Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

CT scans of coffee-making equipment

scanofthemonth.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 178 posts

Re: CT scans of coffee-making equipment

#51

Post by Lapha »

cjs_ac wrote: post #24
kwhitefoot wrote: post #16

Interesting images and a very well put together page. But a little off topic, I was struck by this: > With the powerful 1200 W heating element A typical European kettle is at least 1800 W, comfortably less than the power deliverable from a 10 A, 230 V circuit. A typical UK kettle would be more like 3000 W, such as this one (it seems that all the kettles on that website are 3 kW): https://www.argos.co.uk/product/93631…

UK plug sockets are rated at 13 A, giving a maximum power rating of 2,990 W. Kettles are consequently amongst the highest-drawing household appliances in the UK. Back when there were only three television channels, the National Grid planners used to pore over the Radio Times, looking for popular programmes like the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special (21 to 28 million viewers in 1977), so they could prepare for the…

>UK plug sockets are rated at 13 A, giving a maximum power rating of 2,990 W.

Nominally, anyway. When the EU standardised mains voltages they mostly did so on paper by fudging the tolerances, UK's 240v +/- 3% became 230v -6/+10%. 28 years later and I still see the mains voltage in the 240-250v range more often than not.

Re: CT scans of coffee-making equipment

#52

Post by fabian2k »

blamazon wrote: post #44

I got a kick out of this passage: > At times, Fourth Wave innovations verge into the realm of obsession, making you wonder how much real difference all of this precision makes to a cup of coffee. At the end (or beginning) of the day, coffee is a ritual. More than mere caffeine delivery, these technologies enable a multi-faceted sensory experience. Exploring the complexity of its flavors and aromas has transformed cof…

There are certainly diminishing returns on many of the aspects coffee enthusiasts care about. But when I started experimenting with an Aeropress and some better coffee I found it interesting that there were many fundamental aspects I could easily taste. Temperature and grind settings can get very obvious quickly. And also the difference between roast levels or some kinds of coffee beans/preparation are not difficult to taste. And I don't trust myself to distinguish any of the more subtle tastes coffee enthusiasts talk about.

But once you e.g get into arguments on whether high-end grinders with conical or flat burrs are better you're far into the diminishing returns that might not survive a blind test.

Re: CT scans of coffee-making equipment

#53

Post by crazygringo »

kwhitefoot wrote: post #16

Interesting images and a very well put together page. But a little off topic, I was struck by this: > With the powerful 1200 W heating element A typical European kettle is at least 1800 W, comfortably less than the power deliverable from a 10 A, 230 V circuit. A typical UK kettle would be more like 3000 W, such as this one (it seems that all the kettles on that website are 3 kW): https://www.argos.co.uk/product/93631…

I'm not sure what the point is you're trying to make?

I'm sure you're aware that US sockets are 110-120V. The power required by a European kettle would too often trip someone's circuit breaker in the US, especially if any other equipment were also plugged in (you usually want to stick to max 1500 W on a circuit).

Clearly the "powerful 1200 W" is in the context of equipment designed for American residential sockets -- the page is produced by an American company after all.

(Which is why Americans don't use electric kettles nearly as much as Brits/Europeans, of course.)

Re: CT scans of coffee-making equipment

#55

Post by [deleted] »

mlsu wrote: post #34

This has to be a marketing exercise by the CT machine maker, right? "We spotted casting issues with the new pot" "We can see the density difference in the plastic" "We found aluminum shavings" For the right audience, this would definitely sell one of those big fancy CT machines. Not that I'm complaining -- visuals, presentation, content is all thoroughly interesting, speaking as someone with an Aeropress, a Moka. Pre…

[deleted]

Re: CT scans of coffee-making equipment

#57

Post by beojan »

crazygringo wrote: post #53
kwhitefoot wrote: post #16

Interesting images and a very well put together page. But a little off topic, I was struck by this: > With the powerful 1200 W heating element A typical European kettle is at least 1800 W, comfortably less than the power deliverable from a 10 A, 230 V circuit. A typical UK kettle would be more like 3000 W, such as this one (it seems that all the kettles on that website are 3 kW): https://www.argos.co.uk/product/93631…

I'm not sure what the point is you're trying to make? I'm sure you're aware that US sockets are 110-120V. The power required by a European kettle would too often trip someone's circuit breaker in the US, especially if any other equipment were also plugged in (you usually want to stick to max 1500 W on a circuit). Clearly the "powerful 1200 W" is in the context of equipment designed for American residential sockets --…

A heating element is basically just a resistor, right? Which means if you run one on half the design voltage it'll draw half the current it's meant to and produce ¼ the power.

Re: CT scans of coffee-making equipment

#58

Post by p1mrx »

cjrp wrote: post #22
kwhitefoot wrote: post #16

Interesting images and a very well put together page. But a little off topic, I was struck by this: > With the powerful 1200 W heating element A typical European kettle is at least 1800 W, comfortably less than the power deliverable from a 10 A, 230 V circuit. A typical UK kettle would be more like 3000 W, such as this one (it seems that all the kettles on that website are 3 kW): https://www.argos.co.uk/product/93631…

> …the kettle reaches optimal temperature very quickly — in under three minutes That’s too long to wait for a brew.

If you fill to the minimum line (0.5L) instead of the maximum (1.7L), it will boil in under 1 minute.

When buying a kettle, the most important specs are the minimum fill and wattage (ideally 1500W in the US.)

Re: CT scans of coffee-making equipment

#59

Post by C-x_C-f »

Very cool as always! If I may be pedantic about the lede:

> The history of coffee provides a rich index of global economic and cultural exchange going back thousands of years.

The history of coffee is less than 600 years old.

Re: CT scans of coffee-making equipment

#60

Post by felipc »

The point about the newer Bialettis being cheaper is absolutely true. My mother has an old (>10 years) Moka that feels heavy and sturdy. A couple of years ago, after accidentally leaving it on the stove for too long, the bottom chamber and the filter basket got a permanent burnt coffee taste, and we bought a new one to replace it. That one was lighter and came with a significant thinner filter basket, which I also attributed to either being counterfeit or just they shipping cheaper versions of the product to Brazil.

Then, a couple of months ago, I was on vacation in Italy and decided to get a brand new one as a gift, directly from an official Bialetti store. To my surprise, the Mokas in the store felt exactly like the lower-quality one we had bought in Brazil. I didn't even buy the gift.

Post reply on HN