Re: HELP! Total beginner here! SB 6910
I used to have the same problem.
First off, you need to get a burr grinder, not a blade type. As was said above, sunbeam makes a "good enough" one. With out a good grinder, its very difficult to get the grind course enough for the machine. I found that EVERY type of super market coffee that was pre ground was too course. Once i changed to grinding my own coffee life was good.
The double shot question:
The single basket in the sunbeam easily holds 14g of coffee, and the double basket holds 21g, this in mind, the coffee scoop they supply holds about 14g. So whey you do two scoops for a "double" it ends up over filling the basket.
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HELP! Total beginner here! SB 6910
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Re: HELP! Total beginner here! SB 6910
thanks everyone,
your advice has been great! Starbucks was giving away bags of beans when i was there yesterday so I got them to grind it for me and have been practicing with it! (what else is starbucks coffee good for) I have also ground some on the blade grinder that I have and am finally starting to get better coffee! and the garden will love it cause Its getting lots of grinds in the compost bin!
thanks again and Il sure you will here from me again soon with another silly question
Caro:c)
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Re: HELP! Total beginner here! SB 6910
Hi Caro
I too have recently bought a 6910 and can tell you that apart from milk frothing challenges, my coffees have been great
The reason is that I read and read this forum and copied all the tips, hints and ideas to a Word document and then practiced it
THis forum is excellent and will solve all your problems
The answers above prove this
Cheers
Tim
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Re: HELP! Total beginner here! SB 6910
Wouldnt entirely agree there AM. If the coffee shes using is pre-ground / stale stuff then the dual floor one may do a better job of making the best of a bad situation even though wed never normally recommend them. Basically the essence of my last two sentences.Originally posted by AngerManagement link=1203322449/0#5 date=1203427430As these systems come with different baskets... Make sure that when you remove it and hold to the light you can see LOTS of little holes. If only one, then take this basket and put away in a safe place never to be used again.. Use the sive type basket...Originally posted by coffeequeen link=1203322449/0#0 date=1203322449Help I dont know where to start!
I had a look on here a few weeks ago and after much tooing and froing I am now the owner of Sumbeam 6910. Now ths problem starts, How do I use it??? In NZ we dont get free a course od DVD that I have seen mentioned So I am flying blind! I have managed to make a few drinkable coffees but Im just not getting it right!
Using very good fresh (from the roaster) pre ground coffee till I can afford a grinder
-Making a double shot I need to put 2 scoops of coffee in the basket right? that seams like a lot and half of it falls out when I try to level it.where am I going wrong?
-finding it hard to get thequality right according to the gauge? is this cause Im not putting enough coffee in?
-the coffee left in the basket is very wet watery, is this right?
these are what Im sure will be the first of many questions. Please help me become the coffee master I so want to be!
Caro
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Re: HELP! Total beginner here! SB 6910
As these systems come with different baskets... Make sure that when you remove it and hold to the light you can see LOTS of little holes. If only one, then take this basket and put away in a safe place never to be used again.. Use the sive type basket...Originally posted by coffeequeen link=1203322449/0#0 date=1203322449Help I dont know where to start!
I had a look on here a few weeks ago and after much tooing and froing I am now the owner of Sumbeam 6910. Now ths problem starts, How do I use it??? In NZ we dont get free a course od DVD that I have seen mentioned So I am flying blind! I have managed to make a few drinkable coffees but Im just not getting it right!
Using very good fresh (from the roaster) pre ground coffee till I can afford a grinder
-Making a double shot I need to put 2 scoops of coffee in the basket right? that seams like a lot and half of it falls out when I try to level it.where am I going wrong?
-finding it hard to get thequality right according to the gauge? is this cause Im not putting enough coffee in?
-the coffee left in the basket is very wet watery, is this right?
these are what Im sure will be the first of many questions. Please help me become the coffee master I so want to be!
Caro
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Re: HELP! Total beginner here! SB 6910
You may want to describe the kind of coffee that you are extracting at the moment. Does it come out too fast or too pale in colour?
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Re: HELP! Total beginner here!
Welcome Caro.
I use a 6910 at work.
You definitely arent using enough coffee from your description.
Put one scoop in and tap the portafilter on the bench.
I use a teatowel or cork mat to soften the noise.
Then put in enough more to fill the basket and tap again.
Spread the grounds level with the top of the basket using a straight edge (back of a knife or similar).
Heap on some more grounds so you have a little mountain about 2cm high.
Tap and level some more as best you can then tamp. Firm and level.
If the metal part of the tamper shows a few mm above the top of the basket thats about right.
Forget the instruction book.
With fresh coffee I aim to get the gauge nudging the red.
You will probably be lucky with pre-ground to reach the brown.
Until you get your own grinder use the pressurised basket.
Make sure you lock the handle in firmly to the right. You should see an arrow on the group head.
When new you should turn it at least that far to the right.
As the machine and its gasket ages youll find you need to turn it a bit more.
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Re: HELP! Total beginner here!
Welcome Caro,
Ditto to Shannons post, I dont think any of the questions you asked havent been asked before, but briefly:
* 2 scoops for a double basket is prob about right, but ideally heap it up till the basket is overflowing, tap the portafilter a couple of times to settle it, scrape the excess grounds off with the back of a knife and then tamp. You can collect the excess if you want but ground coffee goes stale pretty quick anyway so unless youre grinding fresh and making another shot straight away itll be pretty stale by the time you use it next. Same goes for the pre-ground youre using, itll be stale by the time youre 100m out of the shop unfortunately no matter how fresh it was. But until you get a grinder its probably the best solution for now
* The gauge should be at the right end of the light brown area. Less than this and you need more coffee / finer grind / fresher coffee, further than this you need coarser grind / less coffee. Another reason a grinder makes life a lot easier as you have no control over the grind when its pre-ground
* If the pucks wet its normally because you dont have enough in the basket. The first step I described should help this.
Definitely invest in a grinder at least the EM0450 otherwise youre making a rod for your own back. Until then you may find you get better results from the dual-floor baskets which are designed to artificially raise the pressure in stale coffee. However fresh properly ground coffee will always give better results than anything in a dual floor basket.
Greg
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Re: HELP! Total beginner here!
1st up - welcome
Next - Im sure someone more learned than I will be able to point form you through, but my advice would be - read, read read. This forum is a great source of information for the basic novice, to mid range to expert alike.
Use the search buttons and some key words, or even just trawl through some of the topics and search for an appropriate title.
Good luck, and if I have some time tonight I will try a couple of searches myself and post the threads for you. There are LOTS of posts here about the 6910 so we should be able to come up with something for you.
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HELP! Total beginner here! SB 6910
Help I dont know where to start!
I had a look on here a few weeks ago and after much tooing and froing I am now the owner of Sumbeam 6910. Now ths problem starts, How do I use it??? In NZ we dont get free a course od DVD that I have seen mentioned So I am flying blind! I have managed to make a few drinkable coffees but Im just not getting it right!
Using very good fresh (from the roaster) pre ground coffee till I can afford a grinder
-Making a double shot I need to put 2 scoops of coffee in the basket right? that seams like a lot and half of it falls out when I try to level it.where am I going wrong?
-finding it hard to get thequality right according to the gauge? is this cause Im not putting enough coffee in?
-the coffee left in the basket is very wet watery, is this right?
these are what Im sure will be the first of many questions. Please help me become the coffee master I so want to be!
Caro
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