For Christmas my girl got me a espresso machine, I had been talking about getting one ever since going to Italy and spending 2.5 weeks there. It was the 'all you can drink' cappo's in Milan for breakfast at the Hotel Sempione that started it.

Any how long story short I was excited at first but after using some 'espresso ground' coffee from Target and getting near battery acid, I 'smartly switched' to Starbucks espresso (which was ground on a Burr at the time around a 3 setting? just found this out). I recently had them start grinding to a 1.5, 1 being turkish and jamming the PF. I'm really happy that I found this site and can't stop reading up on all the equip and techniques.But now it's got me on a mission.

I've upgraded the 'plastic scoop/tamper thing' to a 49mm tamper and stainless scoop. The tamper has helped the flavor but I don't believe the scoop brought much to the table other than a shiny presence I've been reading up on making pulls and using a naked pf, thermo's and the what not and I think I'm kind of limited with this machine.

Sadly the machine was the price of a Gaggia Baby or used classic but is not as compatible. The group head on the Cuisinart just doesn't seem to get hot, even after an hour. I can grab the PF out of the group head and touch it, I'd say around 110 degrees or so. The frother doesn't seem to get up there in heat unless I'm trying to clean it then it's hot to me but I have to turn it off mid way through a 2 oz froth. It seems to me that if I use 2% milk I end up with warm white water afterwards. About 2 oz in a 12 oz frothing jug turns to water once I get it hot enough. To combat this I started using condensed milk. (Not sure if this is wrong or not but I have a case we accidentally bought a while back so why not try to at least use it).

I havn't cracked the machine open yet but I figure there is little or no adjustment at all. It's a steam machine with a pump that is supposedly 15 bar (I understand this is probably a lie one way or another and can't check it.) I use the 'double' pf which holds about 4 tps of coffee (no idea weight wise) in a approx 49 or 50 mm (the 51mm tamp I have wont fit in it) PF with a bunch of holes in the top and 1 in the bottom. This goes to a 3 cam PF holder with an odd (cheap) drip guide. I've tamped light and hard, changed grind from 3 to 1 in half steps in whatever Starbucks was using for a grinder. (I am looking at grinders but thinking the La-Cimbali or even Rocky is overkill for this machine, I think I need to squeeze at least a year out of it before she gets mad at me for the upgrade). If I'm not mistaken this is a restrictor type basket and they behave differently?

To me the coffee is just not hot enough but I am also making approx 2.5oz long shots because that much coffee in the pf and it's still lacking flavor and crema. Note that these long shots are being made in approx 15 seconds. I can not push it past 17 seconds. I either jamb the pf or or the coffee tastes burned. Not sure if I can change the basket type to help this at all, I had looked into a naked pf but can't find a '49 mm' one that will lock into this machine. This machine also does a pre-soak for a few seconds to wet the grinds (not sure if it's counter productive?)

I understand the grinder as the heart of the coffee so I started looking, trying to stay in the $200 or less range I targeted a used Cimbali (thanks to the reviews on here) but there is a ebay snafu going on with it, the guy had sold it for a decent price and now the same guy has it listed for $50 more. I've tossed around the idea of a Baratza Mestro Plus or Virtuoso. Due to the PF design of this machine I have a feeling I am not going to be able to grind better than 'bucks $1000+ grinder so I dont know where to go with this. I have 3 lbs of 100% Kona that I brought back from Kona that I really want to try but can't see having a 1# bag ground and destroyed. Not even sure it would work for a latte but hey I'll try anything once.

So far I have used this machine 2 to 3 times daily to make 'latte's', I would like to make real lattes and not ones I need to stick in the microwave to heat up to 'hot'. I've been using 10 oz cups (bad I know) and have stepped down to 6's, also been leaving the pf holder in the machine to heat up, not a huge diff but it helped. The hotplate on top doesnt seem to get hot enough. But from what I can tell it has a 3 way valve as it discharges a bit of water when I hard tamp and the extract actually runs slowly so I think that's good. I;d like to try to find a way to salvage the machine due to the price and fact it feels like a good one. In the mean time the refurb Baratza is probably going to be on the way this weekend or I'll end up buying a superautomatic off ebay and hope for the best

Any suggestions on tweaks I can make to this to make improvements? I use it a lot and would like to upgrade at some point. (I'm also looking around here and can't seem to find a classifieds area, really?)

The machine http://www.cuisinart.com/catalog/product.php?product_id=467&item_id=578&cat_id=3

az erik wrote:Any suggestions on tweaks I can make to this to make improvements?

I understand you dilemma since this was a gift. I checked out the manual for this machine online from the link that you posted. I have used machines like this in the past, and some suggestions to try:

1. Get a good grinder and grind your own. You can not get too good of a grinder. Spend as much as possible, then when you upgrade the machine, you'll have a great grinder already. Credit your girl with starting your espresso journey and make her good coffee and you may be able to upgrade easier.

2. Wait until the heating light is off and run some water from the brew-head with the filter in place into your cup to pre-heat. Fill filter with coffee and wait until heat light is off again to pull shot.

3. If that still seems like it is too cold, heat the machine to the steam temp, then run some water through brew head and pull shot. You will need to experiment with this.

4. For steaming, wait until heat light is off, then steam into an empty cup until condensed water is finished sputtering out, then try and steam milk.

The "secret" that I have found using machines like this is finding ways to get it hot enough to brew decent espresso. Try some of the suggestions and experiment with them.

Also grinding your own whole beans can not be over-stressed, this will help immensely.

Good luck-

Bill

I usually make us lattes in the morning, hence the long shots. She likes it but I'm not quite there with the taste I would expect but again I know the beans I'm using don't hold water to a hose.

oddly the steam stopped being steam about 2 days after using it. Not exactly sure why but no matter what the setting is it shoots water at the same speed and temp. I'll probably have to try to get Cuisinart to help me out with that. I've tried the water through the head approach and using that water to heat the cups. That helped and is my current technique. (I'm using 3 oz ceramic espresso cups') which dont seem to heat up very well but can cool coffee off big time, not bad if I wanted a iced latte by the time I leave the kitchen.

I've been eying the MDF grinder as it's kinda in my price range and probably better than a Brataza and less than a La-Cimbali (we all prolly know the gold one on ebay... yes I actually thought about getting that one and painting it) That's part of the reason I'm looking for a classified area as someone probably has the desire to upgrade their m4 and would part with one decently.)

I'm going to get a cheap thermo to see what the water temp is that's really coming out of the machine and see if I might be able to get some traction or tweek my technique to accommodate. I've also been toying with the idea of picking up a lever machine. (I nearly bought a Cimbali M49 and thought about running 220v into my kitchen, I take leaps usually)

If you are using preground coffee, try the pod basket, it will slow the flow and improve the extraction.

If the machine is too cold, set it to the steam temperature, as Bill said, then run the pump about 1 to 2 seconds through the group and PF (but not the basket) before making the shot.

That may work slightly better

So I have a Cuisinart (gift) vibe pump machine. I think it would be a good little machine with a little bit of tweaking.

I was looking at getting a different grouphead maybe and for sure I'm questioning the design of the basket on this one. The baskets are 50mm internal and have a ridge on the top. There is a ton of holes on the inside of the basket but only 1 exit hole. I find this odd as the gaggia naked filters appear to have as many holes as internally. So my thought here was to change the basket and hope for better results. So I'm on the hunt for a 50mm double basket now. I believe what I have is considered a 'restriction' basket, to me it seems like only the center of the puck is used maybe allowing water to go straight through leaving the edges of the basket 'unused'?

I have also been toying with the idea that if I can find a Gaggia style basket to make my group handle a naked one myself. I'm not sure but to me if a Gaggia can become naked why can't I?

I think I can not change the group head as it's a 3 cam head so I believe I'm cornered into this without changing the machine.

Can I use a different filter basket in this machine? (Note the group head is actually concave (domes in)) and the machine does a presoak of 3 seconds before it makes the pull. It's a manual machine and so far (even according to the manual) a double shot should happen in approx 12 seconds I've managed to squeeze 27 second shots out of it but jammed the PF in the process. If I can find a different basket would going naked be preferred over the odd plastic diverter thing that doesn't seal and requires cleaning once every 8 pulls (I make 4 pulls a day, this morning .