Hello everyone,

I'm a newbie on this site, and to the world of espresso. A few months ago I acquired a saeco/starbucks barista machine that i've been constantly tinkering with learning all the steps into making decent espresso. While i've gotten acceptable results with my current setup and practice, i've recently been thinking of playing around with the pressure, and how it could possibly affect the tastes of a shot. I've read many different ways users have adjusted pressure either through an OPV valve or lamp dimmer. I haven't opened up my machine yet to see if I have an OPV, but in either case, is there a way that I can measure what pressure I'm currently getting? The portafilter that comes with this machine doesn't have a threaded outlet although I might be able to get a connect to fit snug with some teflon tape. I'm assuming measuring at the steam arm area is void since the pressure is also affected at the brew head with a spring. My goal is to be able to measure my current pressure, and then create a way to mainly adjust it on the fly to either bring out different notes in the shot, or even to try out some pre-infuse techniques.

Sorry for the long post

Welcome!

As said, the spring in the brew head will likely make it different than steam outlet.

Here's an easy way to measure the pressure.
Zero cost adapter for portafilter pressure gauge

Or are you looking for a more permanent way to mount a gauge?

On a separate note, you should kill the pressurized basket in your PF. Either via a replacement PF, or taking the spring/needle valve out. A new PF will also make it easier to do the above test. Although without the handle attached the hole in the bottom of PF would be about right.

Thanks so much for the reply. I'm not really needing to have anything permanent, just a way to measure the pressure output, especially if I was do do the dimmer mod to incorporate a pre-infuse into my technique. Right now I'm just opening up the steam wand a bit during the first part of the extraction, but it would be nice to do this another way as opening up the wand throws the temp out of wack. That is what got me considering the dimmer mod.

Speaking of the portafilter, yeah the innards have been removed. I felt that I needed that out of there, to get a better understanding how grinds,distribution, etc all played into the extraction.

nickw wrote:Welcome!

You're right, the spring in the brew head will make it different than steam outlet.

Here's an easy way to measure the pressure.
Zero cost adapter for portafilter pressure gauge

Or are you looking for a more permanent way to mount a gauge?

On a separate note, you should kill the pressurized basket in your PF. Either via a replacement PF, or taking the spring/needle valve out. A new PF will also make it easier to do the above test. Although without the handle attached the hole in the bottom of PF would be about right.