How easy is it to care for your equipment?

[Tex]

How easy is it to care for your equipment?

For example, I have 2 Bunn ES-1A espresso machines. Both are backflushed¹ with Cafiza regularly and the screens are brushed, but sometimes you need to get at the group head and dispersion disk behind the shower screen to get the coffee gunk off them (I like to clean mine every month).

• One Bunn has the stock E61 shower screen/basket and group gasket arrangement. To get the shower screen or gasket out, or to access the dispersion disk, it's necessary to get leverage on the shower screen/basket and pry it out. Because the screen is held in place with a tight-fitting group gasket, it often happens that the shower screen/basket is damaged and must be replaced.

• The other Bunn has a kit I bought from Espresso Parts Northwest; the shower screen is a Nuova Simonelli flat mesh screen. The dispersion disk was modified so the screen is screwed to it. This permits the group gasket to be replaced as needed or the screen cleaned individually.

This is just one example of how something can be unnecessarily difficult to work on/maintain. A change in shower screens means one machine is easier to keep clean, which probably means the coffee tastes better.


¹Remember, you can only backflush espresso machines equipped with 3-way valves.

[Tex]

Another example of things being difficult to maintain;

Some Gaggia's have group valves located under the shower screen and shower screen holder plate. If the plate isn't removed and descaled regularly it can be damned difficult to get off. In fact it's sometimes necessary to use a hammer and drift to knock it loose.

So why not just leave it in place?

• It will eventually be so calcified that the flow of water is blocked.

• The group valve is located behind the shower screen holder plate and it must be taken out occasionally and descaled, otherwise it leaks badly.

[grinderz]

Super easy. Pull the reservoir out, wash, replace. Unscrew the screen, remove and throw it in some cafeza solution along with the porta-filter for a soak. I don't bother with descaling with how soft our water is. I've disassembled a machine that had been used daily without for 5-6 years with our local water (and no descaling during this time) and found almost no mineral buildup in the boiler. I figure a manual cleaning every time I replace the group head gasket is often enough.

[Tex]

Then there are the roasters to be cared for. I love the simplicity of my UFO/CO roaster - just remove the top, spritz the glass with Windex and wipe clean. That's it!

Compare that to my Hottop; to clean it you have to to remove the end of the roast chamber, drum, and other parts. Then you have to reach into the roast chamber and wipe out any coffee varnish that's built up. There are 2 filters that have to be changed occasionally, and the chaff tray has to be dumped after every roast.

Damn, that's almost as complicated as tuning the BSA one-lunger I used to ride. Generally, I like simple better than complicated, especially if it's something I use regularly.