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Removed the double gas range and put a fitted one.

BEFORE



AFTER

Again nice work. Keep it up.

Tony,

You didn't tell me anything about my perfect italian espresso, made with that little machine on my gas range - without electricity, and pressure derived from electricity, that is !

Notice that hole on top? That's what makes the difference. Inside there is a pressure valve, much like the ones on pressure cookers, that when released lets all coffee come out in one shot (as opposed to the ordinary percolator that lets coffee drip over progressively).That instantaneous release and consequent coffee exit from the lower bowl, makes the nice froth. I bought it here for a salty price - I think € 50 - but its worth every cent.

Nice Yannis. Very nice

Now that espresso is very impressive.

Pete, do you also have an italian origin? Palmieri sounds like italian to me. Hence the espresso appreciation !

Yannis wrote:You didn't tell me anything about my perfect italian espresso, made with that little machine on my gas range - without electricity, and pressure derived from electricity, that is !

Notice that hole on top? That's what makes the difference. Inside there is a pressure valve, much like the ones on pressure cookers, that when released lets all coffee come out in one shot (as opposed to the ordinary percolator that lets coffee drip over progressively).That instantaneous release and consequent coffee exit from the lower bowl, makes the nice froth. I bought it here for a salty price - I think € 50 - but its worth every cent.

I personally love my Nespresso machines (one on the boat, one in the office and one at home) but the simple Maccina is still one of the BEST espresso makers... I have one of those and vacuum packed coffee on the boat, in the office and at home for when I run out of Nespresso capsules...

Yannis

Yes those stop top pots are still the best. I recieve a monthly cooking magazine and in each months they do reviews on cooking utensils and such. They still rate that little stove top as the best.

Nav, sorry to say, I am not a fan of anything pod. Makes horrible coffee.

We are lucky to have a local super market near my house that roasts it's own coffee. The coffee section has about 20 wooden barrels set up and their is a different bean in each one. The coffee roaster sits right there in the coffee Dept. I usually buy whole bean and then grind it as I use it.
I am good for one or so in the morning then two at night after dinner. Believe it or not, drinking coffee has no impact on my ability to fall asleep. Drives my wife crazy that I can do two cups and 10 minutes later be sound asleep.

Nav,

Not only do I have a Nespresso at home etc, but when I replaced an older machine with a new smaller one to fit my small kitchen's countertop, I took the old machine over at a friend's home so that when I'm there I can still have coffee! I was working for that company for 7 years too!

Tony,

Not to mix a true espresso with a the roast and ground filter coffee made by percolators that make that so called american or french (depending on where you live) brown liquid. Irrespective of where you buy or grind your coffee, or of what quality it is, the espresso notion is associated to the "pressure" element. Also, the fact that is drank in one sip, quickly or "espresso".

Other than that, I'm happy this is a truly "bertram" site !!!

http://www.amazon.it/Bialetti-Brikka-ta ... B0000AN3QN , look at the pic that shows the top.

Yannis wrote:Pete, do you also have an italian origin? Palmieri sounds like italian to me. Hence the espresso appreciation !

Yes. But we just called it black coffee until about ten years ago when coffee became the cool thing. Now everyone drinks "expresso"

Peter

It's like Pasta Fagioli. As a kid my mother made it all the time. It was called Peasant food and looked down on by those that thought they were better. Now when you order it out you pay $10 for a cup.

I learned to drink coffee black when I was young. I worked for my father and in the winter, the coffee was the only warm thing at the gas station. Sometimes there was milk laying around some times you drank it black.

My cousins wife came from Italy, so when you went to visit them, you got Expresso, using a perc like Yannis uses.

Yannis

That is it, the best expresso maker you can get.

Tony Meola wrote:Yannis

That is it, the best expresso maker you can get.

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-4 ... sso+Makers

The one they sell in the US does not have the relief valve. They also sell one that will make the creamy froth.

Tony Meola wrote:Yannis

That is it, the best expresso maker you can get.

My Mom still uses one. Best espresso

Tony, Pete,

I know, the one in Tony's link IS the only coffee that you could drink at home, back when the huge electric machines were an item you could find in fancy central pastry shops or at ...airports. I remember the smell of coffee in the airport's waiting lounge and the noise they made. Those machines made real espresso with pressure.

The "Bialetti"coffee was called espresso alright, but what it was is essentially FILTER coffee.

Try this one with the valve, it's different altogether. Buy a COARSER ground coffee so that it doesn't pass through the mesh. If you cannot find it, I can send you one, it shouldn't be that expensive. Or follow the link and get it online.

Before I bought this one, compelled by a friend who was using it in his sailboat in Denmark, I was desperate to find something that could produce espresso WITHOUT the need of electricity. Another friend had lent me a peculiar contraption that looks like a bicycle pump - around 25 cm in length ! You pump it up on one end, and on the other you put the coffee and close the lid. You pour hot water (that you prepare elsewhere) in a receptacle on that device and you release a valve button to let the pressurized air inside go through and make espresso. Intelligent little pump but , I think , this valve one of mine is better.

Yannis

Thanks. I will look around for it after the Holidays. I have not seen the one with the valve offered here in the US. Does not mean it is not around. In these days of the internet anything and everything is available.