New to Home-Barista, excited to talk with the community about coffee-related topics!

I've had the Breville Barista Express 870xl for about 4 months now. Great machine with exceptional coffee. I've been using the dual-wall basket for the most part with optimal extractions (right in the lower middle zone). However, over the past few days I switched to the single-wall double basket as I've gotten more comfortable with the machine.

Rest assured, I am using fresh beans roasted within a week of grinding.

Here are my findings:
- I have the grind setting on 4, which is pretty fine. I have the grind amount basically minimal, which shouldn't be the case as I am using the single-walled basket. However, even at this lowest setting, I am getting way too much coffee in the portafilter; I end up wasting a bunch. I don't know if this is a grinder problem or what, but I'm thinking it's an issue? Any insight on this is appreciated.

- With fresh, fine coffee with the tamper aligned with the edge of the portafilter after tamping fairly hard, I get a shot that a) is underextracted, b) pulls way too fast and c) is too great a volume -- it spills over the edge of the espresso glass.

With so many variables, I am having a hard time figuring out the problem. I know it isn't the freshness of the beans or the amount of coffee I use.

Although the coffee tastes pretty good, lest I not go back to dual-walled baskets, I welcome some feedback from other home baristas. Thanks!

jmann2000 wrote: I have the grind amount basically minimal, which shouldn't be the case as I am using the single-walled basket.
[...]
I know it isn't the freshness of the beans or the amount of coffee I use.

I am having trouble understanding how these make sense together.

That's another problem. I can't move the dial back any further to dispense any less as I'm already at the minimum. It's odd because even at this small amount, I still get a heaping pile of overflowing grounds in the portafilter. Not sure if this is a grinder problem or if I need to make the ground size a little finer...

Are you using the double shot filter basket? This basket should easily hold 14-16 g of coffee.

The grinder should grind fine enough to almost choke your machine. If not, then the burrs need to be adjusted to grind finer. Also, this grinder has some retention, so an amount of coffee will need to be purged after grind adjustments.

It's something I'll have to keep watching. What do you think is the cause for the under extracted shots?

I think your problem is that you're using the tiny single shot basket. I can easily hold 20g's in the double shot basket. The basket that angles towards the center is the single shot.

If you press and hold the portafilter into the grind activation switch it will grind on 'manual mode', meaning that the grinder will continue to grind as long as you press the button in and will stop when you release. This allows full control over the amount you grind into your PF.

Don't be afraid to go finer with the grind if need be - my BE is set to 1 and still requires a fairly large dose in the double basket.

Don't forget that you MUST have the grinder ON when making any grind adjustments - especially when going finer. You'll really stress the settings if you just change without the grinder running.

Ahh -- good to know. I've been adjusting the grinder while it is off. Just for clarification, I am using the double shot, single wall basket. I'll give it a shot this morning and see how it goes.

If you're using the double basket and have fast flow then ::

1 :: updose
2 :: grind finer

It'll require some testing between the 2 to figure out your sweet spot.

I would HIGHLY recommend buying a scale that can measure to .1g and dosing manually instead of relying on the small dosing knob, which can show as much as 1.5g in variation between doses, which is huge. Grind to the same weight consistently and you'll have one less variable to sort out!

Just pulled a decent shot in the middle of the extraction zone. I changed the grinding size to 2 as it was grinding, and manually dosed, which seemed to have worked. Like you said, the problem will be consistency. I don't trust the dosing knob considering the amount of beans it doses into the portafilter, and the fact that I have to manually dose. Do you have any recommendations on which scale to buy that will precisely weigh the grinds (preferably on Amazon)? And we're looking for 18-20g for a double shot?

Also, one last quick note. After pulling the shot, I remove the portafilter and the dry puck sticks to the shower head. Any way to prevent this?