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  • #16
    Originally posted by rusty888 View Post
    Just interested in everyone’s thoughts.

    I have the Pullman 17-19g basket but to dose it to get the 5c test to just leave something noticeable I’m dosing 22g and still getting a good pour (40ml in 32seconds).

    I can grind finer and go to 18 or 20 grams and get the same outputs (36ml in 32 seconds) but it feels as half the basket is empty.

    Although not worried when doing 18-20g it always leaves a soggy wet puck.

    Both still achieve a good shot. So I’m torn.

    Cheers
    Too fine a grind or under-dosing or a combination of both can cause a soggy puck.

    As far as dosing goes, I found that the Scottie Callaghan dosing tools are useful for fine tuning. Once you level off the grinds you select from the different profiles to skim out the required amount of grinds prior to tamping to slightly vary the height of the tamped puck (dose weight). Helps with shot consistency also.

    I probably wouldn't have bought these due to the price but a set of 3 came with a previous coffee machine. I use the appropriate size daily and find that changing between bean batches I only need to vary up or down by 1 size in the double basket.

    http://clean-machine.com.au/Coffee-D...Callaghan.html

    Site Sponsor Coffee Parts had these - https://www.coffeeparts.com.au/scott...ce-keyring-set

    Not sure if the 3 piece set is still available. Coffee Parts had 3 other sets with more pieces also.
    Last edited by CafeLotta; 24 May 2018, 10:44 AM. Reason: Edit Links

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Gavisconi007 View Post
      Weigh it, or time it, put it in the PF and spread it with your finger. Tamp and pull lever god shots.

      Oh wait.......that’s waaaay too old school......sigh
      Weigh it ?? Time it !! .....Old School...OH that sounds way to cool ....
      for school

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      • #18
        Originally posted by TampIt View Post
        5 cent test is used as an 11th commandment far too often. Over too many years I have found a lot of variance in the basket to grouphead clearance of some commercial machines - or even the clearance within each group of a multiple group machine for that matter - e.g. the one I learnt on originally, where I colour coded the matching basket / p/f / group combos which could actually give a decent cuppa after grinding some of the lugs of the p/f's to fit a specific grouphead. Thankfully most machines today have much finer tolerances.

        In an ideal world that clearance would be a standard, or at the very least it would be stated. As long as the fully expanded puck touches the showerscreen without impacting it "too much" (whatever that means in practice) the dosage / grind / tamping combo is more likely to work well. Given the variance in density, solubility and volume, that is a moving target on any given machine anyway. As the shot progresses the puck then shrinks again which makes it a difficult problem to even troubleshoot in some environments - especially in highly soluble cases when "in the zone" shots always have wettish pucks anyway so it may appear underdosed. Back to taste...

        I have no problem with people using any method to get somewhere "within the zone" of a good shot. Unfortunately the 5 cent test seems to have become a hard and fast mantra in too many cases. IMO staying within the baskets rating range in grams is usually a better starting point than the 5 cent test before fine tuning according to taste. Not overdosing usually also means far less daily (hourly in busy cafes) maintenance as the showerscreens stay cleaner for longer.
        Ah ok fair enough, but yeah this one of the exact reasons why I (and many others) recommend using the 5c test, precisely to avoid this issue of different machines having different grouphead/showerhead clearance. And by no means am I saying it's a golden rule or anything, but just a handy way to set your dose so that you can avoid channelling occurring solely because of this variable. The test shows what is a useful dose for YOUR machine. Sometimes that's all some people needed, when someone asks what's going wrong with my shot, we can go through the beans, machine, distribution, but if the dose is set too high initially it will be very erratic, and no amount of tinkering with the other variables will really alleviate the issue (then again I've had some ripper shots even though I knew the dose was too high and there was some puck scraping XD, but just not consistent enough results).

        And yeah, the some basket ratings seem sometimes too generic at times and don't take into account your particular machine's clearance level and roast depth which affects volume in the basket. It's good learning about different approaches though for sure, and what some find helpful others just will not, so all good stuff here

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