I tried to look this up but the Mac shuts down. I just got a new temperature gun and of course am pointing it everywhere. The temperature of the water in the portafilter is 160, and 148 in the cup. That seems low? Could you point me to an answer? Would like to know how to get it at closer to 200. Mine is a Astra GA that just had its yearly tune up. It got a new pressure gage and its gaskets changed but otherwise was in fine shape.
treshell

treshell wrote:The temperature of the water in the portafilter is 160, and 148 in the cup·

What do you mean water in the portafilter? Is this with a blank filter in? Also, do you preheat your cups?

Yes the water in the blank filter is 160, the stream at the highest point is also 160. The cup is preheated and cools to 148 fairly fast. The espresso is good, very good, but not great.
treshell

treshell wrote:I just got a new temperature gun and of course am pointing it everywhere. The temperature of the water in the portafilter is 160, and 148 in the cup. That seems low?

An infrared thermometer is a poor choice for measuring this. An IR gun reads a surface temperature. The water is going to cool rapidly once it leaves the group head. We don't know what temperature your cup was preheated to. And then there is the fact that common models of IR thermometers not only have poor accuracy, but you probably have an extreme emissivity mismatch. A lot of IR guns have a fixed emissivity or even if it is adjustable a casual user doesn't understand what it does. Your gun is probably set around e=0.95, while your polished SS portafilter basket might have an e=0.15. Long story short, you could have a combined uncertainty/error of 20 - 40F.

The ideal way to measure the group head water temperature is a Scace thermofilter. Since that is expensive for personal use, a reasonable alternative is a fast reading stem thermometer in an insulated (styrofoam) cup. You can read previous threads for details about this method. Or a thermocouple could be used to achieve better accuracy. The temperature should be in the range of 190 - 205F. But without a lot more detail about how you are using your IR gun, I wouldn't have a lot of confidence in your measurement.

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I had set the gun for water. I would love a go to for the insulated (styrofoam) cup. I did use this once long ago but can't find the link now? As I said I just had the machine yearly done. The taste of the brew is now not as good. Guess I would like to know how to reset the temp? treshell

A simple search will explain the foam cup method to you. Try it and compare to your IR measurement.

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Thanks, reading some of them now. links so far.

Seeking low tech way to measure brew temperature

Grouphead probe temperature vs. cup temperature

Thanks for searching. Barry's instructions on the first link are good and should give you a reasonably accurate temperature.

To get even better accuracy you'd have to setup a thermocouple + accurate meter or invest in a Scace thermofilter. But start with the foam cup method and see how it compares to the IR. If there is a large difference, you can verify your thermometer in ice slurry and boiling water. But at least you'll be in the ballpark with the foam cup method.

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This link as well. Any others? I remember seeing a picture somewhere?
Sour espresso from Ascaso Steel Duo Professional