I have simplified my regular espresso preparation routine, so no more weighing or fancy distribution and the sort. (though i do get technical occasionally to dial in factors, see nice extractions, or therapeutic reasons)
Simplified, i was getting good results with my BP but the occasional spray led me to go back to my spouted PF. Although not common, those sprays always seem to happen when Im wearing white. I miss the convenience of the bottomless though.
Im not saying my technique is perfect but could a better grinder lessen the chances of those sprays or should my Vario be able to perform well without the need of additional steps like the WDT?

-Alvin

In my opinion, you should be able to do without. My technique has become really simple since buying my Vario. I dose right into the PF with a yogurt container funnel. I give the PF a little shake to settle the grounds, tamp and go.

If you have channeling problems it's more likely something like stale beans, dosing too high/ too low, tamping too hard, or perhaps a faulty grinder.

The Vario isn't perfect, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better grinder without getting into a big commercial grinder.

brokemusician77 wrote:My technique has become really simple since buying my Vario. I dose right into the PF

I used to do this, and it worked well. A small spritz ever now and then and pretty good espresso. However, the quality of my espresso went up considerably when I added the WDT to the process. I also sampled a Compak K10 without WDT side by side with a Vario and the quality difference was also noticeable.

I didn't try it side-by-side but I am convinced an upgrade to a Compak K10-level grinder, without WDT is still going to be better than a BVario with WDT.

I also started weighing the beans before hand. I think this just helps consistency and is most useful when dialing in the grind or testing temperature/dose variations. If you go back to "normal" espresso mode, then the timer on the BVario is more than good enough.

another_jim wrote:If you don't weigh your doses, or have some other way of assuring consistent dosing; the flow and taste of your espresso won't be consistent. The perfect pairing of dose and grind is much more important than the perfect pairing of brew temperature and pressure.

well what Ive been doing is after opening my fresh bag o' beans i weigh doses and dial in the grind, note the seconds it takes to grind then set it to the Vario's timer (which is accurate to the .0 of seconds).
after i have all that dialed in i fill the hopper then go to simple preparation mode. Pretty consistent i believe.
the reason i asked is i have a Mazzer Major on the way originally for the occasional heavy use, but considering replacing my Vario with it if I get significantly better shots.

Also i was thinking of all this because I have noticed some shops are using bottomless PF, obviously they don't go through the trouble of weighing and distributing yet they get clean shots consistently. It got me thinking it must be because they're using Roburs/Royals or pulling shots on their Synesso/Slayer with preinfusion aiding in even extraction.

Actually jim yeah i did realize filling would change the dosing. so what i did after filling was weigh again how much came out after the same grind time, turns out there was no change.
could be that the added weight of the beans is not significant, or i need a better scale. i point towards the latter.