Search found 31 matches

by mhborstad
October 19th, 2012, 7:03 pm
Forum: Coffee Roasting
Replies: 4
Views: 1600

Popcorn popper for pumpkin seeds?

I do almonds quite often - you'd think pumpkin seeds would work even better. Nice control over small batches. Part of the trick (as usual) seems to be being able to cool them / stop the roast quickly
by mhborstad
July 29th, 2012, 11:56 am
Forum: Espresso Machines
Replies: 7
Views: 5771

Water under my espresso machine

The boiler fill line is routed through a "2.3bar safety valve" attached to the "wet" side of the OPV. That hose is the drain in a boiler-overpressure situation. It's in the parts diagram, but it's tricky to follow the hoses between pages A few ways that this might happen. OPV failing maybe, but the ...
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by mhborstad
July 18th, 2012, 8:11 pm
Forum: Espresso Machines
Replies: 19
Views: 2294

Can't get >10sec brew time on Rancilio Silvia

1) That's not even close to "half empty". I'm putting 14.5g into a 14g (bezzera) basket and a full dose (by taste) is way below the rim before tamping. Tamped is at least 8mm and possibly 10 below the rim. Don't let the basket tell you how much coffee you need... Who's in charge? 2) Probably irrelev...
by mhborstad
July 18th, 2012, 8:10 am
Forum: Espresso Machines
Replies: 10
Views: 2995

Use of Stainless Steel

Copper and brass exist in espresso machines almost entirely because up until very recently they were assembled in small numbers by hand in small shops. Copper is easy to bend, solder/braze, and brasses are just about the easiest materials to machine, cast and finish, including plating. Stainless use...
by mhborstad
July 15th, 2012, 9:25 pm
Forum: Tips and Techniques
Replies: 11
Views: 1137

Steaming with Bezzera BZ07S

Did anyone say it's fast? The toroid *might* be tripping you up. For any reasonable quantity of milk, tip centred, straight down and just below the surface seems foolproof. 1-2 seconds with the odd "chhh" if any, then a little bit deeper at full roil. If I angle the tip to get a whirlpool going, it'...
by mhborstad
July 9th, 2012, 8:12 pm
Forum: Buying Advice
Replies: 7
Views: 853

Upgrade espresso machine/grinder with budget $2500 CDN

OT... but who's your roaster? Given your req I would have said you'd be thrilled with a decent Hx, but the Expobar should fit the bill as well!
by mhborstad
May 11th, 2012, 8:59 pm
Forum: Buying Advice
Replies: 10
Views: 6552

Ascaso i1 or i2

Huh - mine goes "whurrrrrrrrrr"... Zero imbalance. Burrs are also flat/parallel. Because the hopper sits more or less loosely in the burr carrier and is (mostly) unsupported elsewhere beans moving around the grind zone can cause it to shimmy a bit when empty. There is for sure no movement anywhere i...
by mhborstad
May 11th, 2012, 5:44 pm
Forum: Buying Advice
Replies: 10
Views: 6552

Ascaso i1 or i2

Surprised about hopper wobble due to burr play - it's a fine thread with lots of engagement in a sizable chunk of metal. Standard fix to tighten up tolerances a bit is to wrap the upper carrier threads with teflon tape. Also surprised you have that much play in the work gear. I have 10-15 degrees of...
by mhborstad
May 4th, 2012, 1:41 pm
Forum: Buying Advice
Replies: 9
Views: 721

Ascaso I-1 output rate

That's for a 14g double. I'm running the grinder empty every time, so the hopper only gets 14g of beans at a go. I think most grinders slow down quite a bit without the weight of the bean column feeding the burrs / popcorning etc. The factory numbers sound about right otherwise
by mhborstad
May 3rd, 2012, 7:12 pm
Forum: Buying Advice
Replies: 9
Views: 721

Ascaso I-1 output rate

I'd second the slow remark for the I-1. The discrepancy may be related to grind fineness and hopper fill. I single-dose and 30 seconds sounds about right. I thought it might bug me a bit, but it doesn't - I use my WDT tool to distribute a bit as I grind. On the flip side, the grind quality