Hi all,
Havent posted for a while, still drinking lots of coffee and working my way through the 15kg of green beans I have left after going crazy on a few bean bays. Thought Id join the fray again with an update on my Silvia, bought second hand about a year ago.
Shes been getting a good workout - moderate to vigorous as recommended by health professionals - about 2 -4 coffees a day. Gets a good clean after every use but lately shed been a bit out of sorts, not producing the best crema and the coffee had to be ground very finely - about true 4 on my rocky. I thought it may have been some older coffee that Id been using so I tried using the freshest coffee, and it helped, but still the whole machine had become just a bit lacklustre - the magic was not quite there like it was a year ago. So, the big clean.
I flushed the machine (and steamwand) with descaler, wiped everything, soaked all the portafilters and baskets and all the trays and everything and gave it all a big scrubbing, backflushed her with my blind filter (I know this is forbidden in the manual) and then flushed the machine with a tank of clean water.
Well - the result is that the magic is well and truly back! She is working better than ever and the crema just keeps coming - its beautiful! I guess its hard to see the gradual build up of dirt and coffee oils when it is accumulating day by day, but from now on Im scheduling 6-monthly maintenance sessions because it makes a massive difference..
So Im sure youre all on top of this but maybe someone might get the nudge to do the big clean who has been putting it off too long, or like me, has forgotten!
Have just ordered a 4-pack of descaler sachets from coffeeparts (is there a CS discount there?) for future cleans and some brushes too.
Looking forward to the next beanbay!
Havent posted for a while, still drinking lots of coffee and working my way through the 15kg of green beans I have left after going crazy on a few bean bays. Thought Id join the fray again with an update on my Silvia, bought second hand about a year ago.
Shes been getting a good workout - moderate to vigorous as recommended by health professionals - about 2 -4 coffees a day. Gets a good clean after every use but lately shed been a bit out of sorts, not producing the best crema and the coffee had to be ground very finely - about true 4 on my rocky. I thought it may have been some older coffee that Id been using so I tried using the freshest coffee, and it helped, but still the whole machine had become just a bit lacklustre - the magic was not quite there like it was a year ago. So, the big clean.
I flushed the machine (and steamwand) with descaler, wiped everything, soaked all the portafilters and baskets and all the trays and everything and gave it all a big scrubbing, backflushed her with my blind filter (I know this is forbidden in the manual) and then flushed the machine with a tank of clean water.
Well - the result is that the magic is well and truly back! She is working better than ever and the crema just keeps coming - its beautiful! I guess its hard to see the gradual build up of dirt and coffee oils when it is accumulating day by day, but from now on Im scheduling 6-monthly maintenance sessions because it makes a massive difference..
So Im sure youre all on top of this but maybe someone might get the nudge to do the big clean who has been putting it off too long, or like me, has forgotten!
Have just ordered a 4-pack of descaler sachets from coffeeparts (is there a CS discount there?) for future cleans and some brushes too.
Looking forward to the next beanbay!
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