The temperature control works with a knob behind the grouphead. With a very small adjustment you can set it higher of lower. It really needs a very small adjustment for a 1C increment or decrement.

I have a probe thermometer to periodically check the temperature or after making adjustements. Once you set it it stays there. I also use it for warmup because most if the time I'm to impatient to wait for it to warm up (and it does that very fast). When the temperature is in the ballpark I pull my first shot and just leave it on.

It's a bit hard to tell from your photo, but it looks like the center temp may read 90C. Is that correct, and is it accurate?

From my conversation with Wouter, the thermostat can be set between 84-96°c. (183-205°f) with a 3°c deadband for holding the temperature. I don't know the degree of precision it has for kicking off at the same temperature each time, but I plan to check.

Being an open boiler, it's also trivially easy to check the temperature or add an external pid.

At first I was wishing the machine would have a built in PID (one of the four things I wanted why didn't order one earlier). But looking at all these Caravels in perfect working condition some 60 years later with no work outside some new seals, keeping the complicated electronics to a minimum sounds like a pretty good idea.

Perfect!

absolutely- I don't think PID's add much to machines like this or the Caravel except complexity- which isn't required. The simplicity is the key to these machines. I was always able to get a good shot with the Caravel just by looking at how the water was boiling- even when the thermostat wasn't working it was no issue to get the temps right. PID is overkill.

RioCruz wrote:There seems to be fairly universal consensus on this list that the Aeropress doesn't make espresso. But for the life of me, I can't see any real difference between it and what the CT1 or the Caravel do. They all seem to be pretty much in the same scheme of making coffee. Can someone enlighten me on this score?

I've had shots from both the Caravel and the Aeropress, and I don't recall any appreciable difference, but it's been awhile since I compared the two, so maybe my memory fails...yet again...

There's the grind factor as well. If you grind as fine with the AP you would choke it. I always used a just finer than drip grind, using the inverted method.

That's my take, anyway.

I don't miss a PID in the Strietman. My probe thermometer works well enough and if it breaks I'll order a new one and still be able to make coffee in the meanwhile. The temperature range of the Strietman is large enough for every coffee I tested so far. I love the Strietman for it's lack of electronics and easy maintenance.

I pull the shot after the thermostat turns off. Remember that the thermostat heats the group so after it turns off the heat is then really being transferred to the water. That way the temperature will rise just a little bit during pre-infusion and a light decline during the last fase of the extraction. This keeps it the most stable during extraction but you can vary by pulling ealier/later. Makes varying the temperature for 1-2C easy because you just adjust the timing of pulling the shot and you can vary 1-2C.

IMAWriter wrote:There's the grind factor as well. If you grind as fine with the AP you would choke it.

Well...as of that Alan Alder video I posted above, I've been using espresso grind for my Aeropress and haven't experienced any chocking so far. It also takes only 10 secs. to pull the Aeropress shot...which is what it took when I used the Caravel. Sooo...at this point I'm not convinced that either grind or pressure makes much difference between the 2 systems.

HOWEVER...I'll see if I can get a hold of a Caravel or a CT1 for a more direct comparison cuz at this point, I'm just going on memory. Always an iffy proposition...

Edit to add: I also only use one SCAA scoop of coffee rather than 2 for a single shot on the Aeropress. So that may have something to do with how easy it is to pull...

RioCruz wrote:Well...as of that Alan Alder video I posted above, I've been using espresso grind for my Aeropress and haven't experienced any chocking so far. It also takes only 10 secs. to pull the Aeropress shot...which is what it took when I used the Caravel. Sooo...at this point I'm not convinced that either grind or pressure makes much difference between the 2 systems.

HOWEVER...I'll see if I can get a hold of a Caravel or a CT1 for a more direct comparison cuz at this point, I'm just going on memory. Always an iffy proposition...

Notice the lever? That's for mechanical advantage. Pressing with the same force on the top of a tube versus a lever produces a totally different pressure.