Equipment
How does the Rancilio Silvia Pro manage to achieve commercial-grade thermal stability in a compact frame? Learn more about the technology behind remarkably consistent home espresso brewing.
Since its inception in 1997, the Rancilio Silvia has established itself as the industry standard for approachable, quality-driven home espresso. Utilizing commercial components in a compact design, the Silvia presented itself as one of the first rebuildable, semi-automatic home espresso machines in a time when third wave coffee was being pioneered in part by home enthusiasts. In fact, the Silvia was the first espresso machine to be retrofitted with a PID, pioneered by Andy Schecter in February of 2001.
The Silvia Pro is the long-awaited, full-scale update to the industry icon. Retaining the simplistic functionality and minimalist design of the Silvia, the new Silvia Pro brings professional elements to the home espresso experience. Advanced dual PIDs allow for less than a 1°F variance in espresso brew temperature, and the dual boiler design enables simultaneous, high quality espresso and milk steaming operation.
The thermal stability of the Silvia Pro is not achieved with a simple addition of a PID. The thermocouple used for the coffee boiler is the same Pt1000 temperature probe used for the new Classe 20 and the Rancilio Specialty RS1. This tech, in conjunction with the mass of brass used in the group, gives the Silvia Pro almost unparalleled thermal stability.
We tested the Silvia Pro according to the same strict guidelines for testing competition machines for the World Barista Championship. Our results showed that the Silvia Pro is almost twice as accurate as the benchmark for commercial competition machines for the most strenuous barista competition in the world. The WBC standard is a 2°F allowable temperature range (analyzed as twice the standard deviation of grouphead temperatures measured through a series of tests), meaning grouphead temperature must be +/-1.0°F or better. The Silvia Pro produces +/-0.6°F, according to our lab testing.
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