# The Rancilio Epoca has landed



## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

The beast has arrived courtesy of Sadie collecting it for me today.

A bit of cleaning was required but not much and the boiler has been thoroughly flushed through. The grouphead seal was knackered but I had a spare for the Silvia which fits but is perhaps not as thick so will have to check online (nope, there seems to be only one size).

First shot was a stinker but since then very good if not quite exceptional, milk steaming is stupidly rapid and i boiled the first go, I`m improving albeit slowly.

Sadies comment once I deemed that I had produced a shot worthy of her consideration was that the flavour was "richer" than with the Silvia. Love the non compression valves and having a drip tray worthy of the name.

Piccies









Yes it is somewhat large and dwarfs little Silvia but not the mighty MAZZER.


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## dobber (Jun 22, 2012)

Nice, it's a beast happy brewing DonRJ


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Nice, big, new machine but for me the highlight is the face on your doser, its pure genius!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Ive heard good things about this machine, essentially commercial parts, it will be a solid performer.

We want a video!


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

A great looking machine & comes with an excellent pedigree. Much prefer it to the stainless steel box type:good:


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

garydyke1 said:


> Ive heard good things about this machine, essentially commercial parts, it will be a solid performer.
> 
> We want a video!


Give me a chance to at least try and look like I know what I`m doing first and then I will do a video, but bear in mind I have the cinematographic skills of Ed Wood.


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

Update

Have done a few shots this morning so very awake, shot consistency is outstanding and I am refining my cooling flush timing as I go. Microfoam now easy to produce as long as I don`t whack the steam knob fully open and it still takes less than 30 seconds to steam 600ml of milk. What I realised was that the enormous steaming power at full roar resulted in my milk thermometer not being able to keep up with the speed of the heating process, so it was under reading - I need a faster responding one. I was shutting steam off at a 70C on the dial and the milk was actually over 80c when the thermometer caught up.


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

Magnificent beast, Don. Looks great. Hope you have a long and happy life together!


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

Re. Your thin group seal: The Rancilio seal is available only in one thickness - 8mm. There are card & rubber spacers available to make it thicker. You can always make a DIY card spacer, using the seal irself as a template.

RE. Overheating of the milk: If you grasp your frothing jug around the walls with your fingers, small finger under the bottom, then you'll never overheat the milk. These digits are very sensitive thermometers !


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

espressotechno said:


> Re. Your thin group seal: The Rancilio seal is available only in one thickness - 8mm. There are card & rubber spacers available to make it thicker. You can always make a DIY card spacer, using the seal irself as a template.
> 
> RE. Overheating of the milk: If you grasp your frothing jug around the walls with your fingers, small finger under the bottom, then you'll never overheat the milk. These digits are very sensitive thermometers !


Good idea on the spacer, I have got to order a couple of spare seals as the one used was my last spare and will give it a go.

I have cracked the steaming with a wee bit of practise, the huge increase in power took a bit of adjusting to.


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