I'm sure we have all done things to/with our machines that in hindsight may not have been the best choices. Here are a few of the most interesting that I can remember (mostly gathered from other coffee sites, of course ).

1) Cool! I just ground cocoa nibs in my Mazzer!....anyone know how to clean this mess up?

2) I just made tea by putting tea leaves in my PF! Awesome!

3) I just cleaned my boiler using Cafiza...anyone know how long before my machine stops bubbling?

4) I just PID'd my Gaggia! Now my 3oz boiler is rock stable...until I engage the pump.


Any others?

Mark

Dogshot wrote:4) I just PID'd my Gaggia! Now my 3oz boiler is rock stable...until I engage the pump.

ok, the best possible espresso is not at all influenced by pid'ing the smallish boiler. And even though the necessity of a flat temp-profile is not at all generally accepted, I haven't seen someone advocating an intrashot drop of 10 to 20 deg F. and I doubt that more than a few degrees are acceptable for the more sensitive coffees.
but hey, at least you don't have to count seconds in relation to the heater action.
and watching the temp while steaming made it super easy to keep the boiler from shutting off. Even more so if you let the pump run for 2 seconds after every half minute of steaming, you can just keep on going as long as you want to.

Hello DS,

Well, If you are "O" dark30AM: un-co-ordinated until the second espresso, Get a different colored Britta than the normal color of your milk jugs! Thank the coffee gods the Cremina has a small boiler!
However I was suddenly veeerrry wiiide awake!

Cheers
Richard

Adding sugar to the basket along with the coffee was pretty stupid for me..
i was just 'experimenting'.

absolutlahmi wrote:Adding sugar to the basket along with the coffee was pretty stupid for me..
i was just 'experimenting'.

I gather some folks actually do this.... see Cubano shots anyone?

jesawdy wrote:I gather some folks actually do this.... see Cubano shots anyone?

Hola,

Yeah I can't believe folks think that this has anything to do with making Cuban coffee.
Or anything remotely related to it.

But hey I guess it's just b/c of the large amount of sugar we Cubans use.


But along those experimenting lines I have to admit that I too have placed none coffee particles inside my PF.

How about " yerba Mate" leaves....Yeah go figure just experimenting too.

Michael.

Decided once when my wife was out of town to rebuild the group on my LM GS. I'd done it before several times so knew the drill. After filling up on espresso the machine was shut off. All valves opened to kill temp and pressure. Then remove the allen bolts holding the top of the gh for access to the innards and seals that need replacing. As I was loosening the last allen bolt all hell broke loose. Somehow I'd either not released all the pressure or I'd absentmindedly closed the valve. The heat sunk in the brew boiler built up a head of steam. In the nano-second from hearing the hissing of the blowout to closing my eyes and turning away I managed to keep from scalding my eyes. Lost most of the skin from under my nose to my bellybutton. Drove naked to the ER where the doctor opined that I must have blown up a radiator on myself. When I told her it was an espresso boiler she just gave a "humph" and allowed that that was much more creative. First, second and third degree burns and lots of rehab. Oddly the third degree burns don't hurt since the nerves are fried. But, the plastic surgeon said Guiness stout had the calories I needed to help grow skin. Worked for me. I did get the group head rebuilt but that was 10 years ago and its time again.
Bernie

bernie wrote:<snip>The heat sunk in the brew boiler built up a head of steam. In the nano-second from hearing the hissing of the blowout to closing my eyes and turning away I managed to keep from scalding my eyes. Lost most of the skin from under my nose to my bellybutton. Drove naked to the ER where the doctor opined that I must have blown up a radiator on myself. When I told her it was an espresso boiler she just gave a "humph" and allowed that that was much more creative. First, second and third degree burns and lots of rehab.

Wow Bernie, I guess that's something that you won't do twice. That is a very, very scary story. This definitely hits home with me about exercising EXTREME caution when working on an espresso machine.

bernie wrote: Lost most of the skin from under my nose to my bellybutton. Drove naked to the ER....

That is terrifying. But I just have to ask you this. You were only burned to the bellybutton, yet you drove naked. What became of your pants? (Or were you repairing the machine au naturel?)


~tMb, whose story of rooibos in the grinder really seems kind of unimportant and silly now. But all the same, if you're considering that, don't do it. It doesn't work well and you'll have a major cleaning job before your next shot of coffee. Hope you stocked up on Grindz or Minute Rice.

Oh, why would anyone ever do such a thing? Here's why: http://www.redespresso.com But next time I'm buying theirs, not grinding my own.

The_Mighty_Bean wrote:That is terrifying. But I just have to ask you this. You were only burned to the bellybutton, yet you drove naked. What became of your pants? (Or were you repairing the machine au naturel?)


~tMb, whose story of rooibos in the grinder really seems kind of unimportant and silly now. But all the same, if you're considering that, don't do it. It doesn't work well and you'll have a major cleaning job before your next shot of coffee. Hope you stocked up on Grindz or Minute Rice.

Oh, why would anyone ever do such a thing? Here's why: http://www.redespresso.com But next time I'm buying theirs, not grinding my own.

I had a t-shirt and running shorts on when the scalding water hit. As I pulled up the t-shirt to try and stop the heat my skin very neatly peeled off right along with the shirt. So, I ran into the shower and turned it on full blast and yanked my shorts off just trying to get anything off that might be burning. It was just the act of panic in trying to get the pain to stop. When I was going through a bit of skin debridement the same water was just killing me so my wife hauled me back to the plastic surgeon for a look. He asked me where I live and when I told him he asked if I was using well water. Yep. "Hmm. That area has a very high salt content. You've been washing off dead skin with salt water. Don't do that." Nowadays when I hear a loud hiss around the house I jump but usually it's just a rattlesnake that has come in through the dog door.
Bernie