The Oscar II Is Amazing At One Thing [Review]
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2023
- I got the Nuova Simonelli Oscar 2 as a stopgap while I waited for other espresso machines to land on my bench, but it turns out it is really fantastic at one thing...
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Like your "conversational" presentation style. ECM has really good drainage trays.
Hey Charlie! I have an Oscar II and I fixed my drip tray cover by flexing it a few times until it settled nicely. It took away the rattle.
Great I'll try that!
Hi there, what would you advise as a coffee machine for a small coffee business that would sell each day about 100 cups? And how about a machine if I sell 100 cups once a day in a week? Thanks
Hey Charlie, I'd been eyeballing this machine for a while, mostly due to its aesthetics. I think it looks way cooler than the Oscar I. And, the Oscars are known for great steaming power. I like the ergonomy of the flip switch. No volumetric dosing is kind of a bummer, but I think it's a lot of machine for the money. Thanks for the presentation!
I like it! Of course there are better machines out there, but for the price this has amazing steaming performance. I can't believe I bought this brand new for £700 😁
Hey Charlie! You’ve been making really good videos, keep going! I tried hard to search techniques on how to steam with 2-hole steam tip. I’ve been having such a hard time with my Profitec GO to make good microfoam. My old machine was a 1 hole tip and I had no problem. Could you make a video about 2 hole steam tip? Thanks!
I have a 2 hole now with the Nurri Leva. The biggest thing is integrating and counting air time. Inject less air than you think you need, then bring the wand to the centre and get that roll going. Watch my video with Emilee Bryant cos that has some killer advice that should help
Had this machine for like 2 years, insane steaming power. Now I have a Silvia Pro X, definitely not the same steaming power but pretty good!
How do the shots compared between the 2
By any chance, do you know what was the year since which the opv valve was adjusted to 9 bars from the factory?👀
Not sure, check the actual machine. There are OPV kits you can buy that are supposedly easy to fit. Would need to do some research
I have this machine with some modifications. I paid 830 euros 6 years ago, with Sirai pressure switch, and over pressure valve, and I think that is one of the best espresso machines for beginners. Specially for persons that drinks a lots of milk drinks like cappuccino. For me which use that machine for espresso it’s good. With that modifications, makes great espresso.
Yeah the espresso won't be as good as something with more control of temperature/flow etc but for the price this machine slaps for milk based drinks 😎
I have had this machine for two years and did the pressure reduction mod myself which was very easy. The shots need to be really dialled in and you are rewarded when they are. Im interested in the bottomless portafilter/ group handle. As you mention the need to buy a specific one. Could you tell me the name of it please? 2:20
You just need to buy one for a Simonelli group. Not just any 58mm PF will fit. I already had one for my E61 group machine but it didn't fit, and it's annoying to need to buy another PF 😅
Hi Charlie, how do you rate this machine versus the Rancilio Silvia Pro X you had in Japan for consistent shots and micro foam? I am tossing between the two and am leaning towards the Pro X but would love to hear you thoughts on how the two compare.
Oh the Pro X is definitely the better machine. The shots were much better, as it's a dual boiler not HX, so much more consistent temperatures and a PID to control.
@@homecafecharlie Hi Charlie, how about their new model Mood versus Por X?
I bought one of these about 2 months ago from simonelli directly. Is there any way of telling if it has the OPV adjustment without opening up the unit?
First I would ask the place you bought it from. I'm not an expert on OPV valves or what it might look like or other ways to tell. The only solution I've seen from pros is buying a pressure gauge portafilter adaptor that screws into the bottom, but you probably don't wanna buy that cos they aren't cheap...
I was gonna try being funny and say is the "one thing" coming without an OPV stock so it hits 14 bars lol glad it comes stock now
I have a lelit bianca and I still miss my Oscar 2.
Really why? I want to buy one of them. Probably I will chose the Bianca v3
Hey Charlie, I have had this machine for 6 years now. Used it for cortado and cappuccino, mainly. I totally agree with you about the nice milk frothing. However, I do not recommend this machine for one main reason: Reliability. Everything that could go wrong did: The steam wand broke twice (and no - I did not bend it or move it strongly), electric short circuit and more...
Thanks for telling me. I haven't had it that long, but haven't had any problems yet. Hopefully it keeps working, but for sure it isn't as strongly built as some of the other machines I've reviewed. A bit plasticy as I mentioned in the review.
I'm using oscar 2 for a year and mainly use for my small car boot set up with event up to 300 shot of espresso it perform well so far without any issue . I think it may not be perfect but still a great machine for it's price range.
I have had this machine for almost 7 years and I have only had to change the group gasket. The buttons you have to disassemble the soft key pad and clean them with deoxit or crt or IPA then glue again with silicone glue. If anything fails I will mod it, I love it very much. Stays forever with me.
Is this machine good for making caffe americano ?
No hot water tap so you'll need to boil the kettle separately
Oscar 2 or breville barista pro?
Easy, Oscar 2 every time
What are you looking for in an espresso machine?
Ability to pull a few shots back to back: not that I drink that many, but about every other week I switch to a different coffee and need to dial in a good recipe, and it shouldn't take too much time to pull 3-5 espressos.
Temperature stability, because I can't be bothered to do temperature surfing: "wait until the lamp turns off, then count 20 seconds and then pull your shot" PLEASE NO.
Repeatability and automation, because once I've settled on a recipe, I want to be able to rely on it (at least for the current bag) by merely pressing buttons.
The reasons above led me to quickly add a PID to my first machine (an old Gaggia Classic I got for an outrageously low price, these things can last for decades).
Then, preinfusion with ability to fine-tune. I was curious and considered doing the dimmer mod on the GC, until I got a great deal on a refurbished Elizabeth. Now I'm convinced that it's very useful, and wouldn't want to go back.
Then, warm up time. I did compromise here with the Elizabeth, it needs about 20 minutes to be fully warmed up, by contrast the GC took only 7 minutes. C'est la vie.
Milk steaming comes pretty much after everything else, for me it's just a bonus. I never drank coffee with milk until I got the GC, and even now it's still rare.
Initially I didn't want a dual boiler, and made an exception for the Elizabeth just because it uses pressure from the steam boiler for a softer (1 bar) preinfusion (steam pushes water from the brew boiler onto the puck).
0:52 put some elbow in it too yeahhhh .. those kind of machines
Lol it's my problem, I do it even if the machine doesn't need it cos of habit. My third machine was an old Rancilio Silvia V2 and the gasket was crap, I had no idea at the time and just thought it needed to be locked in tight. Got a new gasket and everything was fine haha
Video is low resolution, what happened?
Should be higher now, I guess YT took longer than usual for processing...
@@homecafecharlie All good now!
This video is NOT about King Oscar II.
This machine is bad engineering. I do not recommend this machine. It Doesn’t have a flow meter; it only makes the shots by time and not flow. Wait for it, and sooner or later it will make what many of them suffer from and that is when the water starts to flash in the heat exchanger.
In this machine the heat exchanger travels from the bottom of the boiler, where it is saturated with 212°F water, to the top, where the pressurized steam gets hotter than 212°F. Sometimes 230*f.
This creates a pocket of air that the pump can't move, making the shots inconsistent.
This is really cheaply made; they cut a lot of corners. For the price You're better off buying a "Rocket Apartmento" or an "ECM Classika".
But so so good for latte art 😉
@@homecafecharlie that i have to give that the steam of this machine is pretty strong.
Flowmeter for what? To Break or needs a expensive replacement? A Vibration pump has a Set flow. cm3/s flowrate. So Timing a shot in sec is the same AS flow. And poor water quality will cause leaks.
Its a Thermo Block system Not a Heat Exchanger. Wich behavior is normal and expected in a Thermo Block.
Their Quality Made. In Europe they sell for 730€ with 9 bar valve. A ECM will start at 1000€ and Rocket at 1200€.
@@analphabet1996 Flow meters are reliable. My machine is 20 years old and still running with no problems. The Oscar II is an Heat exchange machine; even their website says that.
The flow rate of the vibratory pump is only constant through the group head when there is no resistance; once you put coffee grounds on it, some of that flow goes through the OPV and is drained to the drain tray not through the portafilter.
The problem is that when you don’t have a flow meter and you are trying different coffees and recipes, your shots are not going to be consistent. Each one makes their own decision about what machine they prefer; this is only my opinion as an espresso machine mechanic and what I have seen in the past. I apologize for not including every currency in my suggestion. I am sure they are priced differently in each country, but for someone buying a prosumer espresso machine, an extra $200 dollars is not a big difference once you get into those high prices, but for some it may not be the case.
The Oscar2 is one of the most poorly and/or CHEAPLY designed machines ever made. Simonelli you've done it again, here's a piece of JUNK even WORSE than the Oscar 1. To put out an espresso machine with NO OPV has to be the stupidest choice ever made. Even worse, it's a big machine with NO gauges so even if you buy the OPV kit (Which isn't even offered by Simonelli) , how the hell do you adjust it? You would have to keep taking the case on and off to pull trial and error shots until the cows come home! Even the lowly Rancilio Silvia, the Gaggia Classic has an overpressure adjustment, primitive it may be at least it HAS it easily accessible under the hood. No folks, this here is strictly dumpster bait.
Mine had the OPV done out of the box, didn't need to do anything! I like it, crazy good performance for a cheap machine
How the steam compared to the rancilio silvia pro you had previously
Hard to say because the Pro X I had in Japan, where the power is 100v and this one in the UK is 240v. Makes a big difference for staying power with steam. They are probably both comparable.