What Does Fast Heating Mean on Home Espresso Machines?

In recent years, much innovation in home espresso machines has been geared toward reducing the time it takes for the machine to heat from a cold start to brew-ready. The thing is, multiple machines and manufacturers use the term fast heat-up or fast heating, but the process or the technology being described isn’t necessarily the same, even across models from the same manufacturer. So, in this article I’d like to review the fast heating feature, what it aims to accomplish, how it’s implemented by various manufacturers, and how important it is for you to consider when selecting your next machine.

What is Fast Heating?

Depending on the machine, it can take 5 minutes to 30 minutes for an espresso machine to fully heat up to the point where it’s ready to make an espresso at an adequate temperature. For example, the Gaggia Classic E24 has a 3.5 fl oz boiler and takes only about 5 minutes before it’s brew-ready. Traditional E61 group machines, on the other hand, are known to take as much as 30 minutes before all the components are ready to brew.

To be clear, when an espresso machine is advertised as having some sort of shortened heat-up time, that’s usually referring to how long it takes for the machine to get hot enough to brew an espresso, not steam milk. Brewing requires the boiler, brew group, and portafilter to get up to temperature, whereas steaming only requires the steam boiler to gain pressure. In the case of a dual boiler espresso machine, the steam boiler can take a bit longer to get to your desired temperature than the advertised heat-up time. But in my experience, not much longer.

Heating an E61 Group

The E61 group design has been around since 1961 (hence, the "61" in E61) and certainly enjoys “classic” status at this point. But as far as thermal stability goes, it’s a wonderfully efficient mechanism. It allows hot water to continually cycle from the boiler, to the group, and back to the boiler via a thermosiphon. By continually reintroducing water straight from the boiler, the group stays hot. Since the group is completely separate from the boiler, and there’s actually a lot of metal (particularly brass) in an E61 group, this thermosiphon design does a lot of heavy lifting to maintain proper brewing temperatures.

However, if you start to brew before the group and portafilter are completely heated up, you’ll underextract the coffee, resulting in thin body and sour flavors. Basically, the metal will steal a lot of the heat from the water before it even gets to your coffee puck. This is why you don't just want the boiler to read your target temperature: You want the entire group and portafilter to be completely heated up.

The E61 Challenge

While the thermosiphon does maintain heat, the problem has always been that it takes a long time to get the big chunk of metal hot enough for brewing. It’s not unheard of for E61 warm-up times to get as high as 25 or 30 minutes. This was a thorn in the side of home espresso enthusiasts, contributing to conversations about the impending irrelevance of the E61 group altogether. That is, until fast-heating solutions arrived.

A fast-heating mechanism wouldn’t accomplish much on something like the Gaggia Classic E24 since it already heats up very quickly. But for most of us, any measure taken to cut down a 30-minute heat-up time is more than welcome. Let’s take a look at the different methods used across various espresso machines to get you brewing even faster.

Fast Heating Algorithms

One solution to reducing total heat time is via a fast heating algorithm. A fast heating algorithm is designed to alter the initial heating behavior of a machine. In most cases, the boiler is more or less overheated and you are prompted to flush it before brewing. The act of flushing works to preheat the brew group and also your portafilter, which will still be heating even after your boiler has reached your desired brew temperature. The fast heating algorithm is only triggered when turning the machine on; it’s not something you can trigger intentionally. Important note: The algorithm won’t turn back on if the group begins to cool, as opposed to fast heating methods where there is a heating element embedded into the group. Once fully heated, it’s the thermosiphon’s job to maintain heat.

ECM / Profitec

Many ECM and Profitec espresso machines are a great example of the fast heating algorithm. During normal operation, the PID technology slowly eases the boiler temperature towards the target temp so as to not overshoot. However, the heating elements are plenty capable of getting the boiler hot much, much quicker. Profitec takes advantage of this capability in conjunction with a flushing routine to get you brewing fast.

Most Profitec machines begin initial heating by having the brew boiler race past the intended temperature to about 130° C / 266° F. While the boiler will be much too hot for brewing, the group and portafilter still won’t be hot enough. The PID screen will display “FLU” or “FLUSH,” asking you to flush the grouphead, meaning simply run water through the group. This should be done with portafilter inserted. This will simultaneously cool the boiler closer to your brewing temperature while heating both the group and portafilter. On a machine like the MOVE, you’ll be ready to brew in as little as 8 minutes.

Not all ECM and Profitec machines have this feature. The Profitec Pro 400, Pro 800, and JUMP are not fast heating espresso machines. The ECM Mechanika VI Slim and Mechanika Slim PID also do not feature fast heating.

Dedicated Heating Elements

In addition to algorithms that influence the heating of the boiler inside the machine, manufacturers have also begun to make changes to the design of groupheads (namely the E61) in order to cut down the amount of time needed for the group to heat up after the boiler has reached brewing temperature. The E61 is a very efficient design because it uses the circulation of water from the boiler to keep itself hot while the machine is on. However, it takes a while for so much brass to get hot. So, several manufacturers have begun making changes, some more subtle than others, to the design of the group itself. While many have foretold the doom of the E61, the resilience of the design has allowed it to evolve to meet the needs of home baristas. Let’s take a look at how three major brands are uniquely solving this issue.

Bezzera

On their fast heating versions of the ARIA, LUCE and SOLE espresso machines, Bezzera introduced a new design of the E61 group with a set of embedded glow tubes that are inserted into the group from below. The glow tubes are activated via a dedicated button next to the power button and will begin to actively heat the group while the boiler also heats.

To hide the tubes from view, these machines have a small plate beneath the group that covers the holes where they’re inserted while the wires feed back into the machine.

On the backside of the group is a high-limit switch, hidden by the housing. This fast heating design still makes use of an algorithm that heats to boiler to 100° C / 212° F to ensure the boiler and portafilter are hot as well, and you will still be prompted to flush. You can then disable the glow tubes by pressing the fast heating button, as the thermosiphon will then maintain temperature at the group.

It’s important to remember to turn the fast heating glow tubes off so you don’t trip the high-limit switch, in which case you’ll need to reset the switch inside the machine.

The BZ Group

Bezzera makes multiple espresso machines with their proprietary BZ group. The BZ group is an electrically heated group that lacks a thermosiphon, so it is always being heated by a heating element. This design confers the same benefit as the fast heating E61, with the group reaching temperature more quickly as it doesn’t rely on the thermosiphon. On more advanced machines like the MATRIX and DUO DE, the group also features a PID probe to monitor and control heating.

ECM Synchronika II

With the introduction of the Synchronika II, ECM developed an update to the E61 to subtly add electrical heating without dramatically altering the group. This was achieved by milling a custom brass fitting to install behind the group’s discharge duct.

The fitting is chrome plated to match the exterior of the machine and houses a temperature probe and a heating element. When fast heating mode is enabled, the probe in the group checks the temperature to determine whether or not to send power to the heating element. This reduces total brew ready heat-up time to as little as six minutes.

Rocket Espresso

Unlike Bezzera and ECM who made modifications to their existing brew group design, Rocket instead decided to redesign it in order to accommodate both aesthetic and functional needs. The wider, more angular group has more material which allowed Rocket to drill into it from behind to install a temperature probe and a heating element.

The probe monitors the group and the machine will actively send power to the element until it reaches 91° C / 196° F. You can even view the group temperature via the PID menu in real time to know exactly how high the temperature has reached. If the temperature ever dips below 91°/196°, the element will begin heating again. One thing to note is that the snowflake icon that appears on the display of their FAST machines will disappear once the boiler has finished heating, even though the brew group may not have reached its max temp yet.

Comparing Fast Heating Machines

The ECM Synchronika II no doubt takes the prize for fastest heat-up of the machines discussed in this article. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that it ties with the Profitec DRIVE for largest boilers, but an 11-minute heat-up for the DRIVE is still no laughing matter. The Nini is a more recent addition to the Bezzera lineup and comes in 2nd for speed. The Profitec Move doesn’t have quite as much metal to heat up since it has a ring group instead of an E61 group, and its fast heating algorithm makes it 3rd fastest on our list. When selecting the fast-heating espresso machine that’s right for you, there will of course be a balancing act: the fastest on this list also carries the highest price tag, for example.

What to Do if You Don’t Have Fast Heating

If your machine is not equipped with a fast heating function, there are a few things you can do. Many machines are equipped with an on/off scheduling feature, allowing you to have your espresso machine already hot by the time you roll out of bed. If your espresso machine doesn’t have a feature like this, using something like a smart plug does the trick as well. Technically, neither of these options reduce the amount of time it takes to fully heat the machine, but they do help reduce your time waiting to pull your first shot of the day.

Final Thoughts

The age of fast heat-up is upon us, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more manufacturers follow the lead of ECM, Profitec, Bezzera, Rocket, and many others. Furthermore, the conversation around the E61 group’s relevance is taking an unexpected turn now that there are remedies to the 25-30 minute warm up time. For shoppers in the home espresso market, there are now more options that include solutions to decades old challenges.

Photography and Graphics by Grace Walker and Elley Ellison

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