Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[brokenvase]

Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Got a little frustrated. More disappointed actually. Today, had a friend over and I made her a freshly roasted Campos superior blend capp. And she said her Nespresso is nicer!

I don't think it's my technique. 'cos I liked my coffee. Grind/tamp/pull all pretty spot on. And it tasted exactly how I liked it... At least I don't think it was bad... could be her taste?

She even said that she'll bring her instant coffee next time she comes!!! *fainted*

[water_dragon]

Got a little frustrated. More disappointed actually. Today, had a friend over and I made her a freshly roasted Campos superior blend capp. And she said her Nespresso is nicer!

I don't think it's my technique. 'cos I liked my coffee. Grind/tamp/pull all pretty spot on. And it tasted exactly how I liked it... At least I don't think it was bad... could be her taste?

She even said that she'll bring her instant coffee next time she comes!!! *fainted*

Find yourself a friend with taste, instant coffee contains additives like detergent

[WiredArabica]

There's no accounting for taste. Some people really do prefer the taste of freeze dried stale robusta. Shrug.

Could just be that she didn't like that particular blend, I've sure come across plenty that I don't like at all...

[rustic]

Got a little frustrated. More disappointed actually. Today, had a friend over and I made her a freshly roasted Campos superior blend capp. And she said her Nespresso is nicer!
............
She even said that she'll bring her instant coffee next time she comes!!! *fainted*

When I make instant coffee it's usually a few teaspoons into a mug, fill up with water, and add a dash of milk. If that's the way your friend prefers her coffee then try making her a long black with a dash of milk.

Maybe she just likes the extra caffeine hit from robusta so you might also try pulling a double shot.

It could also just come down to needing more practice. I use to pull some pretty average shots when I first started out and after 9 months of owning a BDB there's still room for improvement.

[snypa762]

Hi all

So Ive bought the Naked Portafilter from Breville. So far Im loving it. Coffee tastes so much hotter and better. I have absolutely no qualms with the single basket. But with the dual basket, here is what is happening.

1. The basket is supposed to be 18grams, but Im only getting 9 bar with 21 grams
2. Making the grind finer has very little effect, dosing has more effect on the pressure.
3. I regularly get squirts from using the double basket. Maybe my distribution is bad ?
4. I only use manual mode, and can never get 60mls from 30 seconds using a dual basket unless its a gusher. A 9 bar normal flow only gets me about 45 mls in 30 seconds.

Does this sound right to you guys ??? Thx

By the Way Im using freshly roasted beans about a week old. PNG batch

[Tupinamba]

Hi all

So Ive bought the Naked Portafilter from Breville. So far Im loving it. Coffee tastes so much hotter and better. I have absolutely no qualms with the single basket. But with the dual basket, here is what is happening.

1. The basket is supposed to be 18grams, but Im only getting 9 bar with 21 grams
2. Making the grind finer has very little effect, dosing has more effect on the pressure.
3. I regularly get squirts from using the double basket. Maybe my distribution is bad ?
4. I only use manual mode, and can never get 60mls from 30 seconds using a dual basket unless its a gusher. A 9 bar normal flow only gets me about 45 mls in 30 seconds.

Does this sound right to you guys ??? Thx

By the Way Im using freshly roasted beans about a week old. PNG batch

Some of those things sounds familiar to a newbie like me.

Coffee hotter and better with the naked portafilter: my coffee started be hotter and (much) better when I preheated the regular portafilter by running a couple of blank shots. I use one of them to preheat the cups.
Sounds like your grinder does not grind fine enough. I got much better results once I bought the smart grinder.
I cannot get 60ml in 30sec, but I stopped worrying about it some time ago. I have found out a 20ml shot cut when blonding starts works perfectly well for a piccolo (90ml) or a cappuccino (150ml).

[DavidW1960]

You really should be letting your BES900 warm up for 30 minutes anyway - then I doubt you'd see any difference in heat with the naked PF vs the standard one.

[Barry_Duncan]

I don’t know what the optimum heat up time is but the BDB is somewhat unique in that it has an actively heated group head with an embedded element that is temperature controlled by a second PID. The other PID controls the heat of the brew boiler.

It was quoted somewhere by Breville that it takes about 9 minutes for the machine to warm up. That would be the time for the brew boiler and brew head to reach 93C or whatever temp it is set at and for the steam boiler to be ready. It would depend on the temperature in your kitchen which may vary between seasons.

Once ready to go, a BDB should produce water to the group head at a consistent temperature within 1 degree each way from the set temperature.

It will take more time to heat up the outside case of the machine including the cup warmer. I don’t depend on this as I always warm my cups and the portafilter with one or two hot flushes.

Does anyone know what other machines have an actively heated group head with an embedded element or by any other means?

I think that the only way the naked PF would give hotter coffee is if you don't preheat the PFs before loading them.

Barry

[DavidW1960]

Does anyone know what other machines have an actively heated group head with an embedded element or by any other means?

Most HX machines circulate water from the HX through the group head.

I think that the only way the naked PF would give hotter coffee is if you don't preheat the PFs before loading them.

Well if you let it warm up for 30 mins it will be hot anyway. But I always purge the grouphead/PF before loading with coffee anyway.

[Jimmytheboot]

Does anyone know what other machines have an actively heated group head with an embedded element or by any other means?

Bezzera bz07/09/10/Strega have heating elements in the group heads

[coffee_machinist]

also Dalla Corte use this technique in their commercial machines, not sure about their domestic range.

[mrearthpig]

Hi all!! I took the plunge yesterday and bought myself a BDB and Smart Grinder. which I got at a very good price. I've gone from being a 20 year veteran "kettle and instant coffee" user, to a "no-idea what I'm doing" BDB user. Thankfully, Breville have promotion going at the moment which involves a free 90 minute barista course with Toby's Estate. Until then, I will just trundle blindly along.

I have tried to read through the several thousand posts here, but there are simply too many to get through. I have already watched ALL of the BDB videos on YouTube, along with numerous others on texturing milk and grinding beans, and my head is starting to hurt. So if I may, I'd like to ask a couple of questions that I'm sure have probably already been asked...... sorry in advance.

1) 2 pours today have resulted in splurting coffee from the porta-filter. What would be the most likely cause of this?
2) At the moment I'd just like to use the automatic one shot button. But my wife and I have both commented that our coffee seems a little weak. Any suggestions? Should I be using the single wall basket instead of the dual wall?
3) Finally, what are some good base settings to start with for the grinder?

Thanks for putting up with the "n00b" (stole that one from my kids) questions, but I just want to jump straight in to making nice coffee. Not frothy milk with a slight coffee flavour.

[water_dragon]

"Any suggestions? Should I be using the single wall basket instead of the dual wall?" Yes only use dual wall for bought ground coffee not fresh roasted coffee and ground yourself.

[Barry_Duncan]

Welcome to the BDB club and CSnobs.

It will take a while to put all that information into practice. A 90 minute course will not turn you into a barista, but it should help.

1. Spurting from where the portafilter locks into the group head can be due to overdosing the filter basket which stops you from getting a good contact between the filter basket and the soft group head seal.

Dose no more coffee than what allows you to tamp with the silver cap of the tamper within the filter basket. See page 24 of the instruction booklet. You can dose a little less but not more.

2. The amount of milk can be a personal thing. When you make coffee at home make it as strong or milky as you like it. It is your choice. I myself use little milk as I drink macchiatos.

3. You should be grinding on demand directly into the filter basket with your smart grinder and use only the single walled filter baskets. The dual walled baskets are for getting false crema when using stale preground coffee.

4. Adjust the grinder to adjust the flow. If too slow grind coarser, if too fast grind finer. As beans age you will need to go finer. Use the shot clock by pressing the up arrow below the LCD screen. Time between 25 - 30 sec.

You mention Toby's Estate. Their coffee is great. Best to use beans from about 1 to 3 weeks after roasting.

Barry

[brokenvase]

Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

I don’t know what the optimum heat up time is but the BDB is somewhat unique in that it has an actively heated group head with an embedded element that is temperature controlled by a second PID. The other PID controls the heat of the brew boiler.

It was quoted somewhere by Breville that it takes about 9 minutes for the machine to warm up. That would be the time for the brew boiler and brew head to reach 93C or whatever temp it is set at and for the steam boiler to be ready. It would depend on the temperature in your kitchen which may vary between seasons.

Once ready to go, a BDB should produce water to the group head at a consistent temperature within 1 degree each way from the set temperature.

It will take more time to heat up the outside case of the machine including the cup warmer. I don’t depend on this as I always warm my cups and the portafilter with one or two hot flushes.

Does anyone know what other machines have an actively heated group head with an embedded element or by any other means?

I think that the only way the naked PF would give hotter coffee is if you don't preheat the PFs before loading them.

Barry

Ooo... I was thinking about that. I am quite impatient to wait the 30mins. I was always tempted to wait till temp is up and just do hot flushes to the PF and cups using the hot water coming out of the Group head. This reduces it down to around 10mins from switching it on. Sounds like a better proposition!

Anyone else have an opinion on this? Any other compelling reasons to wait for 30mins?