Many thanks to those who responded to my request for recommendations regarding coffee machines.
We now have the above model but the coffee isn't very hot all all, what are we doing wrong?
Switch on - leave it 5 minutes to heat up the metal of the 'basket'. Use warm cups ( does it have a warming surface?), and if frothing milk try to not use it from the fridge and then heat up to about 60-70 degrees.
We had a Krup Dolce Gusto that my son gave us but those drinks were never hot enough, used to bung them in the microwave so hence its now at the back of a cupboard.
My daughter bought a Bosch Tassimo and it knows what temperature to do each drink, so chocolate is different from a latte etc. very simple to use not like the dolce gusto where you had to measure out the water.
Trial and error I think or return it and say it's faulty.
Firstly, make sure you have an 80-90 ml cup.
Use the coffee holder without any coffee and fill the cups with the hot water until about half full. This warms the cups and cleans the makers tubes.
Put about 60ml milk into a small jug and heat with the steamer. Expel and water from it first so you end up with just steam. Heat the milk and make sure you have plenty of froth.
Remove the coffee holder, fill with coffee, empty the cups and make the coffee but only fill the cups about 1/3 full. Add about 1/3 milk and 1/3 froth.
Drink straight away.
You could also look on the web. Plenty of info there.
Have to agree with filling the empty cups with boiling water first to heat them up, then pour some out once they are hot enough.We also looked around for thickish bodied ones so they retain the heat longer.
Jim
------------- Easter-York caravan park
May CC Teasdale
Whit -Fields End Water
Summer-France
We bought the Lidl Silvercrest Espresso machine back in 2012 the machine is a re badged 15 Bar, Delonghi EC152 and it has been brilliant for the princely sum of £40.
We don't use the frother and heat milk up in the micro, and always pre-heat cups with boiling water, what ever type of coffee we are making.
The Lidl machine is my first ever espresso machine, and has turned out to be a good choice, in fact my original post about the Lidl machine show's how little I knew about making proper coffee, not now though!