Review and test : Lelit 41 TEM PID

Recently passionate about the world of coffee, I decided to take my first steps with a manual espresso machine. I automatically excluded any automatic machine because, precisely, it does everything alone and that my only participation in the ritual of coffee preparation is to press a button.

Limited by my budget and after many readings, I compared, weighed and filtered the information to extract a Lelit 41 TEM PID.

According to the description, it seems to correspond to my wishes. What is it really?


Description

The Lelit 41 TEM PID is a manual espresso machine with PID (a temperature control system) and an extraction pressure gauge. It has a 250 ml boiler and a three-way solenoid valve.


Aesthetic

A stainless steel body makes it discreet, dimensions goes everywhere, lever switches a little retro, the whole is nice.

Obviously, the aesthetics is subjective but I think that, a little retro a little modern, it has its place in any style of decoration.

The visual is an important parameter but it must especially make a good coffee. This machine has some elements that should help.


The PID

Pid details

This system makes it possible to regulate the temperature correctly in order to maintain it during the extraction. It also allows you to choose the extraction temperature, to the degree, so as to adapt it to the coffee chosen and the result in desired taste.


What is it really?

Selected temperature 95 °C. The water is heated to 100 °C and will have to wait until it stabilizes at 95°C. The waiting time for the temperature to stabilize is not too long.

You have to wait a bit for the temperature to stabilize

Because the water tank of the boiler is small in volume, when pouring a coffee, it can be noted that the temperature indicated with the PID is reduced during the extraction. I do not know if the water that flows into the cup has a temperature that reduces as the extraction takes place or if it is only the tank that is affected.


The extraction manometer

The pressure gauge shows the coffee extraction pressure.

The Lelit 41 TEM PID has an extraction manometer. It gives the pressure in the filter holder during extraction.

For example, for an espresso, if you extract below 9 bar, it may be necessary to review the grind or the amount of coffee in the filter. And then eight to eleven bars to each his experience and tastes. In short, the extraction manometer contributes to the pleasure of the coffee preparation ceremony.

Example of espresso made with a Lelit 41TEM PID

Attention, some machines of the series “41” of Lelit are equipped with a simple thermometer of water temperature in the tank which strangely resembles a pressure gauge.


Elements that are also important


Three-way solenoid valve

Its function is to depressurize the filter when you finish the extraction. This will allow you to remove without waiting the filter holder and to chain on another coffee, waited, impatiently, by your second guest.

The elecro-valve of my Lelit 41 TEM PID fulfills perfectly its mission.


Filling

As you can see in the picture. A funnel must be used to fill the tank. Of course, it is also possible to take out the tank.


The recovery bin

It’s a drawer. Of a good volume and easy to leave it brings no particular difficulty.

Recovery tank of the Lelit 41 TEM PID


The noise

In the morning, my eyes are barely open, I’ll have a good coffee to wake up.

Some machines, very effective in this area, wake you up even before you have tasted the coffee.

The sound of the pump erases the sweet dream in which you were still plunged.

A good point for the Lelit 41 TEM PID, which is really not too noisy. It is obviously not the level of rotary pump machines but these machines are of another category and have another price.


A pressurized filter

Some suppliers deliver a pressurized filter with the Lelit in order to use already ground coffee. The function of this type of filter is to generate a foam (and not a cream) that should be as smooth and dense as possible. It is used with a larger grain size than espresso.

I tested out of curiosity.

The use of the pressurized filter gives a result far from what is expected of an espresso

At the extraction it makes a sound of steam locomotive badly set and we put everywhere. Taste is good but the foam looks like a foam beer with big bubbles.

No, forget the pressurized. Count on the Lelit 41 TEM only to make a good espresso and lengthen it more or less, according to the taste of each.


The steam

The Lelit 41 TEMP PID has only one boiler. So after pouring your coffee, to use the steam nozzle it must be activated by pressing the appropriate button and wait for the boiler to reach about 130 ° C (ie a pressure of approximately 2 bar). The waiting time for the boiler to go from 90 ° C to 130 ° C is about 30 seconds. Then the nozzle reveals effective and powerful to froth the milk.

If you are fond of latte coffee or cappuccino, I recommend instead to think of a machine that has a double boiler (one for coffee, the other for the steam nozzle).


Conclusion

My Lelit 41 TEM PID meets my expectations regarding the aesthetics, the use, the general operation and the quality of the extraction. When at the PID, he certainly has to play his role, but I admit that it is a little disconcerting.

After a few adjustments of degree of grinding, I managed a good espresso in taste. The cream is thick. It could be a little more dense. It’s up to me to find the right coffee, with the good freshness, and to refine the degree of grinding. A whole program, a whole ritual for a great pleasure.

 

13 comments

  1. Hello! Thanks a lot for this great and detailed review. I am between this one and the Gaggia Classic Pro but having seen that this one has pressure indicator and PID I will go for it. The only burden is that the group is for 57mm portafilters but not a big deal anyway.

  2. Hello, great review ! I would like to add something about the 250ml boiler. It’s a Mokita and it is made for risretti. It’s not made for a 1/2 with 18gr because of it’s smaller boiler compared to the Rossi. Temperature from the Mokita boiler will not be stable with 36gr out.

    Anyway it is possible to make really nice expresso with a pro filter from ascenso and around 16gr in and 32gr out at around 10 bars.

    1. Hi Guillaume
      I’m always pulling 36g shots without any problem. Where did you get the information from that the boiler is just made for ristretti?

  3. This is a very good review. For a while I was eyeing this but then once i noticed the game LELIT was playing with putting 58mm on their higher end machines when companies like Gaggia classic pro offers a 58 at $595 I refuse to give them money. 58mm is the commercial size that offers lots of accessories. If you go with this machine, yes you will get an espresso, and it might be a good shot but you will end up having to fart ass around with adding things on to your tamper to get around the issues stated by this website owner. Its annoying and Lelit knows it. I emailed them but they refuse to respond. And to top it all off when I called them out on their BRASS boilers which have potential health hazards, they then turned around and changed one of their machines to Stainless Steel and said this is the way forward form here on out, except they only offer that on the MARA X ($1895) machine. Lelit is in the business of excluding people under $1500 from getting a 58mm or a stainless steel boiler and they don’t respond well to people who call them out for it. Just a word to the wise. Be cautious with such a company.

    1. Since when are brass boilers a health problem? Every commercial espresso machine made for nearly 100 years had a brass boiler.

      1. Do the research. I’m not doing it for you.

        There is a reason why California have a warning in prop 65 about cancer and health issues from brass,copper and aluminium.

        That’s why the high end units have stainless steel.

        Also 1st line put out a piece saying that if you are worried about health issues or lead, don’t buy a machine with brass, copper or aluminimm stick to stainless steel.

  4. A lot of high-end machines also have Brass boilers, is this something I should take into consideration? I am on the budget, have to update to the non-brass boiler?

    1. Lelit uses stainless steel on Marax and Bianca. Its not just because it corrodes less and less build up of limescale.

      It’s because those who have money to buy that also might have money to come at them if it comes to light that brass is leeching lead into water as it has been shown by countless people who have tested brass boilers.

      There is a big difference between getting COLD water from copper pipes and then boiling in a steel kettle vs boiling water inside copper or brass.

      Be careful. If Lelit were smart they would immediately change all their line to stainless steel. Then they would get my business. Not until then.

  5. Brass is widely used in espresso machines, ranging from mid-tier machines to high-end ones. Although brass costs more than either aluminum or stainless steel, it provides a large upgrade in performance — and that upgrade is noticeable in the quality of espresso that the machine produces.

    An espresso machine’s boiler becomes hot as a machine warms up, and then it transfers some heat to the water in it as the machine pulls an espresso shot. Without heat transfer from the boiler, the water will cool as a shot is pulled because hot water is being taken from the boiler. The cooling results in a declining brew temperature throughout the pull, which alters extraction and flavor.

    Brass is fairly thermo-conductive, which allows it to quickly transfer heat to water. This is what makes brass suitable for the higher-end espresso machines, as it helps maintain consistent brewing temperatures.

    Although brass is more expensive than either aluminum or stainless steel, buyers of mid-tier and high-end espresso machines are willing to pay the increased cost in order to get better espresso out of their machine.

  6. Thanks for good review! I like the not so tall look of the machine. Not fitting a large cup or a scale is a non issue for me. The text says that the role of the PID is a little disconcerting. Can you elaborate on that?

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