We’ll immediately make it clear that we are talking about choosing household appliances, not professional equipment for coffee houses. Therefore, if the rate of espresso consumed per day is 2-4 cups, then a model with a 1 liter tank is enough for you. A device for 15-25 cups is suitable for an office or a large family, and you can immediately find a suitable model in our coffee machine ratingbased on customer reviews.
Types of coffee machines
To begin with, due to the variety of coffee equipment, many dealers deliberately misunderstand their equipment. Comparing coffee machines and coffee makers, we have already found out that the first ones are more expensive, and their main difference is the fully automated process of preparing coffee drinks: from grinding to spilling coffee. The following types are available:
- Capsule coffee machine– works on the basis of special coffee capsules. It is enough for the user to fill in the water, set the volume of the desired portion, place the rammed coffee in a special compartment and press the power button. As a rule, such models are cheaper, but the cost of raw materials is higher than ordinary grains.
- Coffee maker - equipped with a special horn, in which ground coffee is poured, and through which steam passes. As a result, the greatest amount of romantic substances is released. Grinded grains are best warmed up in metal horns. In them, the coffee turns out to be thick, with delicious foam, and without odors. In low-cost plastic plastic horns, the coffee turns out to have a watery and sour taste;
- Automatic - provide a minimum of effort from the user. It is enough to fill in the grains, indicate the strength of the coffee, the number of cups and turn it on. On average, the process takes less than 1 minute, along with grinding coffee.
Regardless of how you make coffee, you can choose a coffee machine for your home with or without a cappuccino machine. But judging by customer reviews, this feature deserves attention.
Choosing a cappuccino machine
The principle of operation of the foaming agent is to enrich the milk with oxygen, due to which a thick foam forms on the surface of coffee drinks. The cappuccino machine can be used to make different types of coffee: from espresso to patented coffee specialties. Moreover, it can be of two types: manual and automatic. The first option is equipped with a special tube, and involves a certain amount of time for the user. An automatic foamer allows you to cook latte, make-up and other drinks with one touch, but costs more. When choosing a coffee machine with a cappuccino machine, also note that the speed of mixing milk with hot steam depends on the quality of the atomizer. Unfortunately, visually it is impossible to determine. Therefore, focus on reliable brands.
Power and pressure
Here you need to build on how many cups of coffee you drink per day.For the office you need a powerful, practical, hardy machine with a large tank for water, grains and a large tray for cake. It is important that there is a lot of space for glasses and the model is equipped with steel grooves of the coffee grinder. Optimum power can vary in the range from 1450 to 2000 watts. When choosing a coffee machine for the house, you do not need such a productive heater, since there is no hurry. The machine can be simpler, more compact, but with good pressure. Minimum 15 bar.
Expert advice on choosing a coffee machine
As for the number of modes and the speed of making coffee - it all depends on your financial capabilities. But, if you intend to experiment, experts advise you to choose a horn coffee machine. For the office, in turn, it is more advisable to purchase a capsule model, which provides for minimum hassle.
Regarding durability, the following points should be considered here:
- a stainless steel case is not only more reliable, but also more practical than plastic on the front panel, which will have to be constantly washed from dirt and fingerprints;
- to avoid burns, it is better that the walls of the graph are double;
- modern automatic coffee machines support not only programs, but also remote control, which greatly simplifies the process of preparing drinks.
Useful features
If you want to choose a good coffee machine for your home, you are probably interested in learning about useful options and programs. This is also understood by manufacturers, who often resort to dishonest ways to attract the attention of buyers. Therefore, we consider the most interesting, in our opinion, functions:
- "The degree of grinding";
- "Hardness of water";
- "Serving Size";
- "Heated is round."
For coffee machines with a cappuccino machine, the Latte cream function is also very useful, allowing you to adjust the degree of frothing of the foam.
That’s it, friends. We hope the above information will help you make the right choice!