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  • Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Equip

    Budget equipment with pressurized baskets makes it easier to not go wrong making espresso. However, it also makes it exceedingly difficult to make a good espresso. Restricted shots (cafe ristrettto) are particularly difficult as you will be walking the fine line between choking the basket and getting a pour. Ive learned much in the past few months. After going two kilograms of practice beans, I have some tips I would like to share with the community.

    This guide covers the more advanced aspects of espresso making. Id reccommend going through at least 1kg of beans before reading this guide.

    I am using a Sunbeam EM4800C with a EM0480 burr grinder.





    --------------------------------------------
    Intro: Its All About Consistency
    --------------------------------------------


    Once upon a time, i thought that I my espresso making ritual was consistent enough.



    Left: 25s pour. 20kg tamp. ~5ml. Grinder at reference point. <-- Far overextracted. Bitter. Undrinkable.
    Middle: 10s pour. 20kg tamp. ~15ml. Grinder +1 click.  <-- Underextracted. Sour and acrid.
    Right: 10s pour. 20kg tamp. ~25ml! Grinder at reference point. <-- VERY underextracted.

    The results dont make sense. The first pour was way overextracted. So i set my grinder one step courser. The pour time to blonding for 15ml was 10s. It was a gusher and was way underextracted. So i set my grinder back one step finer. To my surprise, the time to blonding was still  about 10s, but this time, 25ml had gushed through!!!

    This article is a summary of what i discovered about the quirks of my budget espresso setup while trying to figure out what went wrong. It is difficult, but achieving good espresso, even with pressurized baskets, IS possible. Its not "luck" on the budget machines as some may assume. So why were the three shots above so different? Read on...



    --------------------------------------------
    Part One: Getting A Consistent Grind.
    --------------------------------------------




    If you are like me, and only take about two coffees a day. The grinds stuck to the insides of your grinder could make a big difference in your shot. The picture above shows the amount of ground coffee stuck inside the grinder. They were dislodged by rocking the grinder back and fourth - the vibration from its rubber feet stomping let out more than two teaspoons of grounds. Also, if left overnight it will go acrid and your coffee the next day would be sour.

    TIP #1: ALWAYS remove stuck grounds from your grinder when changing your grind settings / or after you are done using your grinder.

  • #2
    Re: Adv Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq


    -------------------------------------------------
    Part Two: Essential Tools Not Included
    -------------------------------------------------


    Im actually quite disappointed that a $200 machine wouldnt come with a few simple accessories. I guess I shouldnt complain as even a $700 Rancilio Silvia doesnt come with a tamper...Anyway, here are some essential tools you WILL need to get consistent Results.




    Bathroom Scale: Make sure your tamp is consistent. For me, its always 20kg. I only ever vary it slightly (~3kg + -) when i notice that the room humidity has changed (more on that later).

    Sprayer: For cleaning the bloody diagonal frothing wand on the EM4800. Its a real b1tch to clean. Why cant they just make a smooth rounded tip like on the more pricey machines???


    TIP #2: Get everything consistent. Weigh beans before grinding. level grounds in basket with smooth wand. Tamp with even pressure. Make sure tamp is even and level.



    Tamper: Without one, your coffee machine is useless. The DVD that came with my machine showed a guy cramming in about 20g of coffee into the single basket!! Ridiculous. With a proper tamper, levelling and tamping is sufficient. The Sunbeam single baskets hold about 10g of coffee when done this way.

    Scale: Get your dosing consistent. I measure 10g of coffee for each shot. Its also useful for storing coffee!! I typically buy about 80g of freshly roasted beans from my local Italian Grocer. 60g goes in the fridge in an airtight tin immediately. 20g i keep in a small airtight container next to my machine for immediate use that day or the following morning. Remember, freshness is VERY important. Treat your beans like you would treat bananas. They go bad quickly.

    Something Round And Smooth: Used to level the grounds in the basket. One clean swoop sets an even surface for tamping. I use a milkwand sheath (the white wand in pic).

    Porcelain Bowl and Small Brush: Grind into a porcelain bowl. Use brush to agitate and break up any clumps. Important in judging humidity.


    TIP #3: Judge Humidity. Look at how the grinds stick to the sides of the smooth porcelain bowl when dosing. Eventually, you will get the hang of it. I vary my tamp by about 3-5kg to adjust to higher humidity. Sometimes i tamp as lightly as 15kg if i notice heavy sticking (i forget to warm up my refridgerated beans in advance sometimes)

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Adv Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq


      -------------------------------------------------------------------
      Part Three: Important Care Tip For Pressurized Baskets
      -------------------------------------------------------------------




      This was THE reason why the three shots in part one varied so widely. Im sure many others have faced this problem with pressurized filter baskets and subsequently (and rightfully so) thought that pressurized filter baskets are crap. Some grinds ALWAYS get past the first layer of your filter basket and get trapped in the tight pressurized layer between the pinhole and the top part. Your filter basket may be partially stuck, generating far more pressure than what your machine was designed for. This results in a slow dark bitter shot. You then try to repeat it with a courser grind, but this time some particles dislodge and you get a gusher.

      Therefore, it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to look after your pressurized basket properly. As a rough guide, if you have been taking good care of them, fill them halfway with water and press on the top with your palm to generate an airtight seal and a little pressure. With minimal pressure you should see water spurting out from the pinhole at the bottom. If water just drips out, your basket is partially stuck. If no water seems to come out, your basket needs to be flushed.



      TIP 4: Treat your pressurized filter basket the way you would treat your retainers/dentures. Flush them after each use. Leave them soaked in water. Flush before each use. It helps warm up the portafilter as well when you do that.




      -------------------------------------------------------------------
      Part Four: Working Around Limitiations When Serving Guests
      -------------------------------------------------------------------


      One big limitation of budget gear is that it is slow to pull consecutive shots. The lack of a three way solenoid valve makes the puck muddy, and you will have to clean your grouphead with a cloth after each pour. I find that with my machine, I could comfortably serve two guests at once. Any more and the time taken to pull consecutive shots plus the time taken to steam milk is just too much for me.

      Using the double basket (again, another bag of worms as it requires a change to the grinder settings) you could pull a ~60ml shot into a small heated jug (i use a 300ml milk jug) and divide it into three small 90ml cups. Give em about 20ml of espresso each, stir in half a teaspoon of sugar, and top up with steamed milk. Its sorta like a piccolo latte and trust me your instant-coffee-drinking friends (if they arent coffeesnobs and are just normal people like uni students) will be impressed



      TIP 5: Serving more than 3 guests at once will take excessive time for preparation. Serve picollo lattes, or if you must serve 6 guests, prepare three double shots into a small steel jug in advance (ok, purists will cringe) and leave it on the warming tray shortly before your guests arrive. That way youll only have to foam the milk when they show up.



      -------------------------------------------------------------------
      Part Five: The Problem With Fake Crema
      -------------------------------------------------------------------


      Fake crema makes it difficult to judge the quality of your shot by looking at the crema alone for the simple reason that you will get crema even if your grind is way too coarse or your tamp is too light. However, it is still useful in diagnosing shot problems.



      If you notice any light colored foam with large bubbles forming, its pretty much a definite sign that your coffee is underextracted (even if your pour time for 30ml is above 20s!!! This may be due to channels forming through the grounds. Uneven tamp perhaps?). Your coffee will taste sour.

      Pay close attention to the color of the crema. It should not turn blonde. You will not get striping due to the pressurized pinhole exit, but you should get a rich dark brown emulsion on top of your coffee. The moment you see it turn pale/light/yellow/blonde, stop the pour. If this happens in under 15s, you may need to set your grinder finer.

      The dark brown emulsion should drip slowly and constantly WITH RESISTANCE (this is the most helpful tip from the SUnbeam DVD, IMO). If it pours out like water, your shot is likely underextracted. Sudden pale gushes are often a sign of unlevel tamping, especially with the shallower single basket.

      TIP 6: Pale fake crema or fake crema with large bubbles are a sign that somethings wrong. Aim to achieve a slow, consistent pour with dark (fake) crema.



      My personal preferance: 20s. 20ml. 10g coffee. 20kg tamp. Shot restricted before any signs of blonding.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Adv Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

        Im sorry ezralim, as I can see youve put a lot of effort into preparing these notes, but Im going to disagree with you on a number of points that you might consider...

        a)  pressurised baskets dont make it easier to make espresso - they just make fake crema, so you think you might be making a good espresso

        b)  it sounds like you are achieving what you may think is a ristretto by altering the grind - thats not a ristretto

        c)  the sunbeam tamper isnt much better than a plastic one - I know you didnt say it is, but maybe you could clarify

        d)  you refrigerate your beans? I suspect the consensus here is that refrigerating beans is not a good way to store them.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Adv Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

          Originally posted by Dennis link=1214886480/0#3 date=1214888466
          Im sorry ezralim, as I can see youve put a lot of effort into preparing these notes, but Im going to disagree with you on a number of points that you might consider...

          a)  pressurised baskets dont make it easier to make espresso - they just make fake crema, so you think you might be making a good espresso

          b)  it sounds like you are achieving what you may think is a ristretto by altering the grind - thats not a ristretto

          c)  the sunbeam tamper isnt much better than a plastic one - I know you didnt say it is, but maybe you could clarify

          d)  you refrigerate your beans?    I suspect the consensus here is that refrigerating beans is not a good way to store them.
          a) i cant agree more...

          b) "-.- this has been debated to death on numerous forums. I find that by using a finer grind i can slow the pour and hence get 20mls in about 20-25s with no signs of blonding. That is my definition. I guess everyone has different expectations for the ideal ristretto. Some people just use a normal pour but take only the first part of it, effectively stopping early to get a reduced volume.

          c) it is alot better than the plastic one. On the DVD, the guy uses the plastic one to jam 20g of coffee (dose, lightly tamp, dose, lightly tamp, dose yet again, then tamp hard) into the single basket. I guess if i were doing that it would be ok. But if youre levelling lose grinds on the single sunbeam basket before tamping (~10g), then the sunbeam tamper is just so much better for it. I can consistently get a level, even tamp. Its almost like it was designed for the sunbeam single basket. Ill post some pics about what i mean the next time i make coffee.

          d) yeah, but i dont hv a choice. The local italian deli where i get freshly roasted beans only takes delievery of fresh beans every week. So i get my beans every tuesday and it has to last me the week. With rising fuel prices i also dont see the point in making trips just to buy coffee. So i get about 80g of coffee each time i do my groceries. I could keep in my room i guess, but i figured it would keep fresher in the fridge. My experience is that beans arent very fresh after a few days stored at room temperature - or maybe the beans i bought werent too fresh to begin with (?) i dont know.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Adv Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

            Re the beans ezralimm, not knowing the brand, they could easily be on the stale side before the deli takes delivery. The only way you could be sure is if they have a roasted by date on them. Then again, Id imagine if the deli is selling small quantities, they are storing it loose somehow and this probably means they are exposed to air. This too would affect how fresh they are, and how quickly they will go stale.

            Either way, I think you would be better off storing your purchase in something like a ziplock gladbag and trying to expel as much air out of the bag as possible, then keeping them in a cool dark place like a pantry cupboard. Storing them in the fridge is IMHO a sure way of allowing condensation to occur and spoiling the lovely volatile oils present in the roasted coffee.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Adv Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

              You can get 250/500g bags of fresh beans on your doorstep easily on the internet. They are usually about 3 days post roast and will be drinkable for a few weeks if u take care in keeping the valve bag zipped tight.

              I have bought beans from a non roasting deli style coffee store before and they were stale........

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

                Good idea, although i only take about one coffee a day and that would last me more than a month. I think im going to stick with the local deli for the moment. They have 6 blends available. Currently trying some moccopan blend. Got a few more id like to try first before considering ordering beans online.

                Dennis, im gonna (sorta) take your suggestion. To prevent condensation, ill ziplock the beans then put them in the fridge. When taking them out, ill warm them up before opening the ziplock bag.


                Below is a pic of the sunbeam 52mm tamper fitting nicely in the basket with 10g of grounds in it. I find it really easy to get a level, consistent tamp with the sunbeam tamper and the pressurized single basket.



                note: if the basket were empty, the silver part of the tamper would be non-visible and about 1mm deep to the rim of the basket.




                Special thanks to all the people at coffeesnobs that helped me through my endeavor to make better espresso.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

                  Hi Ezra,

                  I suspect that most here will confirm that you will be able to do much better if you choose fresh beans . Its a long, long time since I last experienced anything fresh from Mocopan.

                  Next task, to get some unpressurised baskets so you can make some real espresso...

                  Enjoy the ride...

                  2mcm

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

                    Originally posted by ezralimm link=1214886480/0#7 date=1215069855
                    Good idea, although i only take about one coffee a day and that would last me more than a month. I think im going to stick with the local deli for the moment. They have 6 blends available. Currently trying some moccopan blend. Got a few more id like to try first before considering ordering beans online.
                    Special thanks to all the people at coffeesnobs that helped me through my endeavor to make better espresso.
                    Thats why we home roast. This way we know how fresh the beans are and how much we need for how long. And seriously, it doesnt take much time to home roast. Chances are youd be done roasting in the same amount of time it takes to get to your local deli and green beans are way cheaper too.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

                      Originally posted by ezralimm link=1214886480/0#7 date=1215069855
                      Dennis, im gonna (sorta) take your suggestion. To prevent condensation, ill ziplock the beans then put them in the fridge. When taking them out, ill warm them up before opening the ziplock bag.
                      I have to say, I dont even like my name in the same sentence as the quote above Ezra. You might as well place each bean in separate compartments of an ice tray, fill it with water, then freeze them! :P

                      I just cant help myself from asking...how do you intend to, "warm them up"?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

                        A one way valve bag isnt too hard to get at all and its not expensive either. Why dont you just put the beans into a valved bag and and keep it in a cool dry place instead of the fridge?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

                          Thats why we home roast. This way we know how fresh the beans are and how much we need for how long. And seriously, it doesnt take much time to home roast. Chances are youd be done roasting in the same amount of time it takes to get to your local deli and green beans are way cheaper too.
                          I really really want to home roast. But me being a poor student, i couldnt really afford a raoster (eg. iRoast). I live in a room (hence the BIG humidity variation problem i face esp in winter) and cook in a communal kitchen.


                          Ive done the tests. The commercial electric tops in the kitchen are unsuitable for pan roasting. They have heat transfer issues and dont work very well.

                          The ovens are even worse. I cant toast garlic bread without getting some kind of "coooked oil" smell on it. They are cleaned, but not nearly regularly enough. I dont want to put coffee beans in them ever.

                          I could get a popper, but then i have the problem of smoke alarms. My building is rigged up as though the owners thought it was made of dry wooden planks. Sometimes the alarms go off when i toast crumpets in my room or the nearby sink outside my room!!




                          Perhaps when i move out next year ill try roasting.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

                            Originally posted by Dennis link=1214886480/0#10 date=1215072017
                            I have to say, I dont even like my name in the same sentence as the quote above Ezra.  You might as well place each bean in separate compartments of an ice tray, fill it with water, then freeze them! :P
                            I just cant help myself from asking...how do you intend to, "warm them up"?
                            Simple, I either pop em in the microwave or blow them with steam from my machine.

                            ;D

                            ok just kiddin..


                            I buy 80-100g of beans a week. 20g goes into a small airtight container next to my grinder. The rest goes into a small airtight container in the fridge.

                            So lets say ive used up my 20g. That night, I would take out the beans from the fridge and let them stand. I try to prevent condensation by not exposing the cold beans to ambient air at any time. In the morning when they are at room temperature, I would take out 30g. 10g goes into my coffee, the remainder goes into the small container next to my grinder. The rest of the beans goes back in the fridge.

                            I find that the most convienient way of having a week long supply of acceptably fresh beans.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Pic Guide To Getting The Best Out Of Budget Eq

                              Originally posted by 2muchcoffeeman link=1214886480/0#8 date=1215070256
                              Hi Ezra,

                              I suspect that most here will confirm that you will be able to do much better if you choose fresh beans . Its a long, long time since I last experienced anything fresh from Mocopan.

                              Next task, to get some unpressurised baskets so you can make some real espresso...
                              Enjoy the ride...
                              2mcm

                              Thanks for the tip.

                              I do have the Bar Italia basket, but for some reason ive not been able to get a consistent results with it. Eventually, i gave up trying

                              One day when i start working I will get a proper machine. For the meanwhile Im gonna stick with the default baskets and try to make the most of it.

                              Comment

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