Yea I'm getting that volume about that duration too. I think sometimes I tamped too hard LOL. I'm using a China brand machine

Ya... If that long it'll be like chao dar (burnt) smell

Haha, trying to make the best out of what I have at the moment first. Yeah, i saw that before too but I thought the small steam hole would restrict it before filling up the rest of the camber in the plastic. How big is the camber/shaft in that plastic?

My attempt this morning



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Actually.. pressurized PF has it's magic too. I mean for Saeco ones.. you know the furthest right when you lock the PF to the group head? It's like when you release, it will swing back to center or something? If you hold it to the furthest right while you extract, it's supposed to lock the valve till enough pressure is built in the PF. Then when you start to see drops coming out, you can release it to center. This is some sort of pre-infusion which helps to expand the grinds and reduce channeling.

But for pressurized baskets, if you do not see any drops coming out after 5 seconds, it's most probably an over extracted cup because:

a) your grind is too fine
b) you compressed the puck too much

You don't really need to tamp hard for a pressurized PF because it doesn't matter.. the PF already does it for you.. or when you lock it to the group head, the shower screen already pushes the coffee grounds.. and during extraction, over 100 lbs of pressure will do that for you..

The difference for pressurized PF is the crema, and the taste.. very hard to get minute adjustments because the crema will somehow change the acidity or body. If you like a balanced cup without all the variables.. pressurized PF can definitely achieve that. In fact, I'm very tempted to get a pressurized basket to experiment haha.

Keng Nice try! Still a little too frothy for a latte.. it's more like cappuccino.. If you can lessen the froth a little more, it'll add more definition to your latte art

keng,

Here are the measurements for the Saeco steam wand its around 7cm in length for the inside wand , and 8 cm for the wand with pannarello cover. Refer bottom pic for details.

Mel5582 , Neat trick about Saeco machines using the pressurized PF to do pre insfusion, will try it out tomorrow.

Quite nice wor...

Me haven't reach that level yet despite playing with the machine for a while liao. Problem is I don't drink every day and the max is 1 cup per day.

The common drawback for this ppf I think is the fake crema. Seems always very bubbly. Then you do art also like not as nice.


By the way, Keng, do you find the coffee come out a bit runny/watery most of the time?


Taste wise I think still acceptable. Some of the cafe I visited also about this standard only but they charge you like close to $4 Singkapore lollar.

Thx! I still find it tricky to know when to stop surfing. I just agakX2 by looking at the foam grouped near the wand.

This milk steaming subject is still very foreign to me, the 'paint texture' term that most used seem to misled that the texture should be throughout the whole volume. Is that even possible?

Ah, thx! At the moment, I can steam just fine without pannarello on a 12oz when I'm steaming 6oz, any lesser than that I'll have to use a smaller glass & I don't have a milk pitcher for htat . I'll keep this steam wand you've mentioned in view. cheers.


I've depressurised the PF about a week now. Yeah, it does start to blond near 2oz/60ml mark, so it's time to stop it anyway. Now with manual PF, I can get really nice thick Guinness crema . 1 problem though is that I can't prolong the extraction past 20s. I've set it at the finest setting on the Hario Slim, so the only thing I can alter is the tamp pressure. However, when I tamp too hard, the puck is very difficult to knock out. If I tamp normally at which I think was 15kg, it'll be done by 20s. Any suggestion?

This post has been edited by Keng: Dec 15 2014, 10:20 AM

Keng,

Try to increase the dose of the coffee. How many grams are you using right now?

I think there is something wrong with my machine. Feels like the water pressure become low where the coffee cant even flow out even i just tamp the surface. Or my grind is too fine zzz

Did u adjust your grind?
If u grind it coarser will u get extraction?

Yes, when you steam the milk.. the first thing is to aerate the milk.. then after that, you incorporate the air throughout the milk (by texturing it). That's why for single boiler machines, better to extract first.. then steam the milk. That way, your milk is not split when you pour.. if you can continue to swirl the milk while you extract, that way is also OK. If can, try not to let the espresso sit for too long before pouring the milk in.

Seems like your machine's choking.. your grind is still too fine.

This post has been edited by mel5582: Dec 15 2014, 01:31 PM

hmmm I see. will there be any side effect for my machine if it keeps get choking?

I doubt there would be any side effects.. but don't always choke it
Finding the right grind size might choke your machine once in a while.. but for home machines, not that sure if long term will hurt it.. for my machine, we need to backflush everyday so.. that is for 10 seconds.

haha I won't choke it anymore. I'm not sure my machine is 3 way valve or not cause I saw a hole connected to drip tray there I doubt it is 3 way valve LOL. How can I backflush it if I dont have blind basket?

Everyday ka...me weekly also missed out. How you backflush 10s, blind+water only is it? When you use cleaner? My 3-way mcm need service. At times it takes 20sec to open.

When I had my Krups, I opened it up, there is a simple mechanism to reduce pressure after shot is pulled, but not in a 3-way valve style. And i doubt the Poemia is also the same. When you turn the lever from brew to ready, this lever is connected to an internal multi-way valve that redirects pressure out. So no OPV or 3-way there.

if you not using a Heat exchanger E61 unit, you don't back flash.

with krups/delonghi those single boilers you don't do any back flash.
U need to descale. U can check for water hardness level and see how frequently u need to descale.

Yeah, machines without the 3 way solenoid valve, you only need to descale. You can descale once every 6 months for Malaysian water. Typically it's every 3 months preferred, but our water is clean. You buy those liquid or tablets, then dump into the water reservoir and fill the tank up. Let the machine run through the tank. Then fill with clean water and through that as well.

Like Gaggia Classic has a 3 way solenoid valve, you would have to backflush it. Backflushing prevents clog in the valve.. E61 is the group, that one can clean or replace the shower screen.

And today's morning kopi.. Pacamara house blend

This post has been edited by mel5582: Dec 16 2014, 09:34 AM


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LOL, i've no idea. I'm still waiting for my scale to arrive . At the moment, I just fill it all the way up the basket and sweep it like they do on youtube . I know its not the right way but its the only way I have now

Yeah, was about to ask about how often you guys descale, no need to ask anymore

Wow, sifu

didn't know the cheap Gaggia Classic is build with a 3 way release valve and the Rancilio Silvia too. most cheap ones don't have it.
my HX requires no descaling but I was recommended not to use tap water.

I stand correctly HX one may have to do both!



This post has been edited by patryn33: Dec 16 2014, 11:45 PM