Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[bmcquillen]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Hi howser, For a double basket i am dosing around 3 or 4 on the grind setting and i am varing the dose depending on coffee beans.

other factors to consider is what size shims are fitted.

I think i have two 1mm shims fitted.

When i have the right grind and dose i about 12 bar on the pressure gauge.

Lenny

[howser999]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Thanks Lenny,

Havent fitted shims yet cause wanted to see how it went without.

RE: dose quantity - how far up the double basket do you fill?

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Havent fitted shims yet cause wanted to see how it went without.

RE: dose quantity - how far up the double basket do you fill?

Thats a good idea not to fit any shims until you see if it even needs them! Too many Smartgrinder users are fitting shims when unecessary.

As for dose, a good starting point is when AFTER tamping the top edge of the cap on the Breville tamper is level with the rim of the filter basket. This will give you ~19g of coffee in a double. Remember this dose height is AFTER tamping and will be about 6mm below the rim of the filter basket & you need to hold tamp pressure constant, I use 15kg+

See this video for some tips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4ByyUmZT28

Once youve got the dose height nailed, you just need to adjust the grind size to optimise espresso flow rate. I use the shot clock as a starting point for this as well. If you see espresso start to flow from the spouts at 11-13secs on the shot clock, then itll be a pretty nice shot.

Cheers, Phil

[Barry_Duncan]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Barry, how much do you dose with your smart grinder?

My scales tell me I am dosing with 15 g in the single dose single walled basket. The Smartie is set on the max amount for a single dose.

After reading the following quote from phil I will try using less.

If you are weighing your shots, then this is ~10-12g for a single & ~18-20g for a double.

Barry

[dr.a.j.pickering]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

So got the first clean me today

I thinks this means I have done 200 extractions that seems a lot for 2 weeks. I think it has counted all my purges and back flushes as extractions (I guess it is clever but not that clever)

So I ran the clean cycle with the enclosed tablets, I thought I would use the my proper blind basket, but I think this may not have been a good decision owing to the fact it would appear that the 3 way dosent operate until the final rinse.

Would seem therefore this clean cycle is about cleaning the brew head and is not intended as a chemical back flush.

So I guess I am asking 2 questions

if you do a clear water back flush after every session is the clean cycle necessary?

and do I still need to do a chemical back flush?

[Barry_Duncan]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

So got the first clean me today

Have a look at Phils video on backflushing at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TpSSSYpq1I&feature=related

Barry

[pcrussell50]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Great to see Pete from the USA here. Is the BDB available in the US yet?

Barry

oi!  i may be a yank, but i lived in oz for a bit meself.  and there are no two sports i like better than cricket and v8 supercars, so i have youz guys to thank for that 

sadly, the BDB is not available here here in the states yet, so im having to rely on my aussie mates here on CS to feed my fix, (and hopefully smooth out some of the bumps that come with a brand new bit of kit).

-pete

[dr.a.j.pickering]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

So got the first clean me today

Have a look at Phils video on backflushing at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TpSSSYpq1I&feature=related

Barry

Thanks well aware of this video, and have been doing clear water back flushes with this and previous machines, not addressing the issue with the machine requesting a clean cycle.

[argus]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

After a slightly rocky start Im now getting great results with my Smart Grinder-Dual Boiler combo and couldnt be happier. Im dosing +2 bars on the smart grinder  and fineness (no shims) is set under the O in espresso. Pours are ~35 sec.
I do occasionally get a slightly damp/muddy appearance just on top of the puck. What part of technique do I need to focus on to fix that?

[timmyc]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

After a slightly rocky start Im now getting great results with my Smart Grinder Dual Boiler combo and couldnt be happier. Im dosing + 2 bars on the smart grinder  and fineness (no shims) is set under the O in espresso. Pours are ~ 35 sec.
I do occasionally get a slightly damp/muddy appearance just on top of the puck. What part of technique do I need to focus on to fix that?

A slight increase in dose will solve that problem (and the associated coarser grind). But irrespective of how the puck looks, it comes down to how it tastes

Tim

[argus]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Thanks Tim,
Taste is great, I have no complaints with what Im getting in the cup.

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

My scales tell me I am dosing with 15 g in the single dose single walled basket. The Smartie is set on the max amount for a single dose.

After reading the following quote from phil I will try using less.

Hi Barry, if you like what youre tasting, keep doing it! Its all about what YOU like in the cuo. My advice was a bit generic, but if you like 15g from a single go for it.

Cheers, Phil

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

I thinks this means I have done 200 extractions that seems a lot for 2 weeks. I think it has counted all my purges and back flushes as extractions (I guess it is clever but not that clever)

So I ran the clean cycle with the enclosed tablets, I thought I would use the my proper blind basket, but I think this may not have been a good decision owing to the fact it would appear that the 3 way dosent operate until the final rinse.

Would seem therefore this clean cycle is about cleaning the brew head and is not intended as a chemical back flush.

So I guess I am asking 2 questions

if you do a clear water back flush after every session is the clean cycle necessary?

and do I still need to do a chemical back flush?

Hi Doc, well it is actually that smart! It only counts extractions longer than 7 secs in the cleaning cycle counter, so youve actually extracted 200 times longer than 7 secs.

The "clean cycle" programmed into the machine is to be used with the silicon cleaning disk that allows some flow to be released from the group head.

If you clear water back flush after each use of the machine, then I would only use chemicals after every 2kgs or so. At this point I would also soak the group handle in espesso cleaner as well as you cant scrub every nook of rancid coffee oils thatll degrade the taste of any espresso.

Cheers, Phil

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

I do occasionally get a slightly damp/muddy appearance just on top of the puck. What part of technique do I need to focus on to fix that?

Hi Vince, that slightly wet cake you are experiencing is because our 3 way solenoid is mounted inverted. You can up-dose all you like, but youll still have some dampness. This is nothing to be concerned about. Changing dose should only be used to change the taste of the espresso if its not working for you.

Cheers, Phil

[argus]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Thanks Phil, Ill keep doing what Im doing then