I pimp out the Delonghi Stilosa, but is it the cheapest way to get amazing espresso coffee at home?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 มิ.ย. 2024
- NOTE: stick around to the end where I make a blooper that invented an entirely new name for all your Home Baristas and let me know if you like it or not.
WHY DID I MAKE THIS VIDEO?
I listened to what some of you said about my videos saying never buy a cheap appliance coffee machine. So in this video I went on a quest to find the cheapest best coffee I could make.
The Delonghi Stilosa is a cool little machine for cheap and it was even better that I managed to find one second-hand on marketplace. So I put it to the test against my commercial cafe machine Synesso MVP Hydra. There's obviously going to be a difference since this machine is worth $30k (or $15k for a single group equivalent machine) so I don't expect much, but if I can create the best possible coffee on the tiniest of tiny budgets and it helps someone watching to get started with coffee at home, then I've succeeded.
Let me know what your thoughts are and if you own a Stilosa, let me know how you are going with it.
Cheers,
Ryd
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Love that you're always thinking of your viewer! Thank you again for great videos...i enjoy watching them all
Thank you! 🙏
Great review, I enjoyed the comparison vs the commercial machine and the video side by side comparisons.
I gifted this for Christmas to my brother & pimped it as well. He’s super thrilled with his new toy😃
Perfect! You're the best sister!👌🙏
Great video ❤️☕️👍🏽
This is one good espresso machine... got this and was just wondering why people need expensive coffee making gadgets. This froths better , just change the portafilter and the plastic tamper...stopped buying coffees from cafes.. u dont need fancy coffee machinery to make coffee unless u are in it as a business. It is a great machine... mine is some weeks old...Happy
Yep. Grinder is much more important for a good coffee than the mashine. I have got my stilosa for 50usd, and my grinder costs 400
Keep them coming. Love your videos
Thank you! Anything you'd like to see coming up? I'm going to the big Coffee Expo next month in Melbourne so lots of things to see there, but anything you'd like to see that might be an entertaining video? Always looking for ideas.
Hello ,thanks for the review. I found the same model Stilosa EC230 for £50, so bought it mainly because I was using Stilosa EC260 at my friend's place many times before , but I found it tasted so much better. It was a lot thicker. Seems like now my espresso produced by EC230 is not the same. Using the same preground coffee, lavazza decaf. Do you have any idea,why such different between these 2 models? Or any tips how to improve?! Thank you so much 🙏🙏
I enjoy your videos. I have a question. is this worth it or should I purchase something better.Modified Gaggia Classic Pro Evo w/Upgrade Kit for Brew, Steam, & Flow Control + 2 Puck Screens, WDT Tool, and Keychain, Pull $2000-$3000 Quality Shots with your Gaggia, Pro-Level Espresso Upgrade Kit
Nice
I'd like to see a behind the scene video of the moment you guys realised that you bought the wrong portafilter for this appliance :D
good spotting! yeh it was a whole lot of pain when I realised we had received a three ear portafilter. Still, we got there in the end and it was actually a very decent coffee.
@@Rydecoffeecoach So you faked the video basically
@@bytemuncher1 No they didn't. They got the correct portafilter to pour the shot. You can see at 8:16 and 8:18 it's not the same handle.
@@Rydecoffeecoachhow did you upgrade the steam wand i have one of these and =d it did NOT comee with that wand
@@user-gx7vl2lq6i so your model may have a panarello which is a thick tube that helps froth the milk without you having to really do anything. If so, you can remove this tube by pulling it down and then using a cable tie to fix the rubber nozzle that sits underneath the Panarello.
im so glad to come across your video bcus i have been looking at bottomless portafilter for my ec230 and couldnt find any… do you mind sharing where you got the portafilter? :)
Actually it's very annoying because I had a link and it expired. They seem to come and go these specific portafilters, so just keep looking and you'll find one.
Do you have a link to the portafilter you used? The one I got leaks pretty bad. I’ve tried different grind sizes, amount of grounds and tamping pressure. Leaks every single time.
Looks amazing for the price honestly
Yeh, I was actually very surprised at the results. Cheapest best coffee yet!
I think the Stilosa ec230 even comes without an pressurized basket.. just an unpressurized one. .. (not a bottomless portafilter though)
I got one of these coming tomorrow. Trying to cut down on volume lol. I still need the caffeine. But I can't carry on doing 2 mugs or more a day :/
I have the Stilosa and as someone new to making espresso really enjoy it. I've been exploring buying the same accessories you highlighted, which is reassuring, though I see the portafilter listed as 51mm, not 54mm.
Oh whoops, yeh it's supposed to be 54mm. I bought the wrong one too with an extra ear (metal notches around the side of the portafilter) so make sure your double check that it only has 2.
May I ask how many grams you can fit in the basket?
@@Rydecoffeecoach The Stilosa and Dedica all have 51mm portafilters according to many online and call it 51mm units. I also thought it to be 54mm, but that depends on where you take your measurements. With basket removed, the ID of portafilter is 54.5mm and ID of std basket is 51.5mm. Tamper is also 51mm.
@@Rydecoffeecoach Just to make sure, the Stilosa is using a 51mm porta with two ears exactly opposite each other. Other machines do use the 54mm size with three ears equally spaced on the porta perimeter.
Where’s the link to the correct Portafilter
Yes, I agree, the pimp parts make a huge difference. What about a distribution screen?
Yeh that would help even more. A Pesado screen is great.
U can get them online...cheap.
Do we have to measure the water for each espresso or the machine takes into account automatically?
Also got my stilosa pimped a bit. With PID, manometer and dimmer it's really good.
And regarding the basket, with some extra work, stock PF fits the dalla corte IMS basket which allows to brew using 21g dose (even 22 maybe). However, 54.5mm tamper is not the easiest thing to find on the market ))
Cheers!
Awesome! Can you send a link to a video of it? How much did the whole thing cost? Pullman have some great tampers but they aren't cheap.
@@Rydecoffeecoach,
Well, here's what my mods roughly came for:
Pt100 thermo couple $8
PID controller Xmt7100 $20
Ssr da40 relays $15
Manometer $12
Dimmer $7
Valves and tubes $10
Basket $15
Tamper $10
Total: ~$97
And with machine itself being like twice as much as you've shown in the video, we're at $200 mark, give or take.
Here's what it looks like so far, but I've got some ideas on the exterior to make it more finished on the outside, heh)
drive.google.com/file/d/1jmfryMvlHHC06TzWibBqNsu65xoih0Lp/view?usp=drivesdk
Not sure that yt will let the link just hang there, however)
I tried something similar last year with a Kmart espresso machine.
What I found with the Kmart machine was that the group head screen did virtually nothing to spread the water flow and it was always channeling. To fix that Issue I unscrewed the screen and put in a small strip of double folded aluminum foil to block the jet of water and help distribute the flow. This went a long way to stopping the stream of water flowing straight through the group head.
Then with the addition of a puck screen, I was able to massively reduce the channeling and increase the extraction from the little Kmart machine.
The portafilter was terrible as it was only set up for pressurised baskets and that was easily fixed with a new basket from eBay and some delicate work with an angle grinder. The modified portafilter looks janky but it works.
I already have all of the other gear, so the puck prep is pretty consistent and I usually weigh in and weigh out to try and pull consistent shots.
I can honestly say that I've had better espressos from the modified little Kmart machine than from my local Maccas.
All up the Kmart experiment cost about $120 but being able to pull surprisingly good shots from it is priceless. ;)
Yeh thats perfect! That's exactly the idea I had behind this video because I know you can mod the portafilters and remove the pressurised baskets for much better precision baskets. The Kmart grinder though... 😬
Hot water running over Alum. is why I ditched my Nespresso Vertuo Next and bought a Gaggia Super Auto for 750, which I now hate (TBH), its OK for conveinence, but the taste is just so so. I will sell it probably and for for the Profetic Go (whatever the name is) or go for a Gaggio Evo.
Finding out there is still a Kmart somewhere is a bit disturbing.
These portafilters are actually 51mm btw.
Actually, this is causing the most confusion. There are two models of this stilosa. One is 51mm and one is 54mm. They look almost identical.
Loved your demonstration. I have just purchased this machine I'm failing badly to get any creama on my expresso.
What number should i have the breville auto grinder on plse.
Thanks. If your coffee is fresh and good quality, set the Breville grinder around 6-10, but if it's older coffee you might need to go finer and you may never be able to get a nice crema. The Stilosa can handle pretty fine coffee before it just drops through so you can get good Crema if the coffee is fresh. 👌
Great video 🎉
Leaves a question tho
Witch grinder did you use for the synesso 😂😂
lol! Maybe I should do a video comparing coffees from the Ek43 and the Breville grinder on the Synesso!
@@Rydecoffeecoach great idea!!
I like that idea. Cheap conical burr vs god tier 98mm flat burr. Maybe throw in a decent handgrinder for fun too.
Thank you for this review.
Im considering buying this specific machine and i only saw reviews of former model with the pinarelo.
I wanted to ask first if you think its better now than the former model without the pinarelo?
And second question is, im currently with cheap Nespresso machine so will this Delonghi Stilosa be better?
Thanks again.
It will be better already because of larger coffee dose it can brew, even with stock basket. However, I'd still go with non-pressurized one (my stilosa came with those as stock ones, by the way). But, here we go to the territory where you'll need a coffee grinder, as only pressurized baskets could forgive you incorrect fracture. I went from timmemore to kingrinder pretty quickly and consider my k4 as a jack of all trades... Use it for all the range from turkish to filter.
And yes, answering your milk frothing question, panarello helps to get a lot of stiff, extra aerated foam that does not mix with the coffee properly...no fancy late art, if you want. Non-panarello stainless steel wand on the other hand allows you to get that texture (kind of, as for me personally), but requires practice...a lot of... And time for you to spend on several tutorials on how to do it correctly)
Good luck!
@@simonshandrinov9079 Thanks for the detailed answers it helps a a lot.
Also appreciate the content.
Why does google say the portafilter is 51mm ?
I believe he is wrong about the size. I'm told it is 51mm as well.
How did you get an aftermarket portafilter with three ears to fit in the Stilosa which is designed for two ears?
he didnt the shot footage of the stilosa is stolen from tom coffes video on the stilosa
Now throw a PID on it!
Hi do you have link for the items you bought please.. tamper etc etc
i need the links please
Do you have links for the upgraded stuff you bought?
Yes sorry, I will add them to the description when I can.
Just got one last week. Nice machine! Expresso Bean! Carmel not good on it. Outin Nano next!
Yes the Outin nano looks interesting! 🙌
I just bought a Stilosa EC230, the portafilter is 54mm, the baskets are non-pressurized. I tried it with a pre-ground Lavazza Crema e Gusto, the result is awful, almost no crema at all. Any tips, or that's as good as it gets with a pre-ground coffee?
Unfortunately preground Lavazza is not going to get you anything better. Most preground coffee is going to be old and stale unless you go to a specialty coffee roaster and get fresh coffee ground. But you are better off investing ~$200 into a Baratza, Fellow Opus or Breville grinder and buy locally roasted whole beans. You'd be amazed at how much better it will taste!
Hi, do you think we can replace the steam wand of this device with rancilio?
DingoFlurtsthx a lot ❤
I think the Bambino isn't a bad appliance machine to start with either. A good way to start is a decent grinder (one in video is a good start), tamper, knock bin, milk jug, normal portafilter basket and an amazon kitchen scale.
Yeh, the Bambino is good but even in Australia its still $450 and at that point I'd probably make the case for spending a bit more and getting the Breville Dual Boiler.
My focus was to try to get the best cheapest machine and I think this actually got there.
In the US it's 300 when on sale and that's happened at Black Friday, Christmas time, Mother's Day... I ended up stepping up to the Bambino Plus for $400 on sale at mothers day... and getting a Niche Zero to make everything easy haha. It's the most straightforward simple setup you could imagine.
@@NoZenithbambino plus is 450€ in the cheapest places. It isn’t worth it.
@MetallicReg I want to quietness, Simplicity, reliability and repeatability if I was going to bother getting into making espresso. I'm not rich but I've been wanting an espresso set up for 2 years I saw all the new ones coming out and considered things like the Lagom Mini among other things and if it had been on the market before I pulled the trigger I probably would have even seriously considered going with the Encore ESP but it wasn't and I wanted the easiest and yet highest quality experience I could possibly get and I think I got that with the niche zero and Bambino Plus.
What input do you have on that or why would you say it's not worth it when anything that even remotely competes with it is almost always significantly more expensive or doesn't have anywhere near the capability or robustness let alone the self-contained finesse of an all-in-one unit with its own cord containment instead of a big old power brick.... and all those smaller ones are significantly higher pitched or just plain obnoxiously loud.
I am genuinely curious because if part of my system quits moving forward I might be very willing to make another Choice depending on what's on the market at that point. Thanks
@Rydecoffeecoach woah in canada, i have seen barista express on sale for around 4-500.
How did you get $50, second hand but good item espresso machine?
They are only $85 brand new on Amazon.
The porta filter in the machine are not the same as the one that you purchased.
I can barely fit 14 grams in my 51mm Portafilter!! But my pucks are soggy and water pools up on top of the screen. Help!! I can only get about 12 grams in the basket
Yeh you need to buy a naked portafilter and a bigger basket! The standard baskets don't fit enough coffee.
There is a cheaper solution as well. Some of the Chinese 51mm bigger baskets fit the stock pf just well, all you need to do is to remove the plastic insertion from it(one screw undone). You can fit even bigger baskets if apply your angle grinder, or any metal saw and just cut the bottom part of the pf )
Ah, and yes, as this machine has no solenoid valve, it does not release pressure from the puck after brewing, as more expensive appliances do. So it will be soggy nonetheless, especially for the first couple of minutes after the brew. Better to cleen it a bit later, when the water is just gone drop by drop... so yes, back to back cups is not it's field of competency)
But if it's watery and dirty even after a while, I'd suggest you to go coarser on your grinder.
Actually, it's not bad with more recent wave of 1:3 ratio of under 20sec brewing... However, you'll need to not jus go really coarse, but try lighter filter roast and surf a temperature with steam mode for this, heh)
Cheers!
Hey dude , I got the same machine , I did all the step and I got all the “pimp part” but the coffee is coming out like a tea 😢, what should I do.
Since I bought I never get crema😭😭
Sorry to hear that! I would check your coffee beans. Are they supermarket beans? Are they more than a month old? Are you grinding fresh? I'm not sure what country you live in but try to find a local roaster who can give you freshly roasted coffee (a couple of weeks old max) and if you aren't grinding coffee as you go, try to find a decent grinder with burrs so you can control the grind and grind as you go. This should drastically improve your coffee and get you that yummy Crema. 👌
What is the ratio of the extraction for the delonghi?
Should be 1:2 in ~30seconds. (So 18g in and 36g out)
@@Rydecoffeecoach what adjustments should I make if I’m getting far more than 36 g in that time?
$50 for the Brevielle dose control!? Around me they are going second hand for at least double that.
Bought one new on eBay for under a 100 👍
The portafilter is 51mm if I'm not wrong?? can someone verify this
There's two slightly different models, one is 54mm and one is 51mm.
These machines are a dime a dozen on goodwill auction and usually go for around $30
Hi is this the EC230 or EC260? Thanks
This was the ec230 model but I actually think the ec260 is 51mm and is easier to find the accessories for (naked portafilter, etc). Essentially they are the same though.
Bugger 260 not available in NZ.
@@Rydecoffeecoach Hi what machine do you recommend thats under $300 - makes good espresso & milk. I'm experienced so don't want an automated machine. Thanks
@@Samantha-xr4mx would you look at lever machines? There are some great machines around $300-$400 like the Flair signature, or Bellman Stovetop cx25p (flair doesn't do milk though). Bellman makes exceptional espresso with a bit of finessing, but is a little slowish.
If you can find a second hand Rancilio Silvia or Gaggia classic pro they'll be the best and will last hypothetically forever.
You could also look at the Breville Bambino (not the "plus" version though).
How long do you run the shot for?
My standard shot time is 27s 👌but if it is somewhere between 26-32s that's fine.
Thankyou! im also keen for the links to all of the bits and pieces you purchased, when you get around to it :) @@Rydecoffeecoach
Yes sorry! I didn't end up linking them because so many of the views for this video came from around the world and so it wasn't going to work if you weren't in Australia.
But go on to Ali express and you should be able to find cheap stuff like the tamper, the naked portafilter, the coffee catcher (aka coffee funnel), the WDT. 👌
@@Rydecoffeecoach if my shot hits about 2 oz much faster than the 27 sec, how do I troubleshoot?
So do I buy a 51mm or 54mm bottomless portafilter? 😂
54mm but just make sure you get the portafilter with two ears not three. What I discovered is that there are two versions of this machine and the more modern one is slightly better.
@@RydecoffeecoachI got ec235.bk model and it has 51mm portafilter.
It’s a 51 mm not 54 mm 2:33
Believe me this caused a lot of confusion everywhere but there are actually two slightly different versions of the Stilosa: one is 51mm this one is 54mm. 👌
@@Rydecoffeecoach ohh I see respectfully just a suggestion then, with me being new to this which is really a lot of your target audience with videos of costly effective machines explain that there’s different ones when it comes to size new sub here! Thank you for your work!!
The porta filter is 51mm not 54 and two ear
There's two versions. One is 51mm the other is 54mm
The one you show is the EC230 and the EC260 are 51mm.
Price for additions you give are unbelievable High)
aliexpress gives 10 times lower prices)
250g for 21 €? WTF hahaha I can buy 250g of good unground Colombian coffee for just over €9
No where did I say it was €25 what made you think that?
54mm? Not 51mm