I'd be interested in any tips on how to best use an unpressurised portafilter with a Saeco Via Venezia.
I took the mechanism out years ago and have been able to get passable brews (not sure I'd call them espresso) using it.
I only have a Delongi KG100 grinder which is obviously a limitation. On it's finest setting the coffee is probably just below commercial preground coffee. As a result, the shots I get only take around 5-10 seconds at most despite strong tamping.
Before each shot, I do a pre-infuse of about one second with about a two second pause, that doesn't seem to make much difference.
With an earlier grinder I was able to get a much finer grind and the shots weren't too bad. However I had to be careful with the grind and the tamping. If the grind was too fine and tamped hard the machine could stall and sometimes it would overheat and the internal thermostat would trip. I then would have to dismantle it and trip the thermostat back by hand.
I realise this is not a top level espresso machine but it is overall a great buy for the price. I have had it serviced twice which has brought it back to almost new each time so I'm very pleased with it.
I took the mechanism out years ago and have been able to get passable brews (not sure I'd call them espresso) using it.
I only have a Delongi KG100 grinder which is obviously a limitation. On it's finest setting the coffee is probably just below commercial preground coffee. As a result, the shots I get only take around 5-10 seconds at most despite strong tamping.
Before each shot, I do a pre-infuse of about one second with about a two second pause, that doesn't seem to make much difference.
With an earlier grinder I was able to get a much finer grind and the shots weren't too bad. However I had to be careful with the grind and the tamping. If the grind was too fine and tamped hard the machine could stall and sometimes it would overheat and the internal thermostat would trip. I then would have to dismantle it and trip the thermostat back by hand.
I realise this is not a top level espresso machine but it is overall a great buy for the price. I have had it serviced twice which has brought it back to almost new each time so I'm very pleased with it.

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