Stovetop espresso maker/ steamer — instructions

Question

I’ve got a stovetop espresso maker/steamer that I picked up from my parents’ house. Can anyone point me to instructions on how to best use it? I know someone on here has got one, as I’ve seen a question posted about it…

Answer 1

Join me as I make a latte.

First, fill the boiler just under the pressure release valve, prepare a basket of coffee grounds (I prepared 16g worth), and insert the filter and seal into the lid.

Drop the basket in.

Screw the lid on tight and move the valve into the open position.

Immediately put it on the stove. I put it on high for 50 seconds then turn the stove off to let it coast until there's a shot or two of coffee in the pitcher.

If the coffee hasn't started to run by the time you turn the stove off, just wait. If it still hasn't started to run, adjust the time you leave it on high.

I run some cold water over the boiler until it's cool enough to open.

Clean the boiler and fill it back up with boiling water. This time, just the filter and seal – no basket.

Screw the lid on tight, this time with the valve in the closed position.

Put it back on the stove, on high. When the boiler is up to pressure (the bottom of mine starts to get just round enough that you can rock it back and forth) submerge the nozzle in a pitcher of milk and open the valve. Milk steaming technique is outside of the scope of this tour.

Close the valve before pulling the pitcher of milk away. Now there's nothing left to do but improve your bad latte art.

Answer 2

While I've never seen that kind of gadget before, I assume it's essentially a moka pot. If so, there should be a basket in the bottom of the gadget and a chamber for water beneath it. The idea is that you heat water to produce steam until the steam builds enough pressure to push through the coffee. The roof of this bottom chamber then condenses into a funnel near the center. The continuing pressure provided by the generated steam will push steam and extracted coffee solids up the funnel until it reaches the top chamber, condenses, and collects there. That's coffee.

This device seems to feature a novel valve which I assume is capable of redirecting the steam. Honestly this strikes me as a terrible idea because normal moka pots don't generate sufficient pressure to power a steam wand. Also this device looks... dangerous. You'd have to hold it to turn the valve, and there doesn't appear to be a heat safe handle or grip to support that. Better use some hefty oven mitts because that sucker will get hot.

Also that device won't actually make espresso. Moka pot coffee is quite different from espresso. You may well like it once you get the hang of it, but to me a moka pot is sort of like an in-the-middle between a French press and a pour-over. Which is to say, it's not espresso. They do make good coffee though as long as you don't burn it.