Pulling only 1 cup on a Pavoni?

[j7on]

Hi There!

Just joined(a minute ago..)!

I am a new coffee(uhm.. espresso..) enthusiast from Finland, EUROPE and hi to all you guys at home-barista! really nice to see that there are such sites around.

So, even though i just got started i happen to have a La Pavoni Pro, i found it im my Dad's storage when he moved(he used to be in the restaurant business), it had just been sitting in a closet for over 10 years i guess, i had it checked by a local store that sells Pavonis and now it is fine they say(i guess they replaced some caskets, or at least i paid for something:)


I have already managed to shake my familylife and my girlfriend is already as annoyed as all the other "home-baristas" girlfriends i have read of about this new hobby of mine:)


It pulls nice shots of 'presso AND there ARE huuge differences in coffee(i would never have believed this(coffee is coffee))! Now i have about 15 packages of coffee in my cupboard i will never use(i have been thinking of buying cheap imitation brabanti "kettle-espresso makers" for my friends & brothers this christmas and donating the coffee i will not be drinking, ha-ha!


Ok, the machine is complicated and all and requires all the right pressure, tamping, water, pressure to be good BUT so far the only thing that confuses me is the filterholder?
That thing delivers coffee to "both sides" / 2 cups = my espresso cups aren't small enough to fit alone under the filterholder.
It's always either a bigger cup(cappuccino cup) or 2 espresso cups(and then pouring the other cup in the first one)..

Are there filterholders with just one nozzle?

Have anybody thought about or made threads on that double nozzle so you could screw out the double & then use it as single?



Well, that is my main concern now, i am sure i will be hanging around alot here in the near future, bye!

[Paul L]

Hi j7on, I have only been a Pavoni user since September but I have found the learning curve fast and I now have a pretty clockwork routine. It was not my first machine, I spent 6 months learning from scratch on a cheap Gaggia which was good training. I have to say I don't miss having a machine with a hot-plate which stays on constantly. I really like the Pavoni routine - and more importantly the results!

Anyway, a specific answer to your question regarding the spout - simply remove it! This is one of the first pieces of advice I received from a real old Pavoni 'pro' of many years. I thought it was good advice. As a quick digression- I only use the double basket in the portafilter and I also took another piece of advice at the same time to buy a second double-basket. At first, I was not sure about the basket design which is loose in the pf. I was only used to the type that holds the basket firmly. However, I quickly grew to love the Pavoni design of dropping baskets in and out and preparing them, distributing and tamping in a tray away from the pf.

The removal of the spout seemed entirely logical. The shot from either the (pre-millenium) 49mm or later 51mm double basket means you probably don't want to split the shot into two separate cups. Using the spout-less pf I use the entire shot in a decent sized but not too large cup (9oz I think) to which I add about 5 oz of milk. In a routine like this, the spout would simply be an unnecessary extra pathway that simply gets in the way of moving the cups underneath, and I think it just adds a part to keep clean that serves no purpose. The spout is on a very tight screwthread and I recommend putting a cloth over it so that pliers will not damage the spout as you remove it.

Good luck with getting to know the Pavoni, it's a wonderful little machine once you feed it fresh beans, good grind, fresh milk if milk drinks are your thing and develop detailed attention and skill.

[Paul L]

Oh, and if you're still working your way through a routine here's the one that I follow with my non-pro (0.8L) millenium EL:

PREP
1. Turn Pav upside down over sink to ensure completely empty, then fill boiler with filtered water about a centimetre from the top of the sight glass, insert empty pf and switch on.
2. Weigh beans into basket and then grind
(two baskets if preparing two capps - it seems everyone who visits drinks Capps, as I do)
3. Dose into one of two small-wide-capp-cups kept purely for dosing and then hoover out grinder and doser
(I'm serious!)
4. Fill basket(s) using a small dosing spoon and a tray to catch grounds so kitchen stays clean
(spoons bought from UK store Whittards, I keep two of them so I've generally got a dry clean one)
5. tap baskets on tray and then level over sink with flat back of knife to get perfectly flat baskets whilst stray grounds don't go everywhere
(I like working with the baskets away from the pf)
6. Tamp with custom measured tamper from Reg Barber
(51.5mm basically)
7. Pour 5oz of cold semi-skimmed (2%) milk into cold 12oz jug
(jug was in fridge)
8. Rinse out coffee cloth so it is ready to be used
(I keep a pack of dishcloths solely for coffee and change them regularly)
9. Quickly wash dosing spoon, tray and dosing cup.

By this time the Pavoni is already up to speed and the green light goes out, I now have all prep done, no mess anywhere, I have prepped basket(s) sitting ready and I can just concentrate on the drinks.

MY METHOD (everyone will have their own)
1. Put cloth over steam wand and open up to bleed
(i.e. to ensure steam is dry)
2. Put capp cup under grouphead and pull some blank
(to pre-warm pf, cup and again release any false pressure)
3. Steam the milk first
(I do this so that I can let it have that all important rest before banging and swirling)
4. Clean the wand immediately with cloth a couple of times and rinse jug
(so milk does not dry onto the wand or into the jug, this can happen really fast)
5. Empty cup (into second cup if making two drinks), place basket into pf, lock and load and then pull the shot
(I don't raise the lever a second time, I'm happy to find the strength of bean, grind and tamp to give me the strength I am looking for and don't feel the need for a larger shot)
6. Remove cup and put waste-cup (one I use solely for slops) under group to keep the tray clean but leave pf in place even if making second drink
(the Peacock is notorious for pf sneeze. I can honestly say that in two months I have not had a single sneeze from it but I had loads form the Gaggia)
7. Bang and swirl milk then finish the drink, rinse jug
8. Now is the point that I remove the pf and spent basket
(by this time any risk of sneeze seems to have gone)

If I'm making a second drink - even if on my own I sometimes make two back-to-back - I repeat the bleed, empty cup, steam milk, clean wand, lock and load and pull shot, bang and swirl, rinse jug

CLEAN UP
1. First thing to do is switch off machine.
(Clean up is now fast, I've actually done most of it as I go)
2. Take the already-rinsed jug, half-fill with water and 'steam' it as if it is milk, empty it, rinse and repeat blank steaming
(drink(s) are already in cup, Pav is powered-off, you would be surprised to see how much milk was trapped up in there somewhere)
3. Raise lever to pull blank for a few seconds into the slops-cup
(and self clean the shower-screen)
4. Get the coffee clean wet and cold and give the inside of the group a good scrub quickly, rinse cloth and repeat a couple of times
(I'm fussy about keeping this clean as I seem to read so many times how people backflush their E61 machines or whatever they use and then seem amazed to find a staleness in taste removed from the newly-cleaned-grouphead)
5. Pull more blank only this time keep the lever up, in fact you get to a point where the lever stays up
(so that you can now safely remove the boiler cap at any time)

You're done. The whole place is clean, no mess anywhere and no baked-on or stale-grind horrors to contend with. It took about ten minutes and your drink(s) are still fresh.

Oh, and the biggest factors for me still remain:
1. Freshness of beans
(preferably home-roasted, I'm a huge fan of the iRoast I use vented straight out of a small kitchen window)
2. Grind and tamp
(you just have to work on finding your own balance)
3. Choice of bean
(the strength, edge, balance, ability to cut through milk etc. to your own personal taste)
4. Freshness and type of milk
(as it makes a difference in my set-up anyway)
5. Practise, practise, practise and, erm, practise
(don't worry if it takes a few weeks to get things how you want them or learn to steam milk or pour into the cup without a spoon etc.)

Sorry if this sounds incredibly geekish or dull. I go through this painlessly now without even thinking about it and my daughter sits and tells me what to do next (in that bossy way that only daughters can!). If any bit of this is of help then it was worth posting it.

[j7on]

The spout is on a very tight screwthread and I recommend putting a cloth over it so that pliers will not damage the spout as you remove it.

So it is supposed to be threaded?
I was scared to try and tweak it before i knew and then end up ordering a new one.

So, i locked the filterholder in a WORKBENCH! and started turning on the holders handle (yes, in the right direction to loosen the spout), ended up pushing, cursing and puffing but still nothing happens? I will not try harder, it WILL break.

I'll just take the holder with me next week to the specialist store that serviced my machine to begin with, maybe this model does not have threads?
It is definitely pre-millenium (49mm dispensers) and as i told you it has been sitting in a closet for over 10 years, it is the Pro though cuz it has the pressuregauge & 1 switch ON button(=automatic thermostat).


Next week i will post a pic on my grinder, you have got to see this, i found this at a fleamarket years ago.

It's made by AEG and must be like at least 50 years old, this is no "steel-plated" but STEEL, it weights a TON and is still one of those small for home use types, more of that sucker later when i get to snap a picture.

[Hogfire]

Hello and welcome j7on,

Are you sure you are pushing the handle in the correct direction? I have a Gaggia Factory, which is a copy of la Pavoni's lever machines, and to remove the filterholder's spout while locked in a workbench, I had to push anticlockwise on the handle. The Gaggia uses la Pavoni's millennium 51mm filterholder, but I imagine the threaded spout should be the same size. Yes, there are single spouts available, but I'm not sure where you should order them from in Europe. I ordered mine from here:

http://www.espressoparts.com/cate...portafilterspouts/

The only problem, as you can see in the photos below, is that it extends too far down for any cups larger or taller than a demitasse. So, as Paul L recommends, I just leave it off because residue builds up quickly, and it's difficult to clean that small space.

If you were pushing the handle anticlockwise, then it's wise not to push too hard since the machine has been in storage, as the plastic handle could crack and break.

Good luck, and I'm keen on seeing photos of your grinder. Do you know if the grinder blades are still in good condition?

Hogfire


with 70Ml demitasse


with 150Ml cappuccino cup

[j7on]

Hi guys!

Thanks Paul L for the detailed view of your routine, i must say mine is not that detailed yet..

Yes i pushed he handle in the right direction(threads are 99%) clockwise so yes, you have to push the handle anticlockwise, i warmed up the holder with a small blowtorch(and i even took the handle out:), put some WD-10(CRC) in between the threads to work itself inside, clamped back on the bench held on the hot parts with welders gloves, pulled and what do you know, came right off! But it was tight!

I may order one of those single nozzles from espressoparts, looks nice, I am sure they ship to Finland.

You had some beautiful pictures there Hogfire!
also this member called Cannonfodder(who has that homepage: http://dirty-portafilter.blogspot.com/) has some beautiful pics.
(I know it's a talent) but how do you guys get so much crema!?
I do get some=you cannot see the coffee under it but its not THAT thick, have anybody tried that Lavazza super-crema?(sounds like a lot of crema...

The grinder is quite small(and OLD) and the cutter is in superb condition, makes powder if you want to, it used to be "antique-yellow" but it was so bad and flaking, I stripped all the paint.
But noisy as hell, you cannot hear what the guy is saying beside you while it is working the beans(no, it it not busted, it has had major service done to it and works like it should, it's just old)
Don't have any idea how old it is..

[cannonfodder]

The spouts do unscrew. If you are looking at the spout, you turn them to the left (anticlockwise). If it is a few years old they will be very tight. You may try soaking it in descale solution to cut the crud in the threads.



I chopped my single spout PF for my Isomac into a bottomless but I kept the spout. It screwed right onto my Gaggia Factory PF.