so after owning the delonghi ec3321 for 2+ years
finally able to pull latte art lol
gives me something to do during the MCO and while i save for next upgrade

what i done to the machine is:
1) replacing the basket to non-pressurized
2) removing the pannarello wand and then zip tie then rubber wand in place

my routine:
1. turn on machine -> steam mode
2. grind beans + tamp while waiting
3. once steam is ready, turn to brew mode and let the hot water run into my cup to preheat it and to get to optimal brewing temp. stop when brew light turns off
4. start shot extraction when brew light on.
managed to get 30-35s shot including "preinfusion" using 18grams in, 36grams out. can also do 1:2.5 at 45s

5. turn to steam mode, when steam light is ready, purge the first batch.
6. froth the milk by injecting deep into the milk to get initial spin
7. once i get steady spinning, i lower my pitcher to introduce air. afterwards, i move the pitcher upward to stop introducing air and heats the milk
8. requires two (three if include initial purge) batch of steam to get milk to proper temp

so if u got a cheap ass machine like mine, u can try my method to get the best out of ur machine.

What i do is i steam just enough milk for each cup. I find it easier to pour art with just enough milk. Too much milk i find it hard to get the art out.
Also pour straight after finishing steaming.. my friend also transfer the milk into another pitcher before pouring.

Bought one during MCO. No regret getting it. If you single dose, it's good for almost zero retention and the grind quality is superb for the price. So far I don't see the needs to deep clean the grinder. Maybe I'll do it once per year.

Please try BONSOY, it's available at Jaya Grocer at Starling Mall PJ Uptown.

come to your house in ss17?...

Yeah. I also use it to mod my oven into smoker oven.

Using PID to control is more stable temp compare to thermostat. The temp swing using thermostat is around +- 15 to 20 degree Celcius. PID, it's quite constant if you leave it in the oven. I light up the wood chip during smoking so that would sometime increase the temp by max 10 degree Celcius. As long as the internal temp of the meat is below 100 degree Celcius, you will retain the juiciness of the meat and the fat just melt in your mouth. That make sense as high temp (>100 degree Celcius) will evaporate  the water from the meat thus making it dry when cooked. The Knobs for 1 is to use the internal thermostat. Switching to 2 will use PID to control the temp with a K-Probe thermometer drill into the oven. 0 will just cut off power to the heater element.

115.2 = current temp
109 = target temp.

The concept same as the PID for espresso machine heater.

1. Drill and attached the probe to internal of the oven. Not too near to the heater element as you want to measure the heat of the air, not the heater element.
2. Disconnect the live wire from the heater element and route to SSR then back to bypass the build in thermostat.
3. Connect temp probe to PID, Relay control to SSR.
4. Run the auto calibration program at your preset temp. The auto calibration program will calculate the ideal parameters to maintain the temp.

The oven also come with rotisserie function so if you use PID that can program to ramp/soak the temp at certain interval, theoretically you can roast your coffee bean too. If anyone interested to try it out, look for ramp and soak PID. I'm just too lazy to learn roasting bean and get it from Meng.

sbdu/thermoblock has small thermal mass, as a result you can monitor brew temp and add heat as required, this is why pid is so popular with these machines ... use same method for hx? you'll finish brewing before you get the hotter water at the brew head.

but if I keep boiler temp constant/steady... I get better stable brew temp yes? the old Oscar pressurestat has a big deadband... so boiler/brew water temp fluctuates a lot... in the good old days ppl change to different pressurestat to reduce the deadband... pid is even better practically no deadband...so you can use pid, but not as you initially imagine

as for a new external "steam" switch... might as well use the existing pressurestat ...  pid just piggyback, set just above the deadband and in control most of the time

Hi guys,

So after done some researching, below are the choices for my beginner setup that I'm planning to buy:

1) Gemilai crm3605 + Welhome ZD-16 = RM1720
2) Gemilai crm3605 + Welhome ZD-17W = RM2200
3) Breville Bes870 = RM2700

Really need the advise to make the decision.

Can ZD-16 & ZD-17 grind for espresso?

Saw that the 600n has many variants and replica ranging from RM100++ to RM600++. Thats why I decided to avoid it bcos dunno which one to choose lol.

I'm a bit leaning towards ZD-17W as it has built in digital scale although the price is higher.

But main question is what will I miss if I choose the crm3605 over the bes870 besides from built in grinder and the built quality?

Even though I love coffee so much, I need to lessen my consumption due to my acid reflux. Instead of daily, I only consume coffee 3 times a week.