Moka Express (3-cup)

The small Bialetti. One strong cup or two demitasse, and the size where heat control matters most because there is so little thermal mass.

Roast	Grind	Coffee	Water	Time
light	fine-medium	3.5 g	45 ml	4:00
medium	fine-medium	3.5 g	45 ml	3:50
dark	medium	3.5 g	45 ml	3:35

Per 50 ml cup. Makes 3 at a time.

What goes wrong

Full heat on a small pot (scorched and bitter), an underfilled basket (steam blows through the gap, thin and sputtering), an old hardened gasket (pressure leaks, brew stalls or never rises)

Care schedule

1 task for this machine.

Replace the gasket and filter plate

Yearly

The rubber gasket is what lets pressure build in the lower chamber. A hardened one leaks steam at the seam, the pot takes forever, and the coffee comes out weak. The perforated filter plate clogs at about the same rate.

What you need

A gasket and filter-plate set sized to your pot - 3-cup, 6-cup and 9-cup are all different. Hot water.

What goes wrong

Buying a gasket for the wrong cup size. Dishwashing an aluminium pot. Fitting a new gasket and reusing a clogged filter plate. Overtightening the chambers to stop a leak, which distorts the seat and makes it worse.

The procedure

Check the diagnosis: steam escaping at the join between the chambers while it brews, or a pot that has started taking noticeably longer, means the gasket has gone.

5 more steps

The full procedure is in the app, along with a reminder when this is next due. Add the Moka Express (3-cup) to your shelf and it keeps track.

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Moka Express (3-cup)