The most important Mod for your van - coffee maker

Moto Moto

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Mar 15, 2011
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I saw a thread last year talking about coffee options. We like free camping and i was keen to find something that worked on gas. I ended up getting a Bellman CX25P, not cheap but i just love it.

It takes a little while to get used to, and if you don't get the pressure right its easy to burn the coffee. It also doesn't work well with very finley ground coffee. Also its not the quickest way to make a coffee, but the quality is great, and hey i'm camping so who's in a rush anyway:tea:

Here are a few pics of the setup. First you pack the ground coffee in the top then let the pressure build on the stop top.
coffee1.JPG



Once at 0.5 bar let the coffee pour out the first valve.
coffee2.JPG


Then let the pressure build up some more and open the steamer valve and heat up/froth the milk.
coffee3.JPG


Finally sit back and enjoy the Kangaroo Valley views (or where ever you are camped) with your awesome coffee.
coffee4.JPG


The Bellman is advertised to make up to 6 coffees, but i think it can do 3 or 4 good quality shots at best. I take this baby everywhere now and have become a little bit popular when camping with friends.
 

Brad

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Jan 2, 2012
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Similar to my coffee cups, Moto Moto, brings out our "feminum side". Bushman obviously buys the crockery for his van.
As I was reading this thread and got to the bottom pic and saw the cup the first thing I thought of was "hey they are the cups my 3yo uses" :)
But they would make great coffee cups for sure.
 

macca

(aka maccayak)
Mar 20, 2012
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I was thinking of getting a Coffee Pod machine for the van. I am a tradey, so I am happy with white & one.

Geoff
 

Brad

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I was thinking of getting a Coffee Pod machine for the van. I am a tradey, so I am happy with white & one.

Geoff
We have a George Cluney. I know it is not as good as the coffee and machine we use at home, but the coffee pod machine is so fast and easy and is a good compromise on coffee quality in my opinion anyway.
 

Billrw136

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I have ordered an Aeropress and Portex mini grinder - will be using it the week after next - will give a report on our return!

Just needs hot water.......
 
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Moto Moto

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The thing I like about this one over the pod types is its off grid, no power, inverter, generator required. Just need a gas stove. I've even used it when 4wding on a $15 Kmart butane single burner.

Latte in the mud anyone?
 
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Brad

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Jan 2, 2012
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Rowville, Victoria
The thing I like about this one over the pod types is its off grid, no power, inverter, generator required. Just need a gas stove. I've even used it when 4wding on a $15 Kmart butane single burner.

Latte in the mud anyone?
Hmm... Good point. Cause if you are going to get dirty you should do it with a latte. :)
 
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Soaring

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Does anyone know what sort of power use you could expect from a typlical POD style machine? I love my Sunbeam Cafe EM6910 Twin pump at home, but not sure I can be bothered with grinding, tamping etc. while camping usingthe Bellboy
Im thinking an inverter might do the trick if the POD style machine power requirements are not too excessive.
 

relgate

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Does anyone know what sort of power use you could expect from a typlical POD style machine? I love my Sunbeam Cafe EM6910 Twin pump at home, but not sure I can be bothered with grinding, tamping etc. while camping usingthe Bellboy
Im thinking an inverter might do the trick if the POD style machine power requirements are not too excessive.



I would think it is just a matter of finding out the wattage of the machine, usually written on the machine somewhere, and getting an inverter to suit.
Have a look through ROnEM thread here http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/solar-panel-question-help.2742/#post-34288 He's your man for coffee and inverters.
 

ROnEM

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Mar 13, 2012
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I would think it is just a matter of finding out the wattage of the machine, usually written on the machine somewhere, and getting an inverter to suit.
Have a look through ROnEM thread here http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/solar-panel-question-help.2742/#post-34288 He's your man for coffee and inverters.

relgate - thanks for the complement!

Soaring,

I have a 2,500 Watt (5,000 Watt Peak) inverter. It comes with power cables for two batteries in order to support it.

As per my notes on inverter selection in my post "Who needs a powered site...", make sure you do the maths on selecting a suitably sized inverter.

From the post...

Care has to be taken sizing the inverter to cater for both the types of power loads:
- inductive (kettle, toaster, espresso machine, stereo) is just the peak wattage listed on the appliance
- reactive (basically anything with a motor like a washing machine, hair dryer) is the wattage multiplied by 7 or 9, dependent on which inverter manufacturer's manual you read. I chose to be conservative and used a factor of 9. As the washing machine is 170W, this is a reactive load of up to 1,530W, so well within limits!

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Rohan