Inspired by the work of famous lute maker, Antonio Stradivari, this is a truly beautiful piece of machinery. Stradivari Professional was released in 2005 to celebrate 100 years of the La Pavoni Espresso Machine Company. As with its sister the Europiccola Professional, the Stradivari makes an impressive addition to any kitchen. The Stradivari Professional shares an identical function and specification as the Europiccola Professional but with a redesigned base, grouphead, lever, and steam valve. If you are serious about making good espresso based coffee, this is the machine to get.
Features
The La Pavoni Stradivari is a fully featured home espresso machine with stylish good looks. Based on the world famous Europiccola the Stradivari is a celebration of 100 years of excellence in espresso machine production.
- Lever extraction: enjoy the rewarding control, simplicity, and reliability of lever extraction. Lever extraction offers absolute control over how you make your coffee, enabling you to 'feel' how the coffee is extracted. Enjoyed by thousands of users worldwide a La Pavoni lever espresso machine provides a rewarding 'hands on' coffee making experience.
- Solid brass boiler and grouphead: Stradivari features the boiler, group head, and portafilter constructed from chromed brass for thermal stability and longevity.
- Quality components: Hand assembled in Milan, Italy using quality components like chrome and brass, the Stradivari is tryely a work of art that is built to last. In a world full of disposable appliances, La Pavoni holds on to the traditions of buying a quality appliance and enjoying it for many years.
- Steam instantly: no waitintg around, the 0.8 litre boiler provides adequate steam capacity to make your favourite caffe latte, flat white, cappuccino or other milk based coffee drinks. Use the steam wand to steam milk in a pitcher just like in a cafe, or use the automatic milk steamer.
- Refined design: developed and refined over 50 years in production the La Pavoni Lever system boasts a thermal design that others have struggled to emulate.
- Compact, elegant design: this machine wont take up your whole kitchen, with a nice compact footprint it delivers great results while being easy to find space for.
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How to use the La Pavoni Stradivari Professional
Startup
- Ensure the water reservoir has ample water by viewing the water level on the left hand side.
- Fill the reservoir if required by unscrewing the knob on top of the machine, do not fill the unit above the top of the sightglass(this ensures there is sufficient room for steam in the top of the boiler).
- Switch on the main power swtich (the switch should illuminate), ensure the steam valve is close and the lever is in the downward position.
- If you hear a hissing sound or steam escaping before the unit is up to pressure, the overpressure valve (hexagonal nut on the top right fo the machine) may need to be re-seated, give it a light tap with a non-metalic object until the hissing stops.
- Allow the machine to come up to pressure, the pressure should stabilise in the green region indicated on the pressure gauge.
Making Espresso
- Follow the startup procedure, wait for the machine to come up to pressure, and the pressure to stabilise.
- You are now ready to make espresso, insert the empty portafilter into the group with the handle in line with the lever the turn it to the left. Raise the lever and allow some water to flow through the group and portafilter, this will bring the portafilter and group up to temperature and flush any stray coffee grouds from the group.
- Lower the lever back to the bottom position, remove the portafilter and give it a quick wipe with a clean cloth to remove any surplus coffee grounds and water.
- Dose out an appropriate amount of freshly ground coffee into the portafilter and tamp it to the desired level of compression.
- Insert the portafilter into the group inline with the lever, tighten into position by moving the handle to the left, wipe the top of the drip tray to remove any excess water(this will stop the bottom of your cup(s) getting wet), position your cup(s) under the portafilter spouts.
- Hold the portafilter handle with the left hand to steady the machine, hold the lever with the right hand and raise the lever as high as it will go, now wait.
- Water is flowing from the boiler into the grouphead, you may like to slightly raise and lower the lever a few times to push a little more water into the coffee puck.
- Now with your left hand on the handle of the portafilter, pull the lever with your right hand in one smooth motion until the lever is at its lower-most position. You should feel positive pressure on the lever but it should not be difficult to move (if the lever moves too easily or is too difficult to move then you need to adjust your grind, dose, or tamping).
- If you are making a double espresso then raise the lever immediately and extract a second a second time.
- Do not remove the portafilter immediately as it is still under pressure, wait 30 seconds or so for the excess pressure to dissipate.
- Voilà your espresso is ready! Enjoy on its own in the traditional Italian style or add milk to make your favourite espresso based beverage.
Steaming Milk
- Follow the startup procedure, wait for the machine to come up to pressure. You are now ready to steam milk.
- Select the appropriate sized milk pitcher and fill with cold whole milk.
- Using the left hand, open the steam valve (turn the knob on the left hand side of the machine anticlockwise) for a few seconds to purge any condensation from the steam wand, reclose the steam valve.
- Using the right hand, lift the milk pitcher up under the steam wand so that the tip is submerged into the milk.
- Open the steam valve with the left hand, once the desired steam flow is achieved remove this hand and place it on the base of the milk pitcher to support it and sense the temperature.
- Reposition the jug as required to streatch, heat, and mix the milk to the desired texture, for more information see our milk steaming guides.
- Just before the desired temperature and consistency is acheived, remove the left hand from the pitcher and use the left hand to close the steam valve.
- Keep the tip of the steam wand submerged in the milk until the steam flow stops (you will hear it!)
- Lower the milk pitcher and place your pithcer of beautifulls texturised milk to the side.
- Take your steam wand cleaning cloth folded over a number of times, hold it about 50mm from the end of the steam wand, open the steam valve for a few seconds to blow out any excess milk, then close off the valve (be careful the steam is hot!)
- Wipe any excess milk from the exterior of the steam wand.
- Voilà! Your milk is ready to add to your espresso or for use in a non-coffee drink.
How it works
The La Pavoni Stradivari Professional is constructed around a 1.6 litre chromed brass boiler with vertically mounted heating element attached to the bottom of the boiler. The boiler is also the water reservoir and must be filled and closed from the top of the unit before being switched on. When the unit is switched on and up to pressure the boiler contains both steam and hot water (slightly below 100 degrees). For steaming milk the steam valve is opened to release steam from the top of the boiler and is vented through the steam wand to the right of the machine. For brewing coffee there is a right angled tube(hidden inside the machine) that takes water from the bottom of the boiler and allows this to flow into the grouphead. The lever is connected to a piston inside the grouphead, when not in use the lever is left in the down position. When the lever is lifted up the piston rises and a port in the rear of the grouhead is opened, the pressure of the steam inside the boiler forces water in the bottom of the boiler through a right angled tube that connects the boiler with the grouphead. As the water flows it cools down to the optimal temperature for brewing espresso. Approximately 30ml of water flows into the grouphead pre-infusing the coffee puck. The lever can be slightly raised and lowered a number of times to saturate the coffee puck at this point. The coffee is extracted by pulling (pushing) the lever in a downwards direction, this forces the piston down closing off the port in the back of the grouphead and forcing the water through the coffee puck.
Specifications
- Boiler: 0.8 litre
- Power: 230 volts
- Element: 1000w
- Water capacity: 1.6 litre
- Boiler pressure gauge: 0.0 - 2.5 bar
- Water level indicator: glass
- Weight: 5.5 kg
- Dimensions [w] x [h] x [d]: 200 x 290 x 320
- Made in Italy
Care
Taking care of your Stradivari will keep it in tip-top condition and improve the quality of your coffee. For detailed care instructions refer to the user manual.
- Clean and flush the grouphead, headseal, and portafilter daily to remove stray coffee grounds.
- Descale and clean every 2 - 3 months. We recommend using Cleancaf. Read how to clean and descale your La Pavoni lever espresso machine.
- Clean exterior: with a mild non-abrasive cleaner.
