches your desired consistency. Be sure to keep the steamer wand just below the surface during this process.

Once you’ve reached the frothiness you want, plunge the tip to the bottom of your milk vessel and continue steaming until you reach your desired temperature. Wipe your wand down and give it a brief purge to keep things sanitary.

Since you were a good barista and cleaned up after yourself, all that is left is to put it all together, and enjoy!