I am happy to agree there are going to be some differences in the character of the resulting coffee between domestic and commercial sized machines, however if we eliminate machines from the mix that I would class as straight out "toys", any discernible difference in the character of the coffees produced by domestic sized VS machines using commercial sized groups, will in the main be attributable to the different sized coffee filters used.
That is, the filter in a domestic size machine is smaller (holds less grinds) than a commercial sized (58mm) filter ergo you cant help getting a difference in the coffees of you brew to the same sized volume in the cup.
I measured the weight capacity of grinds in the double filter a good domestic lever machine I have in the showroom, as opposed to the weight capacity of a commercial 58 mm double filter. The domestic held around 15 grams, as opposed to somewhere around 19 grams in the commercial.....say the domestic holds around 3/4 of the full capacity of the commercial.
If you were to brew "standard" 30 ml espressos with your commercial machine using 19 grams of grinds, would that not be much the same as brewing 22 ml ristrettos using the domestic machine with 15 gram of grinds?
And unless you have one of each of the machines running side by side, how could you compare the character of the resulting brews to say whether one is "better" (for whatever reason) than the other, and would it in the end for domestic clients be of any real significance (as most of the coffees run out are destined for milk coffee)?
A lot of comparisons and reports in these forums are fought on equipment specification, therefore a machine with a commercial type group is considered to be "better" than one with a domestic size group. But is it not the result from the total package that counts?
A question then for those that have both types of machine on the bench: If you take into consideration the differing quantity of grinds in each coffee filter, and you therefore adjust the volume of liquid so it is comparative........is the difference between the coffees / machines significant? And if the domestic costs say less than 2 thou, but the commercial costs in excess of 3 thou, is any difference still significant?
That is, the filter in a domestic size machine is smaller (holds less grinds) than a commercial sized (58mm) filter ergo you cant help getting a difference in the coffees of you brew to the same sized volume in the cup.
I measured the weight capacity of grinds in the double filter a good domestic lever machine I have in the showroom, as opposed to the weight capacity of a commercial 58 mm double filter. The domestic held around 15 grams, as opposed to somewhere around 19 grams in the commercial.....say the domestic holds around 3/4 of the full capacity of the commercial.
If you were to brew "standard" 30 ml espressos with your commercial machine using 19 grams of grinds, would that not be much the same as brewing 22 ml ristrettos using the domestic machine with 15 gram of grinds?
And unless you have one of each of the machines running side by side, how could you compare the character of the resulting brews to say whether one is "better" (for whatever reason) than the other, and would it in the end for domestic clients be of any real significance (as most of the coffees run out are destined for milk coffee)?
A lot of comparisons and reports in these forums are fought on equipment specification, therefore a machine with a commercial type group is considered to be "better" than one with a domestic size group. But is it not the result from the total package that counts?
A question then for those that have both types of machine on the bench: If you take into consideration the differing quantity of grinds in each coffee filter, and you therefore adjust the volume of liquid so it is comparative........is the difference between the coffees / machines significant? And if the domestic costs say less than 2 thou, but the commercial costs in excess of 3 thou, is any difference still significant?


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