Simultaneous shot and steam?

George Van Wagner

The one think I haven't seen a lot of people discussing is how well the L1 does at steaming milk while pulling a shot. While I mostly drink straight espresso, my wife does like a cappuccino and I've been known to pull myself one of a weekend. I assume it's not an issue, but just want to hear/read owner's comments.

Frans Goddijn

I'm convinced it makes no difference with the formidable steaming power, if you pull a shot of espresso at the same time.

The only snag could be if you're not an octopus, since you want to set down the cup, pull the handle, count to 5, let go of the handle with care, then pick up the jug, fill it with cold milk, flush the steam wand, stick it into the milk jug to start frothing the milk and meanwhile pull away the cup to let the rest of the pull flow into the drip tray, then finish steaming and pour the cappuccino.

Stephen Jenner

Are you asking whether there is steam available at the same time as the piston is pushing water through the coffee bed?

If so... There is masses of the stuff...

I have a friend who has a little Sylivia, and the poor little thing is definitely not capable of that.

The point with the spring lever, is that once you pull it, the brew water is inside the group, and the boiler is immediately ready to steam milk... or soup... or whatever other strange things that you can think of...

http://londiniumespresso.com/forum/londinium-i-owners-forum/46-picture-thread-what-else-do-you-make-with-l1#401

Reiss Gunson

hi george

i can't tell you off the top of my head in millimetres, but the point is the 4 inlet ports in the sleeve are very close to the bottom of the piston when it is at the top of its travel

couple this with the fact that the brew chamber does not fill to the bottom of the piston with water - there is always an airspace between the top of the water in the brew chamber and the bottom of the piston, and unlike water air compresses, then it is only a few seconds after releasing the lever that the piston has travelled down far enough in the bore for the seals to close off the inlet ports

the moment the inlet ports are closed your boiler is a closed system again - i.e. it has no impact on the ability of the system to generate steam

that aside, the way to measure the recovery ability of various espresso machines, albeit only an approximation, is to calculate the watts (W) per litre (L), in the case of the L1 2400W/2.3L (240V version)

r.

George Van Wagner

I didn't really expect it to be otherwise, as my little NS Ellimatic can do it (only not in huge volumes, as the boiler is half the size of an L1), but figured that there might be tips, tricks or sundries that one should know.

At this point, I'm just waiting for this unplanned for royalty check to arrive so I can order mine.