Pavoni Europiccola dosing

[samgiles]

I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on dosing with this machine. Is it normal to have grounds left on the dispersion screen after removing the PF? Would the amount in these pictures indicate that I am overdosing or does it look OK? Even after a year with this machine I still feel like a beginner

[jamhat]

From your pictures, it does seem like you might be dosing too much (based on what has given me success). I can only give you my routine, and you can see if it works for you. Also, consider that I use the WDT, which has mixed reviews.

1. I use a Rocky doserless to grind directly into the portafilter.
2. Stir the grounds. The yogurt cup keeps the grounds from spilling all over the place (I know - sounds rediculous).
3. Tap the portafilter once or twice to settle the grounds.
4. Pull of the yogurt cup, and the grounds are usually 1 cm or so over the edge of the basket.
5. Use your finger/hand/whatever to scrape off excess grounds. The coffee should be level with the top of the pf basket.
6. Tamp (I aim for 30 lbs)
7. Lock in the pf and go.... I usually get 1 1/2 pulls.

[caeffe]

I use approx 10g+/- of grounds in mine.
I would dose into the basket and level it off, tamp, lock and pull. I've measured the weight of the basket prior to and after dosing and leveling and determined that a level dose is approx 10g.

I now basically put 3 scoops into the grinder - this makes enough for roughly 2 pulls (3x7=21g)

[orwa]

I think that the amount of grounds shown on the bottom of the shower screen is perfectly normal, however, this may not be the case with the lateral grounds in the second photo. When the puck has no room for expansion, it expands against the shower screen, which is obvious, gradually developing resistance to water flow as you advance through the brewing process. This, however, makes the outer ring of the puck the weakest point for water penetration, because it unlike the middle of the puck is not pressed against by the shower screen on the La Pavoni levers. Henceforth, as someone pulls the lever with great force (or ramp), that outer ring of the puck gets penetrated violently (destroyed) by the high water pressure, not allowing it to get brewed poperly, while bypassing (not brewing) the bulk middle of the puck. This scenario results in a puck whose outer ring is heavily disrupted, whose middle is levelled while showing the pattern of the shower screen, and that doesn't come off at once but rather in pieces. Needless to say, it also indicates very uneven brewing.

However, I suspect that this is the case with you, otherwise it would've been clear to you what was happening. It might only be due to the grinder, or due to the loose tamping or to the grinder setting being not fine enough. I say, no big deal, the puck is really more indicative of any imperfection in the brewing than the shower screen, and the amount of grounds shown on the shower screen is just normal. You must be getting better, I bet.

[samgiles]

Thanks a lot for your replies everyone. I might try downdosing slightly. I should have mentioned that my basket is an Elektra MCAL one. Thanks orwa, my pucks are really pretty solid so I think the extraction is not too bad. Shots are pretty good too but consistency is always an issue. I do always have to remind myself when I'm drinking a shot and finding fault, that I'd be delighted if I was served it in a cafe
I must admit I've never weighed my dosing but my technique sounds very similar to yours jamhat. I dropped WDT though. It always seems to defy logic but I found that my shots are far superior if I don't use WDT. I've never been able to figure that one out.
I guess my concern has come about because I popped the dispersion screen off yesterday and found a thick, black layer of grime on the base of the piston. I guess it is coffee residue but it was hard to say for sure (I don't know what else it could be). Anyway, I ended up pulling the whole thing out and cleaning it thoroughly and then re-lubing it. So smooth again The thing is it was only a couple of months ago that I had it apart replacing the seals. Would you expect that much grime to have accumulated in that time? I should have taken a picture.

[caeffe]

It's good that an Elektra Mcal basket will fit in yours. I tried on mine - no joy.
With an Elektra Mcal basket you should be able to does with 12-14g.

[samgiles]

I can just get the MCAL basket in. The PF pushes some of the way around but not as far as the stock basket. I understand some people can't even get the ears in so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones in that regard. I actually bought one of Richard Penney's beautiful newd PFs which fits with the MCAL basket very nicely but I have had trouble getting shots that are anywhere near as good as the normal PF shots. I don't know where I'm going wrong but they seem to be much hotter and more bitter. I need to experiment further with that.

[zubinpatrick]

I used to overdose my Pav all the time. I made many miserable shots. Nowadays I like to have the double basket aprox., 3/4 full after tamping this makes for a good double (all i make i don't like the single basket). I let the Pav pressure push about 2 teaspoons of liquied through and then pull the shot. Best friken coffee I have ever had, better than anything I can get in Montreal. The thing I have learnt with my pav is to stay flexible, keep experimenting with grinds dosing and temp until you get the shot you want.