Breville Barista Express brew pressure

#1: Post by **uncleGeorge** » April 2nd, 2015, 3:12 am

Hi,

I have recently purchased a Barista Express and found the pressure gauge doesn't go near as high as recommended.
According to the instruction manuals, the pressure gauge should reach middle of the grey area, however mine always sits no where near enough, even with the single hole double wall portafilter cup. (I've tried to adjust my grind and tampering pressure, but it hardly does anything.. )

Any ideas?

#2: Post by **Lappa** » April 2nd, 2015, 5:04 am

I also have this machine
I aim for 18g of coffee for the two cup single wall portafilter
The grind required varies with the coffee bean being used. My range is from 4 to 2 for the different beans I use.
I adjusted my tamp when I first got the machine by using the 18g of coffee and the "razor" device that came with the machine and now I have no need to use the "razor".
I adjust the grind based on the pressure gauge.
The above settings get my pressure gauge very near 12o'clock with total delivery time (including pre infusion) of 28 to 31 seconds.

BTW I only use the double wall with pre ground coffee and with the double cup the pressure never gets very high but I have maxed it out with the single double wall filter - strange but true.

HTH

#3: Post by **Shife** » April 2nd, 2015, 7:36 am

What are you using for coffee? (#of days from roast, etc..)

#4: Post by **uscfroadie** » April 2nd, 2015, 8:11 am

uncleGeorge wrote:Hi,

I have recently purchased a Barista Express and found the pressure gauge doesn't go near as high as recommended.
According to the instruction manuals, the pressure gauge should reach middle of the grey area, however mine always sits no where near enough, even with the single hole double wall portafilter cup. (I've tried to adjust my grind and tampering pressure, but it hardly does anything.. )

Any ideas?

The easiest way to prove it's not the machine is to insert a blank disc and simulate pulling a shot. If you hit the target area, the problem you are having is coffee and/or grinder related. Almost always it's stale coffee and/or inadequate grind (not fine enough due to grind setting or incapable grinder).

What's the pressure say with a blank installed?

#5: Post by **caffelatte8** » April 2nd, 2015, 8:34 pm

yes, try blank disk. it should max out the pressure gauge.

are you using the built-in grinder? if so, some are not grinding fine enough to choke the machine just like what i got. you may want to do this modification without voiding your warranty.

Breville Barista Express 870/870XL grinder mod

#6: Post by **Lappa** » April 3rd, 2015, 6:07 am

Why not order the proper shim kit? It's free from Breville and doesn't void warranty.

#7: Post by **beanville837** » April 3rd, 2015, 9:16 pm

I'm another owner of this machine. As was mentioned, I find bean freshness to be the key in obtaining good brew pressure. Without fresh roasted beans (I'm talking a couple days to about two weeks post roast), I cannot get proper pressure. This rules out pre-packaged store shelf beans which don't allow acceptable pressure to develop. With fresh roasts, the gauge shows mid-range and/or upper end of mid-range pressure developing without any special effort on my part. I've been using the single wall, double shot filter. Haven't used the double wall filter baskets at all.
As for grind setting, I've found the 10-11 range best for a good shot on this machine using the built-in grinder. Oh, I should add that my model is the 870XL, which is the update of the original 860XL Barista Express.