CRCasey wrote:PC this is a joke, but I like you can get milk from your machine. Did it take you long to learn to milk it?

Must be a very contented machine...

scjavadr wrote:After getting it down to 0.6 bar, are you turning it back on and letting the pressure rise before pulling the shot, or did you do it while it was off at 0.6 bar?

Off, at .6 BAR. I'm finding that I like it a little higher if the machine hasn't been on too long, but the GF 'helped' me by turning it in and getting it all warm for me. That may (I haven't tried it) also be a decent fix for the group getting hot on serial pulls...
I only turn it back on after I've completed the pulls, and by the time I've turned around to get the milk pitcher out of the freezer, it's ready to purge and make steam. I'm a bit happier with the lil Tin man nowadays.
What I like:
Machine warmed up for fifteen minutes or less; turn it off and pull at .7-.8 Bar.
Warm machine (PF too hot to comfortably hold, or serial pulls) .6-.7 Bar.

scjavadr wrote:On my 106, I typically warm it up, and pull 2 blank doubles to warm everything up and then pull my shots. Today I pulled only one blank double before the shot and although the temperature was much lower, the shot was incredible. I need to start playing with these lower temperatures to see if I've been pulling while it's too hot. Just going by taste since I don't have a temperature gauge.

Thanks.

Greg, I can almost assure you that you've been pulling shots on the hot side. When pulling your two blank doubles I'd suspect you'd see a fair amount of flashing.

Try Psyd's techinque, and if you don't want to wait the few seconds for the machine to be up to steam temp, just flip it back on once you start the full pull. No new water will be introduced in the chamber, so you won't be raising the temp in the grouphead by any measureable amount until you pull another shot. And if pulling multiples, you can lessen the overheating of the group by turning off the boiler as soon as you approach the end of steaming. Bleed off steam after frothing until you get down to about .6 bar. At that temp you should be able to pull another shot without affecting the groups temp, but like Psyd, I can't verify this; only giving a hypothesis. Would be nice if someone had a Fluke to datalog timed pulls at different pressures. Until then, taste will have to be your judge (thermometer).

Thanks all! Good tips. I have now been pulling my shots sooner and also letting the pressure drop and pulling around 0.6 to 0.7 when its running hot, and the shots are fantastic. I also moved to slightly underdosing and tamping much lighter. Getting closer to my target goal of espresso.