# Oscar and Caimano



## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

So I recently picked up a Nuova Simonelli Oscar to replace my Silvia, which had replaced my Classic.

At home he's paired with my Anfim Caimano that I got for an absolute steal off eBay







I have a new set of genuine burrs on the way for the Anfim too, as the ones in at the minute are cheapo copies and I want peace of mind that I'm getting the best grind possible from this grinder.




























Oscar has no mods yet, apart from fitting my La Marzocco spout to the pf. I use it mainly with an 18g VST although I recently got a 15g that I want to play around with. I've a few things I want to add to Oscar;

- Anti-vac valve

- Boiler Pressure gauge

- Maybe an adjustable OPV

We'll see!


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Nice to see an Oscar image on the forum.

That's a nice home set-up, possibly overkill but if you can get an absolute bargain then why not!

Is your Silvia off to a new home then?


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

I was considering an oscar but would like a musica then some forum members pointed me toward expobar now don't know what to do. Got a few things to sort out first, but how much would you want for your silvia if you're going to sell it? As I can't afford an expensive machine at the moment I'm looking at the best of the cheaper ones and seeing as my anfim didn't sell probably going to keep it now I have the Super Caimano Barista. But I NEED an Espresso machine for home.


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Love the small footprint of the Oscar, very sleek looking machine.

Why is your grinder so far away from the Oscar? Is your portafilter doing a commute every time?

What are the shots like? Does it have pre-infuse like the Musica?


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

Glenn said:


> Nice to see an Oscar image on the forum.
> 
> That's a nice home set-up, possibly overkill but if you can get an absolute bargain then why not!
> 
> Is your Silvia off to a new home then?


The Anfim comes with me to a lot of training sessions, so is multi purpose! There is a chance Oscar will be coming to Aberdeen dishing out samples too, so both will be working hard









Silvia still there but hopefully away this week!



geordie-barista said:


> I was considering an oscar but would like a musica then some forum members pointed me toward expobar now don't know what to do. Got a few things to sort out first, but how much would you want for your silvia if you're going to sell it? As I can't afford an expensive machine at the moment I'm looking at the best of the cheaper ones and seeing as my anfim didn't sell probably going to keep it now I have the Super Caimano Barista. But I NEED an Espresso machine for home.


I don't think you'd be disappointed with the Expobar Dual Boiler to be honest, but it depends what you want from a home machine. I wanted something a bit bigger and with less process involved than the Silvia, so moved onto HX. Silvia is still here but may be going this week. There's a post in the for sale section for the Silvia with pictures etc if you're interested.


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

fatboyslim said:


> Love the small footprint of the Oscar, very sleek looking machine.
> 
> Why is your grinder so far away from the Oscar? Is your portafilter doing a commute every time?
> 
> What are the shots like? Does it have pre-infuse like the Musica?


Haha. I keep the hopper on the Anfim so there's no room next to Oscar as the cabinets are there. It's only the other side of the sink









The shots are good so far - only used a couple bags of Extract Original and not had a massive amount of time to experiment, but once dialled in they were very good!

No built-in pre-infusion, but you can pre-infuse manually by pressing the brew button half way - this doesn't engage the pump, but opens the hx and allows water to soak for however long you want, then you can fully press the button to engage pump and continue as normal. Haven't really messed around with this yet but will give it a bash!


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

Thanks, have taken a look and I just don't think that I'd be happy with the silvia I've thought about it a lot for some time now, but am used to using top end machines, just going to have to be patient and get the money together for a more pricey one.

might get a mypressi for now


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

Thought I'd update this seeing as I haven't in ages!

Oscar has been going well. Definitely a great machine to use at home. Even my dad commented on how easy it is to use (trying to explain temp surfing to him was becoming a regular thing)

I wasn't happy with the milk quality in terms of consistency and incorporation of air. Could never get GREAT microfoam, so today I set about increasing the boiler pressure. Oscar has no gauges so I had to do a bit of guesswork. I really want to add a boiler pressure gauge, does anyone have any tips on doing this? Or any recommendations on which gauge to use?

The MAITER pstat sits right on top of the boiler and the top half of Oscars case lifts off with 6 screws so is very easy to access. It looked like someone had marked the screw on the stat already so I had a reference point. I increased the pressure in clicks (each click was around a 1/4 turn). Increasing less than one click didn't engage the heater so turning full clicks is necessary with the maiter stat.

The stat maxed out at 1.2bar and the safety valve releases, so I increased until this happened then backed off one click. I can only guess that it's now set to around 1.1bar.

On flushing I'm getting more steam flash than before so a slightly longer flush is necessary - no biggie. Shots are still good, will need to play more as I'm trying samples atm so had nothing to compare it to.

Steam power - wow! It was already good, but now it's much better. Very controllable steam and first batch of milk turned out perfect. Much smoother milk, no big bubbles, completely incorporated air & silky microfoam - success!!

Still haven't replaced the burrs in the Anfim but I think I will do that this week and get to seasoning!

Michael

Fun in a Cup Coffee Training


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

I love success! Great to hear. I'm probably the opposite on steaming, I would like to tone down the steam power of the cherub. Unless I really pay attention it all happens to fast to get decent foam.

Surely some of our American friends have attempted a pressure stat on a Oscar? Sounds like a job for google. Best of luck


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