EM6910 2 different filter baskets

[eddy79]

I've been lurking a bit and joined a while back. Done my research and got what I needed. I obviously brought a Sunbeam EM6910. Got it 2nd hand from a lady had only used it a half dozen times and 3 months old with reciept and only paid under half price. I have upgraded grinder to the breville smart grinder pro.

On to the point. I wanted a naked pf so I have picked up a 2nd machine out of Gumtree that came with 2 pf handles and had a new calc filter and group head seal with it. Got it home stuck most in the shed for spares but wanted the 2nd double filter basket and pd handle for converting.

My problem is that the 2 double baskets are different. 1 has probably nearly twice as many holes and spread right across the bottom and the other less and gaps. The one from the new unit is the one that has less holes. Really I just wanted to know which one is better or if the 2nd one is actually even a Sunbeam one. No use having 2 baskets if I cant use the same settings so have to figure out which is best.

Cheers for your help Ed

[KizZ84]

Hi Ed. Sounds like the one with more holes is the single wall and the fewer holes is the dual-wall these machines originally came with. Use the single wall for coffee you are grinding yourself and the dual wall if you are sinful enough to buy a packet of pre-ground supermarket beans!

Sounds like you're on the right track, I have the same grinder and run an EM7000 machine, so we would achieve very similar results!

[eddy79]

No these are definitely both single wall baskets from 2 different machines about 5 years appart. Just different hole patterns and concentrations. Will try get a pic up but having trouble with it.

[eddy79]

[KizZ84]

Oh, interesting. I have baskets from a 6910 and a 7000 here. I will check them out and take a picture. Probably just different runs!

[TampIt]

No these are definitely both single wall baskets from 2 different machines about 5 years appart. Just different hole patterns and concentrations. Will try get a pic up but having trouble with it.

G'day eddy79

I doubt the one on the left is from a 6910 at all. Even the right hand one is dubious. If you take a picture from the top it would help a lot!

I have seen 6910s all the way back to early 2008 (plus one earlier one from around 2006 perhaps, but that was way before I knew where the date was hidden).

If you are in WA, I can probably find you a couple of gratis SB originals (if I didn't cull them).

TampIt

[eddy79]

Tampit cheers for the offer. The one on the left came with the new machine(6 months old and all as from the box) and is the same as those shown online as factory spares. It's actually the one on the right with the most holes I'm not sure of. Both are exactly the same height, profiles etc just different hole patterns. Will get some more pics this arvo and put them up.

[By6]

G'day Ed,

I've got a decent history with the sunbeam machines and have seen the older and newer baskets with them (your picture shows both). Which one is best will depend on your grinder and most importantly your perception of taste. The one with more holes will be fractionally more prone to channeling because there are more routes for water to find a way through - but - if you have a great grinder, channeling won't be an issue and the basket with more holes will allow the coffee puck to do more of the work in holding the pressure back, allowing more mouth watering body to ooze out below.

So, keeping things super super simple, if your grinder can support it - the basket with more holes should provide a better body in your shot. Interesting thing though - a single basket will display greater highlights from a bean than a double basket will - the difference being that the single basket has a narrower base with fewer holes than the double. By this logic, the double basket with less holes should provide more highlights and complex flavour profiles specific to your bean.

An important caveat to all of this is that taste is very subjective - you may find that shots from the basket with less holes are far more appealing to you than the other. Unfortunately, the only real way to know is through testing. Please remember that those machines will take about 3 shots to stabilise after their initial 20 minute warm up to give consistent results. Therefore, give your partner and guests their coffees first before changing baskets back and forth to determine which you prefer.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Ben.

[eddy79]

Ben thanks for the reply and the information. Unfortunately not much chance in giving coffee away as I'm the only one drinking it and then only a couple each arvo on weekdays so its all going to me. Have just done the naked pf conversion so guess I can start playing around now and see whats best.

[MrJack]

The one with more holes will be fractionally more prone to channeling because there are more routes for water to find a way through

Do you have evidence to back this up?

but - if you have a great grinder, channeling won't be an issue and the basket with more holes will allow the coffee puck to do more of the work in holding the pressure back, allowing more mouth watering body to ooze out below.

How does it do this exactly?

So, keeping things super super simple, if your grinder can support it - the basket with more holes should provide a better body in your shot.

Again, how exactly?

Interesting thing though - a single basket will display greater highlights from a bean than a double basket will - the difference being that the single basket has a narrower base with fewer holes than the double. By this logic, the double basket with less holes should provide more highlights and complex flavour profiles specific to your bean.

By this logic, we should all be using single hole baskets...

Please remember that those machines will take about 3 shots to stabilise after their initial 20 minute warm up to give consistent results

Really? Curious to hear the explanation of this...

Perhaps it's just me, but there appears to be a fair amount of misinformation in this post (or at the very least, incomplete, unsubstantiated theories presented as fact).

[noidle22]

Basket on the left is a current basket as used by Sunbeam since the second generation EM6910.

Basket on the right was found in the EM6900 and early EM6910 models.
A key difference is the sealing surface on the top of the basket. The old basket uses a rolled lip as used in commercial machines whereas the new basket uses a flatter surface with a smaller sealing lip.

As to which one is better, no idea, never done a side by side comparison. Give each of them a go and see if you get a better taste from one of them.

[eddy79]

Thanks for all your help guy's. Have just stuck with the stock basket atm as I already have this one working well. Only issue now is I seem to be getting single grains of coffee stuck in the holes which is causing spurts while using the naked pf. No evidence of channeling and a good solid puck to and bottom just blocked holes when knocked out. Any ideas how to help with this would be appreciated.

[TampIt]

Thanks for all your help guy's. Have just stuck with the stock basket atm as I already have this one working well. Only issue now is I seem to be getting single grains of coffee stuck in the holes which is causing spurts while using the naked pf. No evidence of channeling and a good solid puck to and bottom just blocked holes when knocked out. Any ideas how to help with this would be appreciated.

G'day again eddy79

I bow to noidle's superior knowledge about 6910 baskets - I scrapped both my stock sets "almost immediately" as I use VST's almost exclusively. I only played with the stockers for a while to see how they compared with a few other aftermarket / retired machines baskets I also have laying around. FWIW, they were about middle, so I reckon it is not worth upgrading unless you do a big jump up the quality ladder.

I noticed my older 6910 16g basket (i.e. the 15g double+ a smidge extra from SB) always had a few grains stuck in it. A quick check with a magnifying glass showed a few larger holes right where the grounds were sticking... Didn't affect that shot's flavour noticeably, other than making maintenance a PITA. Be aware it would probably mess the next shot up. My newer 6910 and my 7000's baskets did not have that issue, nor did the majority of my friend's setups. Just lucky I guess.

Which basket were you using? Have you tried the other one? What happened?

Without knowing which grinder you have I would not presume to suggest any aftermarket basket as an improvement at this time.

Enjoy your cuppa.

TampIt

[eddy79]

Tampit I have used both baskets but decided I liked the taste from the new basket better. It was happening with both baskets. I have the breville smart grinder pro. I changed coffee the other day as I ran out of the last lot and it seems to have stopped so maybe it was just a combination of variables at that time that was causing it.

Unfortunately with limited fund's this grinder is it for a decent while especially as this is not my only hobby and the wife enjoys neither hobby. Next upgrade I think will be a tamper as it seems there's a lot of play in the basket around the standard one.

[TampIt]

Tampit I have used both baskets but decided I liked the taste from the new basket better. It was happening with both baskets. I have the breville smart grinder pro. I changed coffee the other day as I ran out of the last lot and it seems to have stopped so maybe it was just a combination of variables at that time that was causing it.

Unfortunately with limited fund's this grinder is it for a decent while especially as this is not my only hobby and the wife enjoys neither hobby. Next upgrade I think will be a tamper as it seems there's a lot of play in the basket around the standard one.

G'day again eddy79

Basket grains - if you wish to troubleshoot further, mark the basket on the outside "out of the action areas" (a texta will do). Mark the p/f holder so you can use the same alignment for a few coffees.
Does it always do it at the same spot?

a) If not - you probably need to work on your distribution technique (look up Weiss, Staub, Nutating etc). A better tamper can really help here, however it is not a definite requirement. Also, it is worth giving a gentle (i.e. levelling) initial tamp at the "2mm or so coffee in the basket". Evens out a lot of distribution hassles.

b) If it is always the same spot, turn the basket 180 degrees and try again. Objective: Is it the basket or the p/f holder / group head mechanism?

PM me if you are still scratching your head with this one...

Have fun playing with your toy.

TampIt
PS: FWIW, despite the more "S" variants of "CS" on this site, my take is that a properly working smartgrinder will be fine until you get a lot more experience.