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so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

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  • #16
    Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

    Hi Lucinda,

    The mods I did to the grinder couldnt have done anything wrong because they were mainly cover connected. The new wand on the machine also works great, so it didnt break anything

    You say that you get 20s pulls with 20g of coffee on your unmodified machine, which also sounds a bit strange, because 20g is usually a triple basket dose. Maybe try dosing less, but grind finer and tamp lighter? The problem with my MDF is that the burrs are not perfectly parallel and I cant grind finer. But with the coffee Im using now Im choking my machine on the setting of 1, so its not so bad

    As I said before the situation is not as bad as it seems. I get decent espressi on my rig, I was just wondering whether Im doing something wrong. It looks like my technique is not so bad, but I cant really say as I dont know how good espresso should taste like.

    Cheers,
    dsc.

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    • #17
      Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

      dce,

      The pour doesnt look that bad to me. It looked like there was some slight channelling and the pour was a bit fast, but otherwise ok. I dont fully understand the issues you have with your grinder, but Id try to grind slightly finer than the current setting.

      Originally posted by dsc link=1177239437/0#13 date=1177800386
      I will stick to my Gaggia basket and Torr tamper for now and see how it works with different coffees ... <snip> ... Greg: thanks a lot for your offer I will definitely go for it, I just need some more money
      With the cost of the Torr you could have bought 2 of almost any other type of tamper (and not waited 2 months for delivery)! That said, I find the Torr a bit too tall and as a result generally find it hard to get an even tamp. Looks great though.

      Originally posted by dsc link=1177239437/15#15 date=1177850117
      It looks like my technique is not so bad, but I cant really say as I dont know how good espresso should taste like.
      Probably a good idea to get out to some good cafes and calibrate your palate. Hows the coffee scene in Poland?

      Cheers,
      Matt

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      • #18
        Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

        Hi Matt,

        The grinder seems to work ok now, I mean I can grind so fine it chokes the machine. Im currently working with some 2 weeks old coffee (that was roasted 10/04/07 but I had it frozen for some time) but it still seems to work. With the last batch of coffee I was unable to grind finer, because I was already grinding at the finest setting and still getting pours that were quite fast.

        Yup the TORR is quite expensive, although because I live in Poland and Germany is really close I thought I would order it, plus it looks good and works pretty well

        Hows the coffee scene in Poland?
        Really really bad most people dont even know what espresso is and you cant get a decent cup of it anywhere, at least not in my city. There are a couple of places in other cities, but because I dont travel a lot I wasnt able to taste the coffee served there. So calibrating my palete is not possible:|

        Cheers,
        dsc.

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

          Tom - I am updosing to 20g using my double basket. This does 2 avarage milk drinks or one very large milk drink. When I tamp using the split method I do not have to tamp too hard and the coffee just touches the top of the shower head (which it is supposed to do). I always have nice dry pucks with a good screw impression.

          Any less, or finer grind and I get channeling or wet, soggy, pucks.

          My guess is that with the gaggia a 20s shot is the norm for this machine.

          If your grinder burrs seem to be uneven, get them adjusted, otherwise they may get damaged. I think Coffeegeek has instructions somewhere on how to do this. Or someone here may be able to help you.

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          • #20
            Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

            Hi Lucinda,

            I usually go with a doppio for my cappa, but Im using fairly large cups (around 200ml), so thats the main reason.

            When I tamp using the split method I do not have to tamp too hard and the coffee just touches the top of the shower head (which it is supposed to do).
            Thats really strange because I cant get more than 18,5g in the double basket without touching the shower screen when locking the PF. I also do split dosing, first light tamp to level and a 15kg second tamp. What force do you use when tamping? I also get dry solid pucks after every extraction, but I dont think thats a sign of a good extraction (although it is easier to knock them out).

            My guess is that with the gaggia a 20s shot is the norm for this machine.
            Ive seen videos on google and youtube with nice 25-27s extractions, without any blonding or cone growing.

            If your grinder burrs seem to be uneven, get them adjusted, otherwise they may get damaged. I think Coffeegeek has instructions somewhere on how to do this. Or someone here may be able to help you.
            Its not that easy they are not perfectly parallel, the bottom burr is slightly off (by 0.5mm or so), so when they start to touch a part of the buttom burr touches the upper burr faster.

            Cheers,
            dsc.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

              Originally posted by dsc link=1177239437/15#19 date=1178214203
              Its not that easy they are not perfectly parallel, the bottom burr is slightly off (by 0.5mm or so), so when they start to touch a part of the buttom burr touches the upper burr faster.
              Gday Tom,

              Have you tried "shimming" the stationary burr? This should be possible and allow you to at least achieve a uniform grind. The disparity youre talking about is probably the main culprit for all your problems and I doubt you will ever get consistently decent pours with that amount of misalignment. Shimming the burr back to zero misalignment should make a big difference.... 0.5mm is a lot

              Mal.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

                Gday Mal,

                sorry for such a late response. I forgot about this thread a few days after recieving the notification email. I was trying to respond, but always something got in my way and so... sorry again

                Anyway I tried alligning the burrs but it takes a lot of time and frankly during the last couple of weeks I had no spare time to do it:[ but I think it can be done and I will try to do it sometime soon.

                Cheers,
                dsc.

                Comment

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