(GPGT)Espresso machine hoot

[thenakedshades]

Bookmarked

 

[prozaizxc]

That's my "stock" basket, not sure what is yours. But anyway don't worry too much about the tamping. Not much significance I feel.

To train the 30g, bend your arm 90 degree, put tissue on your weighing scale and train the force

I see. my bigger problem is dosing. When i grind, and then flick the lever, more grounds end up on the left side of my portafilter due to the force of the flick of the lever. I've tried flicking the lever very softly but more grounds still end up on the left side of the portafilter causing an uneven bed
I also can't grind more than 16g of dose as it wouldn't fit into the silvia. As a result, i can't dose until i get a cone in the middle and then distribute it nicely but have to dose until it reaches a height of around the side of the portafilter before i have to distribute...

I usually just stop extraction at 30secs. THen i see the weight of the output to see if its within the target. Then taste.

I find it difficult to stop at blonding point cos its very subjective. Depends on the roast level too. But one thing i observed with vst baskets is that up to a certain point (usually 25-35secs) the flow will suddenly suddenly appear watery when u observe from a bottomless portafilter.

How do you use a scale to measure volume? the scale can only measure weight. in grams.

yup, i also observe that its very watery suddenly, thats usually when i stop the shot.
Yeah sorry meant to mean weight, my bad!

 

[prozaizxc]

Or use a calibrated tamper. but as razor mentioned not much difference unless you tamp at the extremes (feather light or gorilla).

I find nutating with a bit of force before tamping makes a bigger difference to the flow rate. .

calibrated tamper not within budget and i don't wanna get another machine lol nvm just gonna tamp normally and see how it goes!
What do u mean by nutating with a bit of force?

 

[Lastwishes]

the easy fix for distribution problems, especially if not filling the basket, would be to do WDT. alternatively, you can spin/turn the basket/portafilter while dosing to evenly fill the sides.

in my personal experience, a level tamp is more important than an extremely forceful tamp. I initially did the whole 30 lbs thing after reading about it, and never did get it to work for me; usually the force required resulted in a slightly off-level tamp, and often see fracturing in my pucks.

Nowadays, I just do a reasonably firm tamp which is probably nowhere near 30 lbs focusing on keeping it level instead, and get much more consistent results.

Nutation is the practice of tamping the sides of the basket using a swaying motion prior to the straight down tamp, mostly to reduce channeling at the edges. Its not easy to get right, but if done correctly, you can get a much more even flow in your extraction.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

calibrated tamper not within budget and i don't wanna get another machine lol nvm just gonna tamp normally and see how it goes!
What do u mean by nutating with a bit of force?

last wishes explained nutating. usually done with minimal pressure on the tamper. but if you want a quick and dirty way to slow down the flow without playing with the grind you can add a bit of downwards pressure when nutating and then tamp normally. This will make a huge difference to slow down the flowrate. WDT i find increases the flow rate compared to non wdt even when tamping is consistent.

For your distribution problem. 1 hand can flick the lever and 1 hand can slowly rotate/spin the filter basket. meaning you dose without the portafilter. i did that when i was using a compak k3. the grinds will fall on the right side.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

yup, i also observe that its very watery suddenly, thats usually when i stop the shot.
Yeah sorry meant to mean weight, my bad!

you can try this - separate your extraction. line up 4-6 cups. pull your shot and every 5secs or 10ml or so of the extraction, change cups. so you get what you extracted at different times in each of the 4 cups. Taste and see what you like. You can even taste the part that is the blonding to see if that is what you want in the drink. usually the watery portion is vegetal, bitter and watery. The first portion of the extraction is very sour and intense.
i advocate this for beginners and i think its a good practice to understand what goes on in the extraction. even better use a bottomless portafilter.

you can get a triple basket from coffeeparts.au and the silvia bottomless too.

 

[CTBR]

Any HG-one users here tried grinding for pourover or french press? Do you like it compared to your usual grinder for drip?

 

[espresso88]

Hi Erwin

Espressocups has latte cups (the bowl-shaped "Palermo") which have a nominal capacity of 290ml. However, the actual capacity us usually 10% or more above this, and the 290ml cup when filled to the rim easily takes 360ml (!).
It is not clear why Nuova Point "understates" - other brands, e.g. like IPA, measure the actual capacity to the rim (which is also the standard in competitions)

Hi Coffee drinkers,

May I know where can I get those nice coloured ceramic cappuccino cups in Singapore? I am looking for the bigger ones... maybe 350ml and above.

I tried espressocups, chinatown, Papa Palheta already.

Any idea?

Thanks!

 

[PiccoloLatte]

E61 Grouphead

Is anyone using Eric's E61 Grouphead Thermometer?

My espresso machine sits in the kitchen with no air conditioning. I have a wall fan though.

Noticed something odd lately. Suddenly, my grouphead thermometer shows around 80+ deg celcius even after warming for an hour or more and refuses to go up. After fiddling here and there, noticed that whenever the fan is turned on, temperature drops to 80+. Turn off the fan and it slowly climbs up again. But, I'm pretty sure it didn't behave like this in the previous half year with the same setup in the same setting.

Can the fan really cause the drop of 10+ deg in the grouphead? Sounds incredulous. What else could be wrong?

I will appreciate any ideas. Thanks.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

Is anyone using Eric's E61 Grouphead Thermometer?

My espresso machine sits in the kitchen with no air conditioning. I have a wall fan though.

Noticed something odd lately. Suddenly, my grouphead thermometer shows around 80+ deg celcius even after warming for an hour or more and refuses to go up. After fiddling here and there, noticed that whenever the fan is turned on, temperature drops to 80+. Turn off the fan and it slowly climbs up again. But, I'm pretty sure it didn't behave like this in the previous half year with the same setup in the same setting.

Can the fan really cause the drop of 10+ deg in the grouphead? Sounds incredulous. What else could be wrong?

I will appreciate any ideas. Thanks.

Really it's the fan and exposed e61 group. A draft like open windows and wind can cause a massive drop at the group head cos it's passively heated using a thermosyphon and the temp is not regulated by a thermostat/pid at the group head. Temp is regulated at the boiler (for most machines). Thus the thermosyphon design cannot keep up with constant heat loss like a constant draft. That's why need to calibrate the offset for pid machines based on actual working conditions using a thermocouple at the showerecreen.
Saturated grouphead is better but still affected.
Actively heated groups may help to keep a group Head more well heated in huge drafts but temps will always fluctuate up and down very quickly and not consistent due to thermostat dead band.

I recall someone on hb talking about this before. Can try to search their forums. In the end no matter what temp measured at Erics thermometer the important thing is shot to shot temp consistency so you won't have any uncontrolled variables when dialing in to taste.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

Any HG-one users here tried grinding for pourover or french press? Do you like it compared to your usual grinder for drip?

I love my hg one for pour over and press. Barely 4-6secs of grinding, no grind retention. Very quick to change setting back to espresso. No need to grind while changing back to espresso cos no grind retention or sweeper vane chamber to compress unswept grounds.

Grind quality ..... This is very subjective but I think there are more fines compared to my flat burr grinders. My smaller conical feldgrind produces less fines I think. Consistency - if not for the fines the particles are every even. No complaints here.

 

[CTBR]

I love my hg one for pour over and press. Barely 4-6secs of grinding, no grind retention. Very quick to change setting back to espresso. No need to grind while changing back to espresso cos no grind retention or sweeper vane chamber to compress unswept grounds.

Grind quality ..... This is very subjective but I think there are more fines compared to my flat burr grinders. My smaller conical feldgrind produces less fines I think. Consistency - if not for the fines the particles are every even. No complaints here.

Nice.. Will help to save on counter space. Read the home-barista thread on using it for non-espresso and most seem to be happy with the performance. I've not yet tried drip coffee at home and dived straight into the espresso abyss, still waiting for my kickstarter item to arrive in May.
I'll probably buy it next month before the exchange rate balloons out of my liking .

 

[derazor]

Ordered nylon since they are back

 

[PiccoloLatte]

Really it's the fan and exposed e61 group. A draft like open windows and wind can cause a massive drop at the group head cos it's passively heated using a thermosyphon and the temp is not regulated by a thermostat/pid at the group head. Temp is regulated at the boiler (for most machines). Thus the thermosyphon design cannot keep up with constant heat loss like a constant draft. That's why need to calibrate the offset for pid machines based on actual working conditions using a thermocouple at the showerecreen.
Saturated grouphead is better but still affected.
Actively heated groups may help to keep a group Head more well heated in huge drafts but temps will always fluctuate up and down very quickly and not consistent due to thermostat dead band.

I recall someone on hb talking about this before. Can try to search their forums. In the end no matter what temp measured at Erics thermometer the important thing is shot to shot temp consistency so you won't have any uncontrolled variables when dialing in to taste.

Thanks, Tiger! Solved the mystery for me!

It's just that I'm surprised the drop could be so much. 15-18 deg! I expected maybe 1 or 2.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

Thanks, Tiger! Solved the mystery for me!

It's just that I'm surprised the drop could be so much. 15-18 deg! I expected maybe 1 or 2.

Actually I'm just guessing too. u might want to check out other possibilities. Erics thermometer only reads useful info when water is passing thru the probe ie. when flushing or brewing and not at idle. I guess as long as u are able to have consistent temp shot to shot is more important. What is the temp on erics thermometer when u pull the shot?

 

[PiccoloLatte]

Monitored this morning...

8am. Turn on machine. Fan off.

8.45am Idle temp 97 deg.
Temp goes up to 100 deg and then drops as per normal during flush.

Fan on.

9.00am Idle temp drops to 81 deg n stays.
Temp goes up to 88 deg n drops during flush. Can't even pull decent shot with the temp.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

Monitored this morning...

8am. Turn on machine. Fan off.

8.45am Idle temp 97 deg.
Temp goes up to 100 deg and then drops as per normal during flush.

Fan on.

9.00am Idle temp drops to 81 deg n stays.
Temp goes up to 88 deg n drops during flush. Can't even pull decent shot with the temp.

Thanks for sharing. The drop is indeed huge!

 

[chikyblink]

@piccololatte
Wow either your fan is very powerful or there's something wrong somewhere. A change of 10+degrees is too drastic.
Tonight if I have the time I'll place a fan right next to my machine and do a test.

Sent from Samsung SM-N910G using GAGT

 

[PiccoloLatte]

It's just a regular kdk fan! I also think it's too drastic but can't think of any reason why. I'll appreciate any suggestions to troubleshoot.

Machine cycles between 0.9 and 1 Bar when idle, by the way.

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

It's just a regular kdk fan! I also think it's too drastic but can't think of any reason why. I'll appreciate any suggestions to troubleshoot.

Machine cycles between 0.9 and 1 Bar when idle, by the way.

What e61 machine are u using? Newer e61 designs on hx machines use a restricted thermosyphon design so that the brew head is at an optimal temp even after a long idle and will not be too hot when brewing. Older e61 designs had a tendency to over heat the group head.

Maybe because of this the thermosyphon is unable to keep up with a constant source of heat loss to the brew head from unusual Heat loss sources. Just some guesses here.