Which Bezzera espresso machine for a single user?

Recommendations for buyers and upgraders from the site's members.
Ahmed_Soliman
Posts: 5
Joined: 8 years ago

#1: Post by Ahmed_Soliman »

Hello everyone,

I'm going to purchase a Bezzera soon. I will make one cappuccino a day. This will be my first proper espresso machine and hopefully will last a long time. I'm almost decided on the Bezzera bz 10, but before I purchase I wanted to know the difference between this model and the others, namely the bz 07, the bz 09 and the unica. For my needs which is the better choice?

I also just got the Graef cm 800 grinder.

Any advice would be very useful.

Thanks.

DeGaulle
Posts: 544
Joined: 10 years ago

#2: Post by DeGaulle »

All 4 models are capable of brewing a great shot of espresso and cappuchino. For your usage pattern the BZ09 or the Unica will do, but they are single boiler dual use machines, meaning you can't make espresso and steam your milk in one go. Instead you have to change temperature setting in between, wait for heating up to steam temperature and then flush some steam and water out to cool the boiler down when you are finished. The Unica with the E61 group and PID control will probably be more consistent and more forgiving than the BZ09, but will also take longer to heat up (35-45 minutes versus 20-25 minutes) before you can make your one cappuchino for the day.

BZ07 is the more luxurious predecessor to the BZ10, if you will. Both are heat exchanger machines. With either of these you can steam milk and make espresso all at once and more cappuchinos in relatively quick succession.The 07 is PID and volumetrically controlled, so you can program it to automatically stop extracting when you have the amount of espresso you want. The 10 is more back to basics, you have to manually stop the extraction. Both have the same group head with heating elements inside, as does the BZ09.

I don't know the Graef grinder, so I will leave that to others to comment on. But be aware that after freshly roasted coffee the grinder is the make-or-break component to great espresso, more so than the machine. If you purchase a pretty expensive machine for one cappuchino per day, without a good grinder it will be a waste of money.
Bert

Ahmed_Soliman (original poster)
Posts: 5
Joined: 8 years ago

#3: Post by Ahmed_Soliman (original poster) »

Thanks a lot for this very helpful info. 20 min plus is too long for the machine to get ready. I'm usually in a hurry in the morning. May I ask what's the importance of having PID?

DeGaulle
Posts: 544
Joined: 10 years ago

#4: Post by DeGaulle »

The PID allows you to adjust the temperature of the boiler via a LED display. Contrary to a conventional thermostat it also has a far more direct response if the temperature drops below what you set the dial at, i.e. the boiler temperature is more accurately controlled. On a SBDU machine this is a plus, so the Unica has the edge over the BZ09 here.
On a Heat Exch. machine the brew water is indirectly heated by the steam and the hot boiler water. To get the brew temperature right you have to run a flush first, regardless if the machine has a PID or not. So the BZ10 is no less than the BZ07.

P.S.
1) I recommend you do some reading, starting with the FAQ on this site and numerous links from there, there is a ton of useful information.

2) The long heat-up time problem can be solved by connecting your machine to a timer, so it's nice and toasty when you get up in the morning.

3) I googled the Graef grinder and price-wise it is very cheap for being a match to any of the Bezzera machines. It is a classic pitfall for people new to this (including yours truly a few years ago) to focus on the machine and overlook the importance of a quality grinder. With a good grinder and a cheaper machine you will get better results than when you pair a cheap grinder with a prosumer level Bezzera machine.
Bert

DanoM
Posts: 1375
Joined: 11 years ago

#5: Post by DanoM »

DeGaulle wrote:The long heat-up time problem can be solved by connecting your machine to a timer, so it's nice and toasty when you get up in the morning.
+1
A timer is a great addition to any home espresso setup. Just set it for 20-40 minutes before you get up and the machine will be ready and waiting for your groggy body to stumble up and pull a shot. A web enabled timer makes it easy to change the times too, although I always used a zwave timer.

For mornings when you don't plan to get up on schedule you can either change the timer or just turn off the machine's power switch. Once the machines are heated up they only cycle on briefly to keep the boiler at temperature, so your electric bill isn't going to be wildly expensive for using a timer.
LMWDP #445