My attempt - Silvia and Rocky, the video - HELP NEEDED! - Page 2

[OlywaDave]

Yeah I am about the HX as well, just haven't had it on the priority list until just recently. I think for the money you still can't do better than the Silvia for a jumping in point. The espresso quality is excellent and that is why I still use one. However I have been living with upgrade fever for a year or so.

My next upgrade will undoubtedly be the Vibiemme Domobar Super Lever.

The Domobar Super because it performs as well if not better than anything in its price range that I have tried, and well I am a sucker for an exposed group what can I say...

I want the "lever" version because I am against automatics on principal, and the semi-auto would be fine but I'll take lever over an on/off group switch because I want feel like I'm more a part of the process even if it is just a facade.

[gunman45]

So does everyone steam milk after pouring a shot??? Man I am out of the loop eh?

My thought behind steaming before my shot is that I don't want my freshly extracted espresso sitting there 2 minutes or so as I steam and texture milk. In my opinion the Silvia user is far better off steaming, keeping the pitcher somewhere warm (on top of Silvia), and swirling it now and again to prevent foam separation.

Dave,

I tend to agree with you on steaming before the shot but I have been doing it this way for so long that if I change now I would probably get confused and pour the milk into the knock box, puck into my glass, shot in the sink and everything else all over the counter!

But eh, I'm no dummy, I would get it right after... oh say... 20-30 times.

[gunman45]

Playing with Foam!


How can my coffee get cold when there is so much insulation in the attic?

Do not know how I did this. You have to take an electric knife to cut through it!

[OlywaDave]

Dave,

I tend to agree with you on steaming before the shot but I have been doing it this way for so long that if I change now I would probably get confused and pour the milk into the knock box, puck into my glass, shot in the sink and everything else all over the counter!

But eh, I'm no dummy, I would get it right after... oh say... 20-30 times.

Eh... You know. To each their own method on the Silvia and well espresso in general.

Actually I definitely prefer steaming at the same time as I am extracting on our 2 group PID'd Linea at work but I don't got that set up at home.

[OlywaDave]

Jon, any progress or updates worth mentioning? I'm pulling for ya... er uh no pun intended.

[jonbauer]

Jon, any progress or updates worth mentioning? I'm pulling for ya... er uh no pun intended.

Thanks for checking in Dave!

Argh! Really struggling with leaking and my new naked portafilter!

Yes the gasket is clean! I'm scrubbing it in between tries.

Yes, it's TIGHT. So tight, that I have to hold down the machine when I tighten the portafilter!

What's going on? Argh! (...and that's "argh" without a pirate-like accent!)

- Jon

[OlywaDave]

Hey Jon

Sealing the Portafilter. Yikes! Sorry to hear about that I am 99% sure that after a bit of cranking er tight and some more use that the gasket will properly seat against the basket.

[jonbauer]

Hm. So what should I do? I'm wasting so many of my precious beans! Can I keep trying to eliminate the leak with an empty portafilter? No harm, right? I don't have any leaks with my regular portafilter...

- Jon

[HB]

Egads, that's some leakage! Put one hand on the side of the machine and torque it down a lot tighter. Looking at the video, I would say as much as 3/4 to one inch tighter. To save coffee, get out a blind basket and assure it seals against full pressure.

[OlywaDave]

You know I suffered from the same problem at first.

On second thought I'll ask Terry if he has any suggestions for you other than "wait and see"

[OlywaDave]

Egads, that's some leakage! Put one hand on the side of the machine and torque it down a lot tighter. Looking at the video, I would say as much as 3/4 to one inch tighter. To save coffee, get out a blind basket and assure it seals against full pressure.

Yeah great suggestion Dan... Jon do what that guy said.

[jonbauer]

Ok, I called Chris Coffee and dude told me to take out the spring and try it. No leak! I'll futz with the spring and see if the basket was seating incorrectly. Will be playing Spielberg again soon for y'all.

- Jon

[jonbauer]

Ok, big success. I took the spring out and put it back in, I ensured the basket is seated well, and lastly, I gave the pf a good 1/4 turn tighter (I didn't think I could, but you guys were right) fixed the problem. No more leak!

Sorry, my Director Of Photography totally dropped the ball and failed to record this last extraction! Camera malfunction, I think.

I'm now TOTALLY WIRED on my 5th latte, but enjoying every drop.

THANKS ALL!!!

One comment: I have a small, 12 oz frothing pitcher. The Silvia's steaming wand is not too long, and when I'm doing small quantities of milk, it's barely long enough to reach the top of the white nectar. Not a biggie, but another inch on the wand would be nice... Oh well - short wand - story of my life...

- Jon

[jesawdy]

One comment: I have a small, 12 oz frothing pitcher. The Silvia's steaming wand is not too long, and when I'm doing small quantities of milk, it's barely long enough to reach the top of the white nectar. Not a biggie, but another inch on the wand would be nice... Oh well - short wand - story of my life...

Jon-

With my 12 ounce pitcher, I often have to use more milk than I really need to deal with the wand length. I have an 8 ounce that I use for smaller volumes, unfortunately, my small pitcher doesn't have a pour spout (but I can't pour any art yet anyhow ).

[jonbauer]

3 naked portafilter shots...



- Jon

[OlywaDave]

Hey those look pretty good. They do look a bit fast possibly but I can't see what volume you get in the 25-30 seconds.

Right on!

[HB]

Overall pretty good. Below are my crib notes:

First had the most even extraction.
Second had almost no dwell time, lots of channeling.
Third starts early in back and blonds out, dark towards front. Uneven distribution? Canted tamp?

All the extractions show initial unevenness like this:

I believe you're using the WDT, and yet these extractions aren't showing its characteristic even beading. Is the dosage changing from shot-to-shot?

[jonbauer]

Dan, I haven't started experimenting with WDT yet. Gotta get a needle and a yogurt container and start using it...

More videos coming soon.

- Thanx
- Jon

[OlywaDave]

Is the dosage changing from shot-to-shot?

Ahhh yes dosing, the dark horse of espresso extraction. Gotta have a consistent dosing technique for great espresso extraction. For my technique having a doser is key. Jon however has a doserless grinder which for me is a bit harder but it is possible.

[cannonfodder]

It looks like you were getting the dreaded twister cone. If you watch the striping as it exits the basket, it should flow straight down. It looks like your distribution or tamp is favoring the front of the basket. You can see the stream wander forward as the shot progresses. You can also see the tornado effect as the stream wanders.

Try turning your portafilter as you dose. Don't bang or knock it, just rotate the handle left to right to left to right etc... until you reach your desired dose. When you tamp, make sure you arm is vertical and in line with the tamper handle, not offset to one side. That will tend to drive you tamp harder to one side, which appears to be the front (handle side) of the portafilter.

I had the same problem, it just took some practice and patience.