Hi everyone. My first post here but with a slight twist. Instead of what should I get post, it's a I know what I want post! I took the time to read the stickies, the FAQs and the How Tos on the site and did my research and even read the Lever Smackdown.

Where I'm at in my journey. For my "volume" coffee, I use reasonably, freshly roasted beans, a $99 Cuisinart grinder and Espro French Press. For single cup, Aeropress. Does ok I guess. I also just got rid of a Nespresso as I couldn't stand any longer feeding the machine those awful, expensive pods.

Looking to up the game. I thought I was set with getting the Breville 920XL. It is shiny, with lights, buttons and all kinds of programming. Almost runs itself. Except it is a beast. A real counter top eater. Then I saw lever machines and my eyes glazed over. Specifically, the Elektra MCAL, highly likely in all silver. I did my due diligence. It's in the price range of where I want to be and I understand that ALL machines have their nuances and unique personalities, i.e. no machine is perfect. I have softened water and at a 10" diameter, it would be a perfect fit.

I would buy new unless I knew I could get a later model. It's my understanding that a modification was made in '05 or so having to do with pressure relief I believe? If I am a bit off on that, my apologies.

My uses will be 1-3 shots a day. Some milk based shots mixed in. We don't entertain a lot so it's not going to be a party machine. Mostly just me.

I have never pulled a shot. I'm a newbie. Closet I got was putting a pod in and pushing a button. Is a lever the way to go for a newbie? Don't know. Maybe not. But I also think that not everyone deserves a trophy even if you sit on a bench. My view is sometimes success comes through failure. Meaning I'm up for the challenge and learning curve at the cost of frustration and several pounds of beans.

That said, my plan was to obviously get rid of the Cuisinart and hopefully the Elektra plays nice with the Barazata Vario. Would this be a good choice +\-? Anyone with this combo?

Accessories. It says 49mm for the basket. Is it's a true 49mm or should I wait and measure the basket for the tamper?

The rest, I understand, frothing pitcher, thermometer, scale (which I have), knock box, rags and cleaning supplies. Anything else to make life a little easier?

Is there anything else I should get that is specific to this machine? Any other hints, tips or tricks specific to the Elektra?

Thank you very much!

I used my MCAL (one of the newer models) with a Vario for a while before upgrading to an HG-one. The shots were very good, so I can't say there is anything wrong with the combo, although I like my current setup better.

The inner diameter of the baskets is a bit larger than 49mm. Orphan Espresso sells tampers with a 49.4 mm diameter, which work very well for me.

The biggest headache, for a newbie getting started using an Elektra, will be that although temperature stability is great with these machines, varying your temperature will require either learning some "tricks" (such as turning the machine off to surf down to a lower boiler pressure to get cooler shots, or pulling warming flushes through the group to make them hotter) or else taking off the bottom of the machine to adjust the PSTAT. For a first lever while you are learning how to make espresso, you might consider instead picking up an open-boiler lever like a Caravel or a Peppina. You won't be able to steam milk, but it will be a much faster way for you to learn how to adjust parameters like temperature, grind size, and brew ratio to achieve best results.

That being said, if you are willing to deal with some frustration during the learning phase, an MCAL is a wonderful machine that can last you the rest of your life. It is capable of producing truly excellent shots, it is a powerful steamer for a home lever, it is easy to maintain, and it will look gorgeous sitting on your countertop.

Welcome!

I think Mark has given some great advice, however, I would view the stable temperatures as a bonus for a newbie...ie one less thing to worry about. In the beginning, it is much more important (IMO) to nail the grind size and the distribution of the grounds in the basket. The MCAL with its spring, makes the rest easy, just pull lever down, count a few seconds, release, then enjoy elixir of the gods. After mastering grind size and distribution, you are ready to think about temperature. It's a fun journey, and it is good to know you can get started with only a few notes and suggestions in the beginning

I should put a disclaimer that I've never owned or used an MCAL, but I did learn how to make espresso on a Sama Export which is (somewhat) similar.

I think an modern MCaL, post '97 I think for the new spring, is a great introduction to levers, and one that may last you a life time. Tamp is really they last thing to be concerned with, getting the right amount of headspace without over compressing the puck is what's key if you want to get full puck pre-infusion and avoid a double pump, which I feel is preferable. I'm around 18g in and 26g out with a single pull and maybe 7 seconds of pause before the release.

Although the position of the steam knob seems very far from comfortable for me, I have to say that the angle of the steam wand is perfect for a small pitcher of milk...I've never had to pay less care to steaming then when I'm using the MCaL, especially with non dairy.

I do think a bottomless PF is perfect for these machines, and a very helpful is somewhat expensive newbie accessory.

[creative nickname] wrote: The biggest headache, for a newbie getting started using an Elektra, will be that although temperature stability is great with these machines...

I thought temperature stability was the big complaint with MCALs. I thought they were supposed to get too hot very quickly. Internet myth?

I think the MCAL only has temperature problems for people who like to have them turned on all day for grabbing a quick espresso any time. They are heated by conduction through the mounting flange, and Elektra did a good job of getting it right when they are not left on. I never leave anything on unless I am present, so I never have this problem. I suspect the best thing to do if one want it turned on all the time is to place a thermal gasket between the group and boiler. No one seems to have used stainless steel, but I suspect it might be best, because it has much lower thermal conductivity than other metals, and still has enough to provide some heating.

I like the position of the steam tip. To me it is ideal. Some machines have it too close to the boiler (La Pavoni for example). Too close and you burn the back of your fingers from time to time.

I do NOT like the MCAL stock steam tip. It is easy to make a new one with a lathe. The 850 watt heating element means you need a one hole tip to get good steam velocity. The usual MCAL steam tip seem to be equipped with M6x0.75 threads, NOT M6x1.0, so you cannot take an "acorn" or "dome" nut and bore a hole in it like you can with La Pavoni tips.

Also the shot volume is too small for 16grams, BUT by making three or four short pulls at the start, you can bring up the volume, and also have more pressure at the start of the pull. I never use the MCAL without doing this, because 25mL to me is too short.

rpavlis wrote:I think the MCAL only has temperature problems for people who like to have them turned on all day for grabbing a quick espresso any time. They are heated by conduction through the mounting flange, and Elektra did a good job of getting it right when they are not left on. I never leave anything on unless I am present, so I never have this problem.

I take a different approach. I leave my MCAL on all day long on days when I plan to consume shots both in the morning and in the afternoon. I have measured the temperature on the group and it stays remarkably consistent over time. I have tuned my PSTAT so that the stable idling temperature is the one I want to pull with most of the time. If I have just turned mine on and am in a hurry to pull the first shot, I'll use a quick warming flush to bring the group up to idling temp. People like Robert, who have theirs tuned with the idea of turning the machine on and pulling before the whole machine has come to thermal equilibrium, will want a different PSTAT setting.

wintoid wrote:I thought temperature stability was the big complaint with MCALs. I thought they were supposed to get too hot very quickly. Internet myth?

I suspect that people who have problems with overheating MCALs would see those problems go away if they followed two pieces of advice. First, leave your portafilter out of your machine so that it stays cool. When you walk up to pull a shot, the temperature in the group will climb as the superheated water enters the piston chamber, but it will soon fall back to pre-shot levels (or below) as the portafilter absorbs heat. By the time the pressure has abated enough that you can remove the portafilter without a pressure sneeze, the group temperature will usually be right where it started, or even a bit lower.

Second, once you remove the portafilter, rinse it in cold water at the sink to bring it back to room temperature. By the time you have pulled a cleaning flush, let the machine sit while you prep your next shot, and locked in another cold portafilter, your group temperature should be very close to where it was for the first shot. This allows you to repeat the procedure for as many shots as you like (at least until you need to refill the boiler).

rpavlis wrote:I like the position of the steam tip. To me it is ideal. Some machines have it too close to the boiler (La Pavoni for example). Too close and you burn the back of your fingers from time to time.

I do NOT like the MCAL stock steam tip. It is easy to make a new one with a lathe. The 850 watt heating element means you need a one hole tip to get good steam velocity. The usual MCAL steam tip seem to be equipped with M6x0.75 threads, NOT M6x1.0, so you cannot take an "acorn" or "dome" nut and bore a hole in it like you can with La Pavoni tips.

I like the position of the wand as well, and personally I find the stock tip easy to use. I do wish the control knob was not placed in such an awkward location, but I've learned to live with it over time.

rpavlis wrote:Also the shot volume is too small for 16grams, BUT by making three or four short pulls at the start, you can bring up the volume, and also have more pressure at the start of the pull. I never use the MCAL without doing this, because 25mL to me is too short.

I prefer lower doses (usually between 12 and 15 grams), and find a single pull adequate. In fact, I often end up pulling the cup early when making small ristretto shots. Which brings us to the MCALs true achilles heel, which is its drip tray. I use a small metal bowl to catch drips and flushes, because I find constantly removing the drip tray, prying out the screen, cleaning both in the sink, drying them, and replacing them, to be more bother than I want to deal with multiple times a day.

I replaced the stock steam knob with a square one I made made of wood. I found the stock one extremely awkward. Mine is 5cm square.

The size of the MCAL boiler is such that the diameter of the oriface of the steam tip matters, because if one withdraw steam too fast the boiler temperature will fall. (This is even more true of machines like the La Pavoni Europiccola with even smaller boilers.) The heating element is 850 watts. 850 watts is 850 J/sec.

Now if one steam 65mL of milk, about right for a standard cappuccino, one usually starts with the milk at about 5 degrees and raises it to roughly 65 degrees, or increases its temperature 60 degrees. The specific heat of milk is about 3.8 J/g-deg. Thus to heat and steam 65mL will require about

65*60*3.8 J, or 14820 J.

So if everything be optimised it would take 14820/850 or about 17.5 seconds to steam the milk for one cappuccino. There is some heat loss so one expects slightly longer. I have measured the time with my machine, and it always comes out very close to 20 seconds. The gauge pressure does not fall during the steaming either. Thus the engineering formula that I used to compute that steam tip I made was correct!

[creative nickname] wrote:I used my MCAL (one of the newer models) with a Vario for a while before upgrading to an HG-one. The shots were very good, so I can't say there is anything wrong with the combo, although I like my current setup better.

The inner diameter of the baskets is a bit larger than 49mm. Orphan Espresso sells tampers with a 49.4 mm diameter, which work very well for me.

The biggest headache, for a newbie getting started using an Elektra, will be that although temperature stability is great with these machines, varying your temperature will require either learning some "tricks" (such as turning the machine off to surf down to a lower boiler pressure to get cooler shots, or pulling warming flushes through the group to make them hotter) or else taking off the bottom of the machine to adjust the PSTAT. For a first lever while you are learning how to make espresso, you might consider instead picking up an open-boiler lever like a Caravel or a Peppina. You won't be able to steam milk, but it will be a much faster way for you to learn how to adjust parameters like temperature, grind size, and brew ratio to achieve best results.

That being said, if you are willing to deal with some frustration during the learning phase, an MCAL is a wonderful machine that can last you the rest of your life. It is capable of producing truly excellent shots, it is a powerful steamer for a home lever, it is easy to maintain, and it will look gorgeous sitting on your countertop.

Thanks very much! Hitting on a conversation of best practices and tips. Good stuff. I look forward to the leaning and the frustration that may follow. As the old saying goes, "if it were easy, everyone would do it".

So I should be ok the Baratza Vario. I know there are better grinders but it sounds like it will do a good job for what it is. Look for a 49.4mm tamper, no problem. Rest of the accessories appear to be standard across the board.

At the moment, looking for the best price available (from a reputable dealer).

I've been using a Vario with my MCAL, and it works great. The timer based dosing makes it easy to get a fairly consistent dose every time, and it's quite neat for an espresso grinder. I also got the Orphan Espresso 49.4mm tamper and dosing funnel, which both fit perfectly, but honestly I haven't needed to use the dosing funnel at all since the Vario does such a good job of putting the grounds right into the PF without any mess.

I haven't found the MCAL to be difficult to use at all, assuming you use fresh coffee and a good grinder. It will let you know right away if you mess up, though, or if your beans are stale. I tried to use some month-old beans from Verve in the MCAL the other day, and the shot only took about 5 seconds to extract. Oddly enough, it was still quite drinkable, though thin.