As one who PIDed my Silvia before getting my Brewtus, I agree with Barry. PIDing a Silvia is a significant improvement, but only if you rarely pull shots for more than one person, and rarely steam milk. The time it takes for the PIDed Silvia to stabilize after pulling a shot, or to stabilize when changing from brewing to steaming is a significant drawback.
The shot quality from a PIDed Silvia (once it stabilises) is about as good as one from Brewtus. Both can produce an excellent shot. Brewtus may be a little less finicky about grind and tamp, in my experience. If you do PID your Silvia, get a kit (see Jim Gallt's page, which I think is at http://pidkits.com/howdidyou.html) or get the parts yourself (look at file:///C:/DOCUME~1/kmr/LOCALS~1/Temp/silvia.html for a complete parts list and step by step instructions - this is what I followed). It's an easy job and will probably teach you quite a bit about how Silvia works. I'm essentially clueless about tools, electricity, etc. and I had no problems at all. I normally pull shots for only for myself and make an occasional latte for my wife. PIDing Silvia was a real improvement, but getting a Brewtus was a far greater one. Brewtus will pull shot after shot and steam pitcher after pitcher of milk with little degradation in performance. Whether this is worth the price difference would, of course, be your call, but it certainly was for me. Karl On Apr 6, 10:22 pm, roasterchick <[email protected]> wrote: > While I've never owned a Silvia, I have had other simple pump driven > machines and can't really imagine spending that kind of $$ on a PID > instead of upgrading to a new model, especially if I'd owned it for > several years as you say you have. > > Maybe it would be worth it if you primarily drink straight espresso; > then the PID will provide much more control and temperature > stability. But otherwise, this added feature will not solve the > hassle of not being able to brew and steam at the same time. For > this, you need either an HX or dual boiler machine, some of which like > the Brewtus, also come w/ PID and will open up a whole new level of > possibility. > > On Apr 6, 9:29 pm, jimslade <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi all. > > I've been lurking on the group for a while. > > I've owned a silvia for a very long time and have loved it, but i've > > outgrown it and can no longer tolerate its finickiness. > > Can anyone speak to the difference between upgrading to a Brewtus vs. > > adding a PID to Silvia? > > What am I losing by going the PID route vs the Brewtus route? > > Looks like the PID kit will cost me $3-400. Brewtus $1800, less > > whatever I can get for my used Silvia. > > > thoughts? > > thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en.
