Wilfa Precision coffee brewer - Page 3

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
skittles_s (original poster)
Posts: 227
Joined: 13 years ago

#21: Post by skittles_s (original poster) »

Here's the grind:



ihg90
Posts: 23
Joined: 9 years ago

#22: Post by ihg90 »

SO helpful - thanks! Looks coarser than what I've been grinding - I try to get closer to that...

thanks so much

Ian

barkin
Posts: 2
Joined: 9 years ago

#23: Post by barkin »

I bought the Wilfa from W&S a week ago and have had a consistent issue with it overblooming the top of the filter basket & fouling the shower head. It ultimately does make a pot but the cleanup is a pain & I'm not that keen on the grounds that no doubt overflow the filter winding up in my coffee. I use a medium grind from my Capresso grinder, 1.25 L of water & 70 grams of coffee. Any suggestions as to what to do short of returning it to W&S?

skittles_s (original poster)
Posts: 227
Joined: 13 years ago

#24: Post by skittles_s (original poster) »

I've only made a few 1.25l batches and did not have a problem. Perhaps a function of the coffee's relative age or density (grounds not so far up in the basket).

You can do a pre-infusion "intervention" with the Wilfa. Once the water starts and an appropriate amount has flowed into the basket, push the "Wilfa" control button once. This will pause the brew process. Once the bloom subsides, push the button again and the brew process will resume per normal.

barkin
Posts: 2
Joined: 9 years ago

#25: Post by barkin »

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been very pleased with the quality of the coffee it brews and have checked water temp each time I've used it and it's right where it should be (195-203 in my testing) and it is a fantastic looking machine. I'm going to try using a permanent filter & see if it addresses the issue otherwise I'll consider the suggestion to manually pause things. My concern with the suggestion, other than having to jack around with a $350 coffeemaker, is that by pausing, I'll drag the brewing time out too long. Wilfa customer service, while pleasant, wasn't particularly helpful. Certainly not as helpful as u so thanks again! I'll post again once I've tried the metal filter.

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Eastsideloco
Posts: 1657
Joined: 13 years ago

#26: Post by Eastsideloco »

barkin wrote:Any suggestions as to what to do short of returning it to W&S?
Which Capresso grinder are you using? If the grinder is producing a lot of micro-fines, the filter may be plugging and draining more slowly than it would otherwise. That could cause the problems your seeing.

While fresh coffee outgasses and expands a lot during the bloom phase, I don't think the you want to use stale coffee as an alternative. However, if you are using a dark roasted coffee, the beans will be less dense and take up more volume in the basket than lighter roasted coffee. In that case, you could try a coffee with a different roast profile; the Wilfa was developed with a Scandanavian roast profile in mind, which is decidedly on the light side of the roast spectrum.

ohofmann
Posts: 41
Joined: 16 years ago

#27: Post by ohofmann »

I wrote to Wilfa customer support to ask why I couldn't find any store exporting the Precision to the UK (or other non-Scandinavian European countries):
Wilfa is not supporting nor distributing outside the Nordics and US. So that's why you don't find anyone doing this
Not sure I necessarily need support, so if anyone knows of a store in Denmark, Sweden and Co shipping to the UK I'd love to hear about it. Almost tempted to pick one up myself during a trip to Stockholm but doubt it fits into the hand luggage...

compliance
Posts: 214
Joined: 14 years ago

#28: Post by compliance »

I am thinking about picking up one of these, but if I'm honest with myself it is for the looks! My other option is a Technivorm, and the thermal carafe would be preferable, but while the Technivorm isn't ugly it certainly isn't pretty next to the Wilfa. Can anyone comment on how they compare a bit more? Can the Technivorm adjust the flow from the cone like the Wilfa or is just on/off? I looked into the Bonavita as well, but have you seen the number of amazon reviews mentioning imploding carafes? :shock:

edit - It seems the Technivorm works best when brewing full pots, and not as well with less. Is the adjustable valve on the Wilfa a solution to this issue in practice? I like to make 4 cups pots as well as 8 cup pots.

Bkultra
Posts: 72
Joined: 10 years ago

#29: Post by Bkultra »

compliance wrote: I looked into the Bonavita as well, but have you seen the number of amazon reviews mentioning imploding carafes? :shock
Bonavita no longer makes the glass lined carafes (though you can still buy the BV1800TH). If you want a stainless steel lined carafe then buy the BV1800SS or the new BV1900TS

compliance
Posts: 214
Joined: 14 years ago

#30: Post by compliance »

I got mine last week. WS mails 20% off coupon codes periodically when you sign up for their email. I waited till one of those came, then bought WS gift cards at an 8% discount from a gift card reseller site. Still not cheap, but better.

The coffee from the machine is great. I tested temps with a thermometer and they are right up around 200F (as others have also confirmed). I have been playing around with closing the valve and doing immersion brewing, stirring the grounds while brewing, and pausing the flow while the coffee blooms. I haven't settled on a routine yet, but I like the manual nature of the machine and the options for fiddling it leaves available to you. However fiddling is not necessary for a good cup. I think it makes better coffee than my Hario v60, but I have never been very good at manual brew, so I blame myself. My search for an automatic coffee maker is an admission of that fact.

The fit and finish is kind of a mixed bag. Some of the parts don't feel like they belong on a machine that costs so much. The plastics on the brew basket lid and carafe lid are very cheap. You have to stick your finger into the carafe to pry the lid off and neither one fits fantastically. Another slight annoyance is how the pump vibration causes the carafe to spin when the brew starts and it's still empty. I would like it if the carafe centered itself and sat into the hotplate more securely so there's more tactile feedback that the carafe is in its home position. The aluminum base is nice, but plastic on the underside could stand to be a little nicer. The brew basket is made of very nice plastic with a matte finish, they should have used this stuff for all plastic parts. The brew basket could use a handle like the carafe has, it just has a small tab that sticks out to handle it with. About a teaspoon of water stays at the bottom of the reservoir when the brew cycle is over. My counters probably aren't even but they should slope the bottom to pull in all the water since left over water can tend to get gross. These are nit picks really, just stuff that I tend to notice.

Overall I am happy with the machine. If it's broken within a year or two I will be cursing myself for not buying a Technivorm. If that happens I'm sure I will show up here and rant about it :D