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click clack lids have a ruber seal around the edge to help make them airtight on their containers.
If you get one the right size you can push it down on the top of your hopper and force a burst of air through the chute to clear the remaining grounds.
I took my hopper to Wollies to try the lids out.
Unfortunately my Macap hopper is between click clack sizes.
I see many posts insisting the Rocky grinder is a *must* companion for the Rancilio Silvia to make the best coffee.
Can any coffee guru add some science to this claim?
I use a deLonghi KG100 which does a great grind.
If you use a freshly roasted bean that is ground immediately before filling your filter basket, Id like to know the theory and learn some tips on how a Rocky grind can make the difference?
I dont think it is specifically the Rocky that is a must to go with the Silvia. The point is, you needs a grinder of a minimum quality.
The KG100 is not quite up to the job. It goes very close (I used to have one) and indeed can be tweaked to give acceptable results. However, to get the best out of ANY machine, the grinder needs to be in the next bracket from a KG100. A Rocky, an Iberital challenge or even the Sunbeam EM0480 are a better bet than the KG100.
There are a whole range of reasons that grinders are considered better than others. Burr speed, size, heat produced, fineness of adjustment, build quality etc.
I suggest you contact one of the sponsors and ask them for some info. Im sure they will steer you in the right direction for your personal needs.
Well if you can get a reasonable grind out of a KG100 (AKA Solis 166) you are extremely lucky- if you can get a "great grind" you must be God - or at least on first name terms with him! :
Where do I start..
The KG100 burrs arent held firmly in place. The burr set is conical - which requires them to be held even more precisely.
The minimum grind isnt really good enough for espresso (there is a mod to make it finer - but having done it - I wouldnt bother!)
There are too few steps and they are too far apart to track the aging of the beans....
The burrs wear pretty quickly when making fine grinds...
The ground coffee not only has the correct size grinds but loads of finer particles.... which block the small spaces between grinds in the puck and mess up the extraction.... > >
But other than that - they are great - NOT!! :-X :-[
I have one (long since retired) - they are a PITA to get any decent espresso grinds from - but they are excellent for plunger coffee!!
Interesting to hear your views. I will still be buying the Silvia in two weeks (next payday : ) and I will now test my bargaining skills in stepping up to a more expensive (& better quality) grinder. Maybe I will have to do the "package" deal !!
Yep, it would be wise to go for something better, thats for sure.
The importance of the items in the making of quality coffee are (in order)..
1. Barista skills - learnt through courses and practice - still working on mine
2. Quality freshly roasted, freshly ground beans - I roast my own
3. A quality grinder (with fine adjustment of grind size)
4. A coffee machine.
Yep, coffee machine is lowest on the list - without the other things above it - you wont get good coffee.
By the way the KG100 is a rebadged Solis 166 - which was designed to be a match for the Solis SL70 and SL90 machines- both of which use pressurised baskets (grind size and consistency is far less important). Replace the baskets with normal unpressurised ones - and the 166 cant cut it any longer (I had to upgrade- and it then produced excellent shots...)
1. What Barista skills do I need if I only have double doppio strength, no milk, no sugar?
2. I roast my own too and rate freshly roasted beans higher than bean quality - though the better the quality bean the better the coffee of course. My analogy is that of freshly baked bread - you can break pieces off and eat it fresh without any topping. Bread that is a few days old is still edible - tastes great with ham & cheese or your favourite topping but straight-out-of-the-oven fresh bread is so much better.
My biggest disappointment when I have coffee served in a cafe is bean freshness - some (like an American coffee chain in Australia that roast in the USA and ship roasted beans to Down Under) give coffee a bad name - thats why I rate freshness ahead of bean quality if it came to that choice.
3. Thanks to FATBOY bagging my KG100 http://coffeesnobs.com.au/templates/forum/default/grin.gif, I now have a Sunbeam EM0480 ($165 new).
4. Today, my Rancilio Silvia arrived and tomorrow I pick up 8.5 kg of green beans http://coffeesnobs.com.au/templates/forum/default/cool.gif
1. You need to know how to grind, dose, tamp, load and get the best extraction you can from your machine. A Silvia is capable of pretty good shots. Practice will get you there.
2. Yep. makes a big difference.
3. No worries. JavaB bagged it too! ;-) The Sunbeam is a better unit. Gives you a much better chance of getting great shots.
Yep the Silvia and the EM480 will produce what you are after - no problem.
As fatboy said above.... get your tamp correct (13.5Kg - check with bathroom scales by tamping on them)... adjust your grind to get 60 ml (total) from a double in 30 seconds..... enough coffee in the basket so it just touches the showerscreen as you load - and all will be good.
A close fitting tamper (like Greg Pullmans) will make getting a good tamp right to the edge much easier by the way.
And yep I did, and will continue to, bag the KG100 for espresso use (but it makes a great grinder for plunger coffee).
Hmmm, seems like CoffeeSnobs is a bit like Alcoholics Anonymous for Coffee Addicts : )
Thanks to Fatboy, JavaB and Robusto for your help.
Even after watching the DVD of Aussie World Champion Barista I did not see anything about tamp pressure. Now (thanks to a CoffeeSnobs sponsor link) I see the Espro Tamper is designed to give a 13.5 kg tamp every time. Worth the money ($139)? ... or as JavaB points out, practice with bathroom scales to get it right? I am using a 58mm convex solid stainless steel tamper I thought might be OK?
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