Upgrading from Gaggia Classic, need advice/recommendations
As title says, wanting to upgrade.
Use case: 2 person household, making 2-6 coffees per day, mostly milk drinks, some espresso, often back to back in the morning. No exotic roasts or loads of experimentation. Very much looking for a reliable steed rather than a high performance vehicle.
Reason for upgrade: We're making 2-4 coffees in the morning and my PID-less Gaggia is pulling really inconsistent shots, which I'm going to say is temperature fluctuation. I have a Sette 270 which is dosing accurately and consistently, and the shots are either perfect, too fast or choke up depending on when in the morning I'm pulling them (ie. post-steaming milk they choke up, if I haven't let the machine fully heat they run fast).
I'm not *super* into coffee. I'm not looking to change my beans all that often or get really freaky with it. I just want a consistent shot and a relatively streamlined, basic workflow of grind into portafilter, tamp, pull shot. I cbf temp surfing and using 19 different tools for puck prep seems like something I'd enjoy when I have the time, but not every time.
I want a nice consistent volume and time of extraction, currently I'm measuring each shot as they pull with a scale + timer and the guessing game/hassle of constantly trying to chase a perfect shot and often missing is aggravating.
So at the bare minimum I think I'm looking at a dual boiler + PID setup.
Not too fussed on group head, I'll just stick it on a timer if I need it to heat up for 30mins+.
Pump type isn't a concern.
I'm not much of an aesthete but I can't really abide the Breville models, so looking at the Lelit Elizabeth, but I notice it lacks a brew pressure gauge. Is it worthwhile going up to something like the Silvia Pro X? Any other models that are go-tos aroud that $3000 mark? For the price of the Elizabeth I see the Meraki is also in that bracket, but seems like a lot more points of failure.