Automatic coffee machines have learned to do everything on their own: grind coffee and adjust the grinding degree, brew and pour coffee, heat milk and whip foam. But they can do much more!
This article contains 11 automatic coffee machine features that may be useful to you and will greatly diversify your coffee gourmandism.
In This Article
Flavor enhancement system
Extraction is perhaps the most important process in making coffee. During extraction, water extracts acids, oils, caffeine and other soluble compounds from the ground beans. The better and more correct the extraction, the more balanced and full the taste of the coffee becomes, revealing all its qualities in the cup. If the extraction is incorrect, the coffee can be too bitter, sour and even salty, watery or, on the contrary, too astringent.
When preparing coffee manually, such as with a pour-over, pre-wetting the beans is always recommended. This is a preparatory step where a small amount of water is slowly passed through the coffee to rid the beans of any remaining gas, prepare them for the main extraction process and ultimately improve the taste of the drink.
Coffee machines may have automatic pre-wetting – this is what is hidden under the flavor enhancement system, additional extraction and other similar names. The option is useful if you want to get the most out of coffee, brew high-quality varieties with a rich palette of aromatic and flavor notes. If you are not picky and do not want to understand the intricacies of the flavor palette, then you may not notice the difference with and without pre-wetting.
Connection to the water supply
The option is rare and generally excessive for home use. As the name suggests, the coffee machine is connected to the water supply, thereby relieving you of the need to pour water to make coffee manually.
If you brew coffee a maximum of several times a day, then most likely connecting to the water supply will be more troublesome than necessary for you, since it requires the appropriate communications, and it will not be logical to install a coffee machine everywhere.
But it will be useful for coffee shops, cafes, restaurants or centralized buffets in the office – in general, where coffee flows like a river and is brewed in large volumes.
Cup warmer
It is believed that for the perfect serving – especially pure espresso – coffee should be poured into a warmed cup. This is both the best disclosure of flavor and aroma properties and banal physics: while the coffee is being prepared, it already cools down a little, and when it gets into a cold cup, it cools down even faster.
As a result, you are not drinking hot coffee. In addition, milk foam lasts longer in a warmed cup. You can manually pour boiling water over the mug immediately before pouring the drink or fill it with boiling water and leave it to stand while the coffee is brewing. If there is an automatic function, the coffee machine warms the cups through the platform itself.
This option is also relevant if the coffee has already been brewed, but you do not have time to drink it yet – it will not cool down too much.
Automatic cleaning
It is also called automatic descaling. Now it is found in most coffee machines, but some models may not have it. Nevertheless, it is a useful option, with the help of which scale and lime are removed from the heating elements – the heating element and the boiler or thermal block.
It also requires special cleaning products for coffee machines in tablets, liquid and powder. The product is poured into the water block, automatic descaling is turned on, and for 25-40 minutes you forget about the coffee machine – it will pass water and liquid by itself. At the end, you will need to additionally rinse all the trays, the water container manually, fill with water again and start rinsing.
Manually cleaning the system from scale is much longer and more troublesome – you will have to pour the product into the water supply tube yourself, and in very small portions and with breaks of several minutes.
“Fast Steam”
An extremely useful option for lovers of milk drinks, and also if you will prepare coffee not only for yourself, but also for a large company. It speeds up the production of steam several times – 5-15 seconds versus 3 minutes with standard preparation.
Usually, “fast steam” is implemented by means of an additional thermal block. Hot water is pumped from the main boiler to the additional thermal block, which brings it to the temperature of steam.
If this function is not available, you will have to wait until all the water in the boiler warms up to 115-120 °C. And when preparing a large number of portions for a company, you will have to fuss a lot: blow out, warm up, and then bleed off the water overheated to steam in order to return the main temperature to 90 °C and only then prepare the next portion of espresso.
And then everything starts over again: wait until the steam warms up, blow out, bleed off… “Fast steam” makes life much easier, since you can freely prepare the next portions of espresso and at the same time prepare milk foam without unnecessary operations and waiting.
Adjusting the coffee temperature
While the vast majority of coffee machines can adjust the grinding of coffee, not all of them can adjust the temperature of the drink. Meanwhile, the brewing temperature directly affects the final taste.
For example, at a low temperature of up to 90 °C, coffee beans open up weakly, and the drink turns out weak, 90-96 °C is the golden mean for a balanced taste, above 96 °C is the most complete disclosure of aroma and taste, but is not suitable for every bean.
If you are a sophisticated coffee lover and know the intricacies of brewing certain types of coffee, distinguish shades of taste, then precise temperature adjustment is just for you. Usually, coffee machines have several temperature gradations – low / normal / high – the exact degrees for which you set yourself.
And then, when preparing, choose according to your taste: low – if you want cool coffee or a softer taste without bitterness; normal – for standard preparation; high – for a very hot drink with a rich, thick taste.
Rotating filter holder
A small thing, but a nice one. The filter holder can be removable or rotating. In the first case, you will have to put the filter somewhere or hold it in your hands to pour in a new portion of coffee. And in the case of a rotating one, the filter holder simply moves aside while you pour a new portion of coffee into the basket.
Individual profiles
Some coffee machines can remember your own recipes. Then you don’t have to manually adjust the strength, temperature and other brewing parameters every time. It’s enough to enter all the necessary settings once and save the recipe. Not all models have this option. At the same time, the number of available profiles can also vary — from 2 to 10 on average.
Adjusting the amount and density of foam
Almost all coffee machines are equipped with a cappuccino maker of one type or another. But its characteristics are usually set in the factory settings. You can manually adjust the foam supply by tightening or loosening the screws in the machine body if there is no automation, but you should not do this without knowledge of the matter.
Some coffee machines have learned to adjust the density and amount of foam according to your wishes. This significantly expands the number of available coffee drink recipes, as well as the possibilities for individual taste adjustment. For example, for a latte, the foam needs 1/4 of the total volume, and for a cappuccino – 1/3.
Supply of boiling water
With this option, you can completely forget about the need for an electric kettle. The coffee machine will give you a portion of hot water without anything. It is convenient if in a family or company someone wants coffee, and someone wants tea, then you do not have to heat the coffee machine and the kettle separately – you can brew coffee in one coffee machine and pour boiling water for tea or cocoa.
Smart control
Nowadays, it is difficult to surprise with smart functions – they are equipped with almost any equipment from refrigerators to vacuum cleaners, and coffee machines are no exception. You can find models with control via a smartphone using an application and even options equipped with a voice assistant. Quite convenient to set a cooking program in the morning while you are still in bed, or in the office, without getting up from your workplace.
