Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[Rusty]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

up grading from a EM 6910 and wow what a difference.

Hi Craigh,

What grinder are you using and was it the same one you used with the EM6910?

I get great shots from the SB using the Smart grinder and I am interested to find out how much better the Breville is.

[fengteo]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Was getting tiny doses at the coarsest espresso setting... terrible pulls shot after shot no matter what...
Took the burr out after reading about a new revision of smart grinder with shims already in, found 5 shims! 1 thick and 4 thin! took a couple out, bit better dose, took ALL shims out, now grinding with the indicator below the r in espresso and getting great 32 second shots.

So why the extra shims???? I wonder how many other consumers will never adventure enough to find they have the same problem.

Not 100% sure. Does depend on the beans cos some colombian single origin beans I had from Campos need a slightly different grind from Dark City blend. I have some Obama blend to try next so will see how that goes.

In other news, I did put back one shim so the dial now sits roughly in the middle of the Espresso range so it allows for movement either way... but I feel that its better with the two shims out from a dose point of view (basket is fuller).

On a brewing note, do you guys find that the pressure starts off at about 11.5bar or so for about 15 secs and settles at 11 bar?

Either way, lovin this machine...

[dr.a.j.pickering]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

but I feel that its better with the two shims out from a dose point of view (basket is fuller)

you can change the dose/grind time by turning the knob

[dr.a.j.pickering]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

On another point this thread seems to have as many post about the BCG800 grinder as the BES900 machine.

[Rusty]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

On another point this thread seems to have as many post about the BCG800 grinder as the BES900 machine.

I guess thats because they go so well together

I dont see Breville complaining 

[TC]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

I guess thats because they go so well together

You wanna see how well it goes with an M7D or Robur-E 8-)

[dr.a.j.pickering]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

I guess thats because they go so well together

You wanna see how well it goes with an M7D or Robur-E  8-)

Dont that thought has been going through my head and have found myself looking at the Kony-E, no chance (this year )

[Strommer]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

After 9 years of using my Silvia as a daily driver. I have been looking around for a replacement machine and came home today with a BDD. It is early days, but seems straight forward and reasonably easy to use.

I have just been using the presets that came from Breville. Using my faithful rocky grinder and oomphs java joe. The settings are fairly close to what is required and maybe a fine adjustment on grind.

[Dazzler]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

I have been using my BES900 for a week now together with a BCG800. The longest time I could get on the shot clock for a double was 24sec at a pressure of 9. I was tamping pretty hard too.
I borrowed a mates Mazzer Major tonight and used his shop grind setting first up. Tamped like normal and pulled the double- it took 86 seconds at 12 bar- Yikes! Tried again with minimal tamping and got the same time and pressure. I will now increase the grind size until I get 9 bar with a moderate tamp.
Am I on the right track? Thanks

[dr.a.j.pickering]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

The longest time I could get on the shot clock for a double was 24sec at a pressure of 9. I was tamping pretty hard too.

it sounds like you need to grind finer, maybe you need shims?

  I will now increase the grind size until I get 9 bar with a moderate tamp.
Am I on the right track? Thanks

Seems to be generally accepted you should be using the taste and time over the pressure gauge see opv thread
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1314258005

[pcrussell50]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

I guess thats because they go so well together

You wanna see how well it goes with an M7D or Robur-E  8-)

wait till the BDB comes here to the usa. when i get mine, ill report back how well it does with the baratza vario.

-pete

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

In other news, I did put back one shim so the dial now sits roughly in the middle of the Espresso range so it allows for movement either way... but I feel that its better with the two shims out from a dose point of view (basket is fuller).

Something that probably no-one realises with the BCG800 is, that when the grind size indicator on the LCD goes from #8 to #9 (as counted from the RHS of the scale), then grinder changes the run time for a given Amount Adjust setting. It will deliver less coffee on #9 (and above) than set to #8 (and below), so I ALWAYS set the shims so my most used coffee will be the perfect grind size on #3 thru #5. This ensures that if I needd to go coarser then I dont jump across timing "zones" from #8 to #9, as I will almost always start by setting my dose first & my grind second.

This is why you shouldnt just install shims cause you read it somewhere that shims were needed. Test first, install second.

Having said all this, the latest BCG800 Smart Grinders that have just landed & being delivered to stores this week, have only 1 timing "zone" across the whole "Espresso" range from #1 to #15 so this jump across zones will no longer be an issue.

Also the latest shipment will grind even finer right out of the box.

Continual evolution the product cycle.

I hope this helps.

Cheers, Phil

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Tried again with minimal tamping and got the same time and pressure.  I will now increase the grind size until I get 9 bar with a moderate tamp.
Am I on the right track?

Short answer, NO.

Heres my approach to getting consistent extractions & great tasting coffee every time.

Adjust your dose so the cap on the base of the tamper is level with the top edge of the filter basket, POST tamp. This means the packed coffee will sit about 6mm below the rim of the coffee basket. I always tamp with 15+kg of pressure to ensure consistency. Once you have set the dose, then all you need to do is extract & assess flow rate. Forget about what the gauge says or how many mls you get in so many secs etc. Using the shot clock you should see the first drop of espresso flow at between 11 & 14secs. This is a great guide to whats happening.

Stop the shot when you have enough espresso extracted.

If the shot drops earlier than 11secs, make the grind finer, while holding dose constant.

If the shot drops after 14secs, the make the grind coarser, while holding dose constant.

Cheers, Phil

[>mcknightp]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

On a brewing note, do you guys find that the pressure starts off at about 11.5bar or so for about 15 secs and settles at 11 bar?

Yes, thats pretty normal. Even in commercial machines youll see some pressure drop once espresso starts to flow.

Cheers, Phil

[howser999]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Agree with Phil - the dose is so very important. I was under dosing and grinding to fine, and couldnt figure it out. I now dose on the smart grinder for two shots, with the dose adjustment to +2 more. Gives about ~18 to ~19 grams.