(GPGT)Espresso machine hoot

[embrosiur]

Ic you can try to back flush to see if there is any leakage but what is more important is to make sure the lugs of the bayonet mount is locked in fully so that it does not slip out under pressure. Happened to me before. As long as as the lugs are all the way past the opening of the mount it should be ok.

Can try the cafelat gasket to see it that helps. Using the cafelat one I was able screw in at 5 o clock because it's softer. I'm Currently using cafelat la marzocco gasket.

I'm not sure if filing the lugs of the bayonet mounts(I assume they refer to the side protrusions that help to lock the portafilter into the group head) help. I see the ones on my stock vbm portafilter somewhat filed and they lock into the group head at 6 o'clock position. So if it's not the ridged filter basket or the height of the portafilter in your way, maybe you can give it a try. I have bought a rancilio bottomless from spinelli locally at 80 dollars and it locks into my vbm at 7 o'clock. It's not perfect but it doesn't drop out during brewing

 

[sohzai]

I forgot where I read, it don't really work because the coffee no longer "breath" out much CO2 to push the oxygen out out of the box.

won't a vacuum canister work better? I still prefer them to be dormant in an airless or less air environment. Cuts down amount of oxygen.

Sent from LGE LG-H961N using GAGT

 

[IntelFlash]

You can only replace air, can't vacuum out the air.
Oxygen will be retained at the gaps between the beans and each time you open the container the amount of o2 and humidity refresh.

Won't really help much

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

I'm not sure if filing the lugs of the bayonet mounts(I assume they refer to the side protrusions that help to lock the portafilter into the group head) help. I see the ones on my stock vbm portafilter somewhat filed and they lock into the group head at 6 o'clock position. So if it's not the ridged filter basket or the height of the portafilter in your way, maybe you can give it a try. I have bought a rancilio bottomless from spinelli locally at 80 dollars and it locks into my vbm at 7 o'clock. It's not perfect but it doesn't drop out during brewing

Yes I've considered filing the cafelat portafilter to make it fit perfectly at 6 o clock
Its purely stainless steel so no issue of filing away the chrome to reveal the brass.
I wonder if a dremel will work or should i just use a regular file.

The portafilter dropping out issue was with my previous previous machine. A Rancilio silvia with a bottomless portafilter i bought at coffeeparts.au. I was pretty green then and didn't know have to pull very tightly to lock it in properly.

 

[sohzai]

You can only replace air, can't vacuum out the air.
Oxygen will be retained at the gaps between the beans and each time you open the container the amount of o2 and humidity refresh.

Won't really help much

This part I don't quite understand. When you suck out the air, there is much less oxygen. Why would it be retained at the gaps? When co2 is produced, won't it replace the vacuumed space? And vacuumed or not, all canisters refresh all when opened.

If I have extra beans at hand. I store the newer ones in vacuum without opening till I finish the other bag. Pretty much stays very fresh when I finally open it.

Sent from LGE LG-H961N using GAGT

 

[patryn33]

I don't get the chemistry here, how do beans "breath" out C02? if no O2 in the container how does the chem reaction takes place?
02 in the air is like 21%, how much C02 is produce after roasting. how much C02 must be generated b4 we consider stale beans.

Sorry I noob here. now I just repack them into smaller bags without 1 way valve and seem to work decent. I have a foodsaver, I wonder if it will work best if I vacuum it.. time to experiment next month!

 

[IntelFlash]

Can't find the original article I found last year, here's another one.

carbon dioxide—up to 10 liters per kilo of coffee for dark-roasted coffee, owing to the long roasting time—naturally releases from the beans over a period of weeks after roasting, rapidly over the first few days, then more gradually over the remainder of what's called the degassing period.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...rage-conundrum-how-to-keep-beans-fresh/64118/

 

[patryn33]

So is the article saying even if we vacuum pack, co2 is still release from beans into the vacuum container? If so accordingly to article is good for beans as it blocks off O2. But if o2 is needed to cause more co2 to generate up to 10kg for a 1kg bag. Have to do some math here how heavy are the C in the beans to miggle with o2 to produce 10kg if co2.

After output 10kg of Co2 the 1kg beans weight drop? weight 10kg of Co2 needs like over 2kg of C! So the beans become -Ve weight?

 

[RiRi85]

Hi... Ok so i started reading from page 255 and went back to page 240 and I got lost somewhere along the way.

But, quick summary of what I read was:
1. Coffee grinders are as important or otherwise almost more important than coffee machines itself.

2. Freshness of the bean will give you the best taste, the fresher it is the nicer its gonna be (as simple as I can put it)

Well... after reading a few posts it was really really technical and I kinda gave up.
Coz I couldn't find the answer I was looking for so I decided to post, and hopefully others have the same question too!

My budget is around $700.

1. Which espresso machine would you recommend?
2. Which grinder should I start of with? (Ok if i'm need to get a good grinder and good machine I think $700 isn't really enough, but lets not go there yet coz my money doesn't grow on a tree ><)

 

[sohzai]

My thoughts. Save up more for now and get a reasonably good set at 3k.

Sent from LGE LG-H961N using GAGT

 

[embrosiur]

Hi... Ok so i started reading from page 255 and went back to page 240 and I got lost somewhere along the way.

But, quick summary of what I read was:
1. Coffee grinders are as important or otherwise almost more important than coffee machines itself.

2. Freshness of the bean will give you the best taste, the fresher it is the nicer its gonna be (as simple as I can put it)

Well... after reading a few posts it was really really technical and I kinda gave up.
Coz I couldn't find the answer I was looking for so I decided to post, and hopefully others have the same question too!

My budget is around $700.

1. Which espresso machine would you recommend?
2. Which grinder should I start of with? (Ok if i'm need to get a good grinder and good machine I think $700 isn't really enough, but lets not go there yet coz my money doesn't grow on a tree ><)

1. If you are open to the resale market (carousel), your money is likely to get you more expensive equipment for less cost. The caveat is that unless you know what and how to check, you are at risk of getting a lemon. Also, the remaining functional life of the equipment will be a concern.

2. If you have decided on pressure extraction method of brewing and will only consider a pump machine, then it depends on whether you are a milk based beverage person or neat espresso person. Milk based beverages mask ( to some extent) the harshness of unbalanced espresso shots.

3. If you are a milk based beverage drinker, and will like to TRY to mimic the lattes you get in cafes with some art, it is possible with the consumer machines in the major retailers, provided you get one with a long enough steam wand without frothing aids. The steam will be generally wet and frothing will be challenging and inconsistent. However, it is still possible to get good foam sometimes with good technique. The taste of the espresso from these machines have a high probablity of tasting unbalanced which may still manifest in the latte, depending on how sensitive your taste buds are. There will be a lag time between espresso extraction and milk steaming because which you will need to accept because these machines can only do one thing at a time. The grinder at your price point including a machine will likely be a hand grinder unless you are receptive to second hand equipment.

4. If you cannot accept any of the tradeoffs due to your budget in point 3, you may want to save more to make the purchase ( again there will be tradeoffs between cost and function ( taste and consistency) later.

5. If you want to drink pressure extraction black coffee from a pump machine and do not mind that it will not taste like those in the third wave cafes, you can also get the machines from the major retailers with a hand grinder. You can also buy pre ground coffee since these machines use a filter basket that is different from the prosumer machines. An alternative for this category will be nespresso.

6. If you cannot accept any of the tradeoffs in Point 5, you may want to save more to make a purchase (again there will be tradeoffs between cost and function(taste and consistency)) at a later date.

Hope this is helpful for you in making a decision. I started by using French press with pre ground coffee, then got lucky to come across a hand grinder with a cheap pressure extraction machine that was going to be thrown away by a friend. After that, I benefited from the knowledge shared by the good people in this forum and others like home barista and coffee geek, to be brave enough the buy something that I think I can accept ( balance between price point and function)

 

[IntelFlash]

$700 at the most get you a Nespresso or some Delonghi crap.
Save up for a heat exchanger.

 

[patryn33]

My budget is around $700.

1. Which espresso machine would you recommend?
2. Which grinder should I start of with? (Ok if i'm need to get a good grinder and good machine I think $700 isn't really enough, but lets not go there yet coz my money doesn't grow on a tree ><)

$$ hard to come by, do planing when upgrade?
You can get sets on taobao or tmall just Chinese stuff. Not great but better than entry level Ang mo brand

If not get nespresso and burn $$ on capsule.

Save up to buy new set. With inflation today 3k maybe 5k tmr

 

[prozaizxc]

I have seen decaf beans sold at sunray cafe in serangoon gardens

hmm interesting, a cup of mocha at sun ray cafe was the cup that started my interest in coffee as that cup was still the best cup id ever drank.

Purchased a bag of beans from them before and it was very stale tbh. They just scooped 250g of beans from a large toyogo box kinda container and put it in a resealable bag but ill check out the decaf beans if they have thanks!

 

[prozaizxc]

Hi... Ok so i started reading from page 255 and went back to page 240 and I got lost somewhere along the way.

But, quick summary of what I read was:
1. Coffee grinders are as important or otherwise almost more important than coffee machines itself.

2. Freshness of the bean will give you the best taste, the fresher it is the nicer its gonna be (as simple as I can put it)

Well... after reading a few posts it was really really technical and I kinda gave up.
Coz I couldn't find the answer I was looking for so I decided to post, and hopefully others have the same question too!

My budget is around $700.

1. Which espresso machine would you recommend?
2. Which grinder should I start of with? (Ok if i'm need to get a good grinder and good machine I think $700 isn't really enough, but lets not go there yet coz my money doesn't grow on a tree ><)

I'd suggest at least 1.3k
Mine was around that price and i got a rancilio silvia and a macap m4 from espressocoffeeshop.com
pretty decent if you ask me

 

[prozaizxc]

Any thoughts on hand grinders for pour overs?
Looking into getting a kalita wave but my macap is too much of a hassle to switch between espresso grind and pour over grind.

Looking at the prolex mini now, any other choices around that price?
Not looking at the Lido because its too expensive

 

[testerjp]

My colleague ordered from Italy website ,i think it was espresso shop and thought he saved $400.

Parcel arrived damaged.
Had to return to Italy, postage cost was $750 and had to pay GST second time. For very heavy items, you can't use the economy services,only express services which handlers more likely to throw around.

Total cost him about $1k extra.

Imagine future repairs with 2 way postage, sure set him back for $1.5k each time.

 

[sohzai]

Hey guys, wanna hear your opinion on the drop in pressure suddenly when extracting, from 12 to 8.

The usual would be the vibration pump to go on all the way till i switch it off. But this has been occurring to me since I got the machine 1 year ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v1Mop-1DFw

What do you guys think is the problem?

Grounds too fine? I did change beans, but grinding setting usually dont change much.

 

[RiRi85]

1. If you are open to the resale market (carousel), your money is likely to get you more expensive equipment for less cost. The caveat is that unless you know what and how to check, you are at risk of getting a lemon. Also, the remaining functional life of the equipment will be a concern.

2. If you have decided on pressure extraction method of brewing and will only consider a pump machine, then it depends on whether you are a milk based beverage person or neat espresso person. Milk based beverages mask ( to some extent) the harshness of unbalanced espresso shots.

3. If you are a milk based beverage drinker, and will like to TRY to mimic the lattes you get in cafes with some art, it is possible with the consumer machines in the major retailers, provided you get one with a long enough steam wand without frothing aids. The steam will be generally wet and frothing will be challenging and inconsistent. However, it is still possible to get good foam sometimes with good technique. The taste of the espresso from these machines have a high probablity of tasting unbalanced which may still manifest in the latte, depending on how sensitive your taste buds are. There will be a lag time between espresso extraction and milk steaming because which you will need to accept because these machines can only do one thing at a time. The grinder at your price point including a machine will likely be a hand grinder unless you are receptive to second hand equipment.

4. If you cannot accept any of the tradeoffs due to your budget in point 3, you may want to save more to make the purchase ( again there will be tradeoffs between cost and function ( taste and consistency) later.

5. If you want to drink pressure extraction black coffee from a pump machine and do not mind that it will not taste like those in the third wave cafes, you can also get the machines from the major retailers with a hand grinder. You can also buy pre ground coffee since these machines use a filter basket that is different from the prosumer machines. An alternative for this category will be nespresso.

6. If you cannot accept any of the tradeoffs in Point 5, you may want to save more to make a purchase (again there will be tradeoffs between cost and function(taste and consistency)) at a later date.

Hope this is helpful for you in making a decision. I started by using French press with pre ground coffee, then got lucky to come across a hand grinder with a cheap pressure extraction machine that was going to be thrown away by a friend. After that, I benefited from the knowledge shared by the good people in this forum and others like home barista and coffee geek, to be brave enough the buy something that I think I can accept ( balance between price point and function)

Thanks

This really helped.

Well, for the most part I'm just a coffee drinker who prefers milked based drinks and yeah I'll prob try to mimic some lattes i get in cafes, but I won't go so far as to try and replicate the art.
I don't have the energy to do that.

What I will end up doing is..
Espresso + Milk + some vanilla extract = vanilla latte :x
(With or without ice hohoho)

I guess I could save up more to 1.3k or so.

Going as high as 3k is prob something I can't afford to do coz i'd ask myself "how many cups of coffee do i need to drink to make this worth a 3k expenditure?"
(Sorry.. i'm in accounting / finance so it becomes a habit tedious habit -_-)

But I can do a reasonable investment of around 1k to 1.5k, provided the machine can last for 5 years without breaking down and me wishing i din't spend that much.

1.5k = 3 years to 4 years of starbucks for me.

 

[sohzai]

Any thoughts on hand grinders for pour overs?
Looking into getting a kalita wave but my macap is too much of a hassle to switch between espresso grind and pour over grind.

Looking at the prolex mini now, any other choices around that price?
Not looking at the Lido because its too expensive

I bought the rhino hand grinder, liking it so far. Same price range as porlex.