Greetings!

I am the proud papa of a gorgeous refurbished Bezzera bz-10. I have been diddling around since last week but cannot seem to get more than a watery extraction with little-to-no crema. Since I do not have a grinder (Gaggia MDF is on the way), I am using store-bought beans in their grinder, (different espresso settings) canned espresso, and Cafe Bustelo brick. Still nothing.

I am also adjusting my tamp pressure and am leaning toward the heavy side.

I have tried both the double and single filter basket.

Thanks in advance!
Richard

Waiting for your grinder will save you a lot of frustration. Store bought, ground in store if I read correctly will just be an exercise in frustration. If you are lucky you may get close, but likely not. I tried this years back and let me save you your sanity . You probably need a finer grind as tamp can only do so much, it's mainly grind.

When does the MDF come in? (i know nothing about this grinder btw, i leave it to others that know more)

I have a Gaggia MDF, it works quite well for vacuum pot etc, however, there is no question that youa re doing yourself a terrible disservice, and will never be able to fully realize that Bezzera.

The Gaggia MDF seems on paper to be an incredible option, sometimes had for 150, handsome burrs far outclassing anything else in that price range, but it just is not really useful for espresso. To make it work you will need to cut the finger guard off first and go ahead and order a static free brush, then open up the grinder and install something to remove the steps. I chose to use a drain washer plug from Ace, but the problem you will run into with most mods is going to be that, since it was not designed to be stepless, once you make it stepless you will deal with grind wander, etc until you get the whole system really tight. After you do all that you will still have some static and clumping to deal with. The MDF is leagues below my Pharos, and is really an exercise in frustration to use for espresso. I recommend you return it and keep looking, as the money would be better invested in a different grinder for espresso.

RichardWalter wrote: Since I do not have a grinder (Gaggia MDF is on the way), I am using store-bought beans

That's your problem.

day wrote:The MDF is leagues below my Pharos, and is really an exercise in frustration to use for espresso. I recommend you return it and keep looking, as the money would be better invested in a different grinder for espresso.

Thanks for the info. Sheesh, looks like I have my work cut out for me. I thought the MDF was going to be a game-changer. Can you offer any grinder suggestions I should consider?

Thanks,
RJW

Here's a mod I did on my MDF. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62L9vZimQmo
I would suggest sending the MDF back and looking for a good used unit like the Mazzer Super Jolly etc.
Have had good results with the Quamar M80 which is reasonably priced new.
Seriously, good Espresso is all about the grinder and good fresh beans!

RichardWalter wrote:Thanks for the info. Sheesh, looks like I have my work cut out for me. I thought the MDF was going to be a game-changer. Can you offer any grinder suggestions I should consider?

Thanks,
RJW

What can you spend? That really determines the recommendation.

Obviously I would like to keep costs down, but let's say I can go up to $1,000.00.

RJW

Ceado E37s is the best 1,000.00 you can spend unless you can find used. Unless you want to hand grind and there is a very nice HG1 in buy/sell right now.

So now this raises new questions: specifically, are there grinders that "specialize" in espresso grind and/of ones that'll work in concert better with my Bezzera BZ-10?

RJW