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so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

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  • dsc
    replied
    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.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    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.

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  • dsc
    replied
    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.

    Leave a comment:


  • lucinda
    replied
    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.

    Leave a comment:


  • dsc
    replied
    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.

    Leave a comment:


  • MattG
    replied
    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

    Leave a comment:


  • dsc
    replied
    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.

    Leave a comment:


  • lucinda
    replied
    Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

    I think you need to go back to basics and start all over again.

    With the grinder - maybe you have done too many mods without understanding what you are doing. I am not being nasty, just trying to offer what I think may be going wrong.

    I have not modified my equipment except for pulling off the steam wand attachment. Other than that it was just a matter of pract ice practice practice and learning to use my machine and grinder.

    Leave a comment:


  • dsc
    replied
    Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

    Ola,

    Thanks for the suggestions and ideas. I will stick to my Gaggia basket and Torr tamper for now and see how it works with different coffees. As you say maybe everything is ok and this is how extractions work on my rig. Maybe I will be able to buy a better machine in the future and compare the effects to my past extractions. Or maybe its because of my grinder. Who knows

    Greg: thanks a lot for your offer I will definitely go for it, I just need some more money

    Cheers,
    dsc.

    Leave a comment:


  • gregpullman
    replied
    Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

    TG: Yes slightly wider at the top. The genuine LM has a ridge and the diameter comes in below that ridge.

    dsc: If you decide to go down the path of getting a fitted tamper I should be able to help in that regard, which incidentally should be a whole lot cheaper than buying all the equipment to do it yourself! As FC said its not a silver bullet but it does allow you to minimise one variable, which is a lot of what coffee making is about - eliminating the many variables involved.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    Re: Possibly nothing?

    Originally posted by Fresh_Coffee link=1177239437/0#9 date=1177367302
    Someone above said words to the effect that there may not actually be anything "wrong" and the effect may be a result of your coffee VS your grinder VS your machine, and I wouldnt necessarily discount that advice as it could be quite right
    Wouldnt be your evil twin would it FC? :

    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • Thundergod
    replied
    Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

    dsc I dont think the LM basket has vertical sides.

    Ive got the double and it appears to me to be slightly wider at the top.

    Mr Pullman should be able to confirm.

    Its a nice basket though and Ive been using it to replace the standard Expobar double.
    It holds just a little more coffee.

    Leave a comment:


  • Fresh_Coffee
    replied
    Possibly nothing?

    Gday dsc,

    Ive just had a quick skim of this topic  and Im afraid I am not confident the answer to your enquiry lies in changing the filter or the coffee press.

    Yes, it will change the type of pour but its not a "fix" its just using a larger filter which holds more coffee and therefore contains more oil, so the blonding wont occur quite so quickly. Its not really a fix for any problem just changing the end result due to a change in the working parameters.

    Im also not convinced that buying a larger press (tamper) will do anything. You can use small tampers & as long as youre careful to tamp around the edges you can still have good success in espresso making / while you are waiting to get yourself a better tamper  .

    The equipment / system in total (this includes the coffee) should be able to brew coffee well without owners having to resort to buying / using very much larger than standard filters (the gaggia filter is already a large commercial double) and having to use tampers that fit to within 2 microns of the diameter of the filter......you shouldnt "have" to go to these lengths.

    Someone above said words to the effect that there may not actually be anything "wrong" and the effect may be a result of your coffee VS your grinder VS your machine, and I wouldnt necessarily discount that advice as it could be quite right

    Regardz,
    FC.

    Leave a comment:


  • dsc
    replied
    Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

    Hello,

    Well tried the single tamp and I have to say its worse than using two tamps. I got some squirts and faster blonding. I think Mal is right and Im probably getting side channeling because the tamper is smaller than the basket. In fact the tamper is 58mm but that stupid Gaggia double is a bit wider on top (around 59mm or more) so I get quite a lot of space in between.

    Lucinda: I tried different doses and 18,5g is the max I can pack without touching the screen when locking the PF in. Probably 20g would be too much to lock the PF. Really only 18-20s max? even with that ammount of coffee? sounds a little bit strange.

    I dont know anyone who could make me a better fitted tamper, so I thought about changing the basket Found the famous LM double ridgless basket and it should be available tommorow from one online store. Maybe the shipping costs wont be so high and I will finally have a good double basket with perfectly verticle sides

    Cheers,
    dsc.

    Leave a comment:


  • lucinda
    replied
    Re: so whats your idea on whats wrong here?

    Tom, did you try upping your dose to 20g in the double basket? Anytime I use less than this I get much the same problems with early blonding etc.

    I think I have said before to try upping the dose to 20g (not sure if it was you). I cannot remember the timing of my extractions but I dont think they are much more than 18-20 sec. With some beans even less.

    I tamp twice - the first to settle the grounds the second, harder one to form the puck nicely.

    Leave a comment:

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