Making espresso in the stovetop espresso maker

To buy an automatic espresso maker for your home use can be costly.

So one of the alternatives is the stovetop espresso maker or manual espresso pot. The result might not quite be like what you get from one of these machines with all bells and whistles, but to make an espresso for you and a bunch other people, it is definitely a good alternative.

It is quite easy to make a latte or a cappuccino with the espresso from this pot. They come in all makes and sizes. The thing to remember is never to make less espresso than what the pot is intended for, this would result in an inferior quality espresso or cappuccino.

To use the stove top espresso maker, you should use espresso coffee since this is a much finer ground coffee.

The espresso pot consists of 3 parts. Take the espresso pot apart by unscrewing the top. You can now take the basket out of the lower chamber.

1. The bottom of the pot. This where the water goes for brewing the espresso
2. The basket, which will take the ground espresso
3. The top chamber is where the finished espresso will appear.

1. Fill the bottom chamber with water, make sure to go as far as the valve
2. Fill the basket with ground espresso, when this is done press the coffee down, so are not any gaps left. Put the basket in the bottom chamber.
   Wipe any loose coffee from the rim and the outside of the bottom chamber
3. Put the top basket on the bottom one, screwing it on tight
4. Now is the time to put the espresso pot on the heat.
5. After a while you will see the finished brew coming out of the funnel and running into the pot.
   When the espresso pot starts making spluttering noises, now it is time to move the pot off the heat.
   leaving it there would make the espresso bitter
6. When the bubbling has stopped, you can pour the espresso into the cups
7. Wait until the pot has cooled down, before you touch the metal as it will be very hot

After use the pot should be emptied and cleaned before you store it. When you look underneath the top half of the pot you will see a filter and a rubber seal. Check if either of these is worn or damaged and needs replacing.

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