DeLonghi is proud to offer you the Magnifica. This wonderful machine will make coffee, espresso, cappuccinos, and lattes with its latest, most advanced technology for brewing authentic Italian espresso or coffee. The Magnifica has digital programmable menu settings that allow you to adjust start time, auto-shutoff, and the clock. You can adjust the temperature of the coffee and water hardness. Plus, there are five settings for coffee strength: extra-mild, mild, regular, strong, and extra-strong,
DeLonghi Magnifica EAM 3400 Super Automatic Espresso Machine
List Price: $ 1,200.00
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Magnifica–A Magnificent Esspresso Machine,
The Delonghi EAM3400 Magnifica is likely the finest home-use espresso machine on the market today. The company has upgraded their line, which now is characterized by a handsome brushed aluminum finish. Designed and manufactured in Italy, the EAM3400 is a joy to operate. This machine replaced a year-old Starbucks Italia Espresso Machine made by Saeco, and it is superior in many respects:
* EAM comes with detailed instruction manual as well as a DVD that provides visual instruction, a package of descaler and a water hardness test strip that can be used to custom tailor the machine to your household tap water.
* Sleek and thoughtful design, including integrated compartment for espresso beans, a separate compartment for ground coffee with a built in measuring spoon, and a 60-oz water container that is easily removed from the front of the machine.
* A control menu that is easy to use for setting the time, auto start time, strength of coffee, and temperature of coffee, personal adjustment of shot sizes and preferred language-English or one of several others.
* The steam mechanism is different from most machines in that the wand is fitted with a frother-device. That requires one extra step in cleaning the nozzle, but the trade-off is an exceptional “head” of creamy foam on top of the steamed milk. You will find yourself using less milk in the container due to the huge expansion of the foam. It’s impressive!
This is an expensive home appliance-retailing for $1200.00 in the U.S. But if you are a “starbucksfreak” like me, it’s very much worth the investment. Plus it is discounted for a limited time to just under $1K at Starbucks and some other retailers.
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|Great machine, saves me loads of money and very reliable,
I bought the EAM3400 from Starbucks in Northern New York in 2007, and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Before I begin my accolades on the machine, let me dispel a few problems that folks seem to have with the machine: Issue: It won’t stop frothing –Solution: Raise the steamed-milk container higher on the frothing nozzle until it goes past the “raised ring”, this will not allow air into the nozzle by closing the pinhole on the nozzle and you can stop the frothing. Need to restart frothing? Just lower your milk container below the “raised ring” again. Issue: It’s noisy–Solution: Take cups off the top, they rattle. The rest of noise is just the art of creating good coffee. Issue: Durgol (Swiss decalcifying liquid) costs $11.00 a bottle! Solution: Use 1/2 of a bottle of coffee-cleaner solution that you can buy at your grocery store…in other words, just substitute the same quantity of coffee-cleaner solution and you won’t have any issues. I’ve done this for a year and a half and it works great.
Now on to the review part–I am a displaced Wahington State “Seattlite” (actually from Puyallup), who needs a regular espresso/cappuccino fix every morning to get going. So, rather than spend over $1000.00 a year on coffee (that’s $3.00/day for 365), I now only spend about $380 a year (Milk x 3 at $4.00, Cleaner x 1 at $4.00, beans x 2 at $8.00 PER MONTH x 12). So, now I save over $600/year by using this machine. Trust me, it pays off. Here is what I find great about the machine: I wake up, stumble to the kitchen, turn on the machine, and either wait 1 minute for it to warm up, or after walking the dogs it’s ready to go. Prime the steam, steam the milk, select 1 shot, add in the steamed milk and some sugar–it’s done. I add beans about every 3 days (don’t fill the container inside unless you plan on using all of the beans in only several days…they get stale), and fill the water container with fresh water every 3 days as well (tastes better). Other than that, the only maintenance-intensive part of the process is cleaning the steam nozzle(s), but I’ve developed a routine that I clean them while the machine works on the espresso portion of the process I’ve mentioned above (clean the pin-hole, clean the nozzle-opening, clean the steamer opening…). Too easy.
I’ve found that with a little practice (let’s say 4-5 tries after you first get the machine), you can EASILY have a latte or cappuccino that is just as good if not far better than Starbucks. I only use Starbucks beans…I’ve found that the commercial giant provides lot’s of product turn-over in my local grocery store so the beans are fresher than illy or Ecco Caffe. I use only Verona whole bean or Espresso whole bean. If you want a “regular” cup of coffee, this machine will only do Americanas. You can adjust the output of the Americana to fit a larger cup, but you will probably get caffeine overload from the constant saturation of the “hockey-puck” compressed coffee in the infuser and then into your cup. Trust me, if you want to wake up, an Americana is the way to do it with this machine (I’d say about 150-180mg of caffeine) I stay away from the Americana unless I’m needing a serious caffeine fix. My days of drinking 2 pots a day are over, so I consider myself an ex-caffeine junky who now prefers quality taste to quantity.
How can I compare the EAM3400 to commercial Barista machines? Well, the EAM3400 doesn’t “channel”, ie break the “hockey-puck” of coffee in the infuser when under pressure, which indicates a reliable pour each time from the EAM3400. Additionally, you can adjust the brew time by using the grind adjustment until it reaches your ideal 22-23 second “double” pour. The crema is done by pressure and not by enhancement by the machine (no tricks by Delonghi here), and the pre-infusion definitely adds flavor and quality to the shots. You really can’t check for “tiger-striping” in the pour as it is hidden from view while coming out of two nozzles, but you can adjust the machine right to provide the correct results: 1: I set my grind to “1 or 2″ on the burr-grinder adjustment in the bean-reservoir; 2: I set the temp of the water to “Warm” not “hot”, which means it will pre-infuse and use warm (it’s still hot, trust me) water for the espresso. You can easily set it to “hot” for an Americana if you want, then switch it back quickly to “warm” for espresso. I do this because it enables better crema and taste, I’ve found the “hot” to be just that–too hot for the best taste of a shot or a double-shot.
What about taking it to work? Well, I wouldn’t recommend taking your machine to work for the following reasons: 1: Your co-workers using it will not take care of it like you will (damage infuser or frother…more likely frother); 2: It requires emptying of the used coffee container, and drip-tray about 1x a week (better to do it more often if you are a clean-freak), and a good…
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