Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[TC]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

... THis is using my cheap end Aurora cafe that I purchased for this kind of testing.....
Do bean types have an effect on extracation times etc?

Yes- and so does bean age. Purchasing the cheap stuff really is false economy and probably made the biggest contribution to the poor shots.

I think there are a few aspects of your strategy which you may want to address. Have a look at www.espressocompany.com.au/how-to.htm for some good dosing and pour tips.

[Pavoniboy]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Not sure why i need to grind "extra" coffee to get the high bar pressure, but it works.

Because the pressure is a function of the resistance created by your coffee puck. Low resistance = low pressure. More coffee increases resistance of the water flow as does finer grinding and thus will give more pressure at the group.

And do listen to cjn above, he is an absolute wealth of quality information.

[Homerlovesbeer]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Hi Guys,

Got this machine last week and I must say its been a real learning curve getting the thing set up. Ive not used this type of machine before and am learning all about coffee.

Ive inherited a Sunbeam EM0480 grinder which seems to have escaped the dramas of some units. Grinds well and Ive currently got it set to between 9-10 using Di Bella premium beans which are wonderful.

w.w.w^dibellacoffee#com,au

Now what is confusing the heck out of me is what purpose the guage serves. Ive been trying my best to get a pour with a reading of 9bar but most seem to be about 11? What purpose does the guage serve because Phil on the Breville videos seems to indicate 9 is ideal and the markings suggest 8-10 is acceptable.

I dont have the luxury of a measured grind system so Im trying to do my best and following Phils instructions and tamping quite firmly so the tamp is level with the basket.

Hmm...

Coffee seems all over the shop, sometimes 26-28 sec pour, other times 35-38. Ive tried varying the grind but the guage is really throwing me off because going finer results in better pour times with high pressure, or if I tamp with less pressure its hit and miss as to whether I get 7bar or 11 bar.

Ive gone nearly through a 250g bag of fresh beans in a week trying to get it right  :-/

Any tips and can somebody please explain the relevance of the guage?

Cheers,
Homer

[TC]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Hi Homer,

I feel that there are probably a few things to consider:

1. Your grinder is barely adequate- if that. I think you should be at least at Smart grinder level or better still a Compak K3 Push- which is the best bang for buck in any grinder I know of.

2. I suspect your technique may be inconsistent. Have a look over www.espressocompany.com.au.how-to.htm and copy Scottie. He knows his stuff.

3. Ignore the gauge. Its the least of your problems. I suspect you will be far closer to hitting the bullseye at 11 bar with your machine than you will at 9 bar. FWIW, my opinions are that pressure gauges serve little if any value whatsoever on machines. My experience with a Scace 2 has proven time and time again that 9 bar at the gauge rarely represents 9 bar at the puck.

Good luck. There are plenty of knowledgeable CSers here to help you.

Chris

[Homerlovesbeer]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Cheers Chris,

Ive spent a bit of coin this last 2 weeks so getting the smart grinder was a bit of a stretch.

Have u used this machine? What are your experiences and opinions with it?

Cheers

[TC]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Gday Homer,

Yes- one is doing stand in duty at home while I get my GS/3 running again. Long story... :

This week I had the best shot of the entire year using a sample sent to me by a CS sponsor. Better palates than mine will be judging it next week up north, but if it pours and tastes anything like what I sampled it should do very well.

You have a terrific machine. Give it great coffee from a good grinder and add a dash of consistency in technique technique and you too will hit the bullseye.

Cheers

Chris

[frangutz]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

... THis is using my cheap end Aurora cafe that I purchased for this kind of testing.....
Do bean types have an effect on extracation times etc?

Yes- and so does bean age. Purchasing the cheap stuff really is false economy and probably made the biggest contribution to the poor shots.

thanks, but i dont use the aurora for drinking!! i only use it for practicing my shots. I have proper coffee for drinking!!

Ill check the site out anyhow. Thanks for the advice.

-F.

[trentski]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

thanks, but i dont use the aurora for drinking!! i only use it for practicing my shots. I have proper coffee for drinking!!

Ill check the site out anyhow. Thanks for the advice.

-F.

The point is you cant practice your shots with stale coffee as it doesnt perform the same as fresh coffee.

[frangutz]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

The point is you cant practice your shots with stale coffee as it doesnt perform the same as fresh coffee.

Ok. thanks for the advise. Havent made any coffees today so am about to try with my fresh beans.

[timmyc]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Had my first godshot from this machine today - its only taken me 2 months :S

Ive found I could not get good results at all from the Breville double basket, had a lot more luck with the Synesso 18g double. The Breville double seemed to produce a more uneven extraction that blonded quickly - just my experience though and it could prove different with a grinder better than the smart grinder which has less clumping and fluffier grinds.

Cheers,
Tim

[shapeshifter]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Tim I find I like using the Synesso basket better as well, I have a 22 gram basket and it produces a much better flavour and crema than the standard Breville double basket

[RAdams]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Hello all,
New forum user here, and a new BDB owner as well. Im in the States and have the version known here as the BES900XL.

I would like to thank all of you for your posts in this thread as they have collectively helped me make the decision to buy the Breville.

I have a good deal of experience pulling shots on a number of home machines. Mostly small brass boiler units with 3-way sols. and by-pass valves. Have had one Breville thermoblock unit as well. Was impressed with the design and build of that one, but the thermolock was not for me.

So here I am day-2 with a dual boiler machine! Have had some fun pulling shots and steaming milk. So far so good.  But I am a little disappointed that my BDB has the OPV set to about 12.5 bar (with a blind filter). So I will need to deal with my vendor on getting it adjusted down.  >

But overall, I like this machine so far!   However... I feel the need for a bottomless PF to really see how its going.  Ive made them for all my other machines and it has been the biggest help getting a coffee dialed in. And so... as it turns out, I found that an old Gaggia PF actually fits in the group! But, since the tabs are at a different angle on Gaggia groups, the PF when locked in is not in the 6 oclock position. No matter, it locks in well and the handle ends up at about... 8 oclock or so. But!... I did have to file the thickness of the tabs (lugs) on the Gaggia PF down slightly to match the Breville PF lugs. After that its a great fit. Additionally this old PF is made of aluminum so it will be very easy to hole-saw out the bottom. Will do that tomorrow and finally get a look at the bottom of the basket during a pour. Its so helpful in seeing how the coffee puck is behaving during the pull and what adjustments to grind and tamp need to be made.

Will let you know how it goes. Thanks again to all for posting your experiences, I learned a lot in reading them and it actually made me feel like I already had experience with the machine the first time I used it!

V/r

[bmcquillen]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Could someone please explain why a bottomless PF can help you with your pours?

[Roz]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Could someone please explain why a bottomless PF can help you with your pours?

It does not help you with pulling a shot, only good for checking your puck preperation as it shows up if you are not tamping level and whether the shot is pulling in the dead centre or spritzing etc from channeling.

The other bonus is that its fun to watch a naked portafilter its the coffee porn of the espresso world.

So people with 22g synesso and VST bakets are working fine with this portafilter? the baskets fit but I wasnt sure if there was enough room left over for a shot to extract correctly.

[tonym1]

Re: Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

Could you tell me where to get the synesso and VST 22gm baskets? and what does it mean when the shot starts off pouring nice and even then starts to sputter a bit and spits small drops of coffee around the cup?