Good day,

I am learning the ins and outs of creating shots with my Europiccola and it has been a fun experience so far. One thing that I am not totally sure about is... what shut down process should I be doing after creating shots for the day? Right now, I turn everything off and let boiler cool down a bit and then place a bowl under the group and lift the handle and let the water drain out best I can. Do I need to pour water out of the boiler from the top into the sink, once it has cooled down? Or can water stay in the boiler for a few days? What do you all do?

Just curious if there is a best method for these types of tasks?

Thanks!

Personally, I leave my water in the boiler.

As long as your water isn't too hard then it will not harm the machine reusing the water. Flushing the grouphead and steam wand will also help prevent clogs.

After the last shot is pulled and with the machine still hot, raise the handle momentarily and allow perhaps 10 -20 mL of water to run into a large cup. Take a rameken filled with water and place it tight against the bottom of the group. Raise the handle up and down about half way a few time to flush out the inside of the group. Remove the ramekin and dry the bottom of the filter screen with a towel. You might consider running a brush around the O ring around the filter screen to remove the last coffee.

Remove the drip tray and grill from the base. Clean them carefully. Wipe the metal base very very thoroughly removing all traces of espresso. Espresso is extremely corrosive. You can look around this thread and find out what happens when people do not carefully do this!!!!! (After some damage their machines by failure to clean them they seem to want to sell them on ebay and other places.)

If your water produces scale do something different. Producing scale is NOT an offering to the Gods of coffee to produce a better product. When you use scale producing water its composition is constantly changing as scale precipitates. There is no need to drain the machine after each use because you are constantly adding new water to the top and taking it out when you pull shots. Check after use to be sure that the water in the reservoir is clear and is not coloured. If coloured there is something wrong!!!! Even if the water you use does not produce scale, check the local water company to be sure that its chloride content is very low. Chloride enhances corrosion a LOT.

Thank you ! all good advice

Being that the quality of water is of critical importance, I went to see how the local Charlotte water scored for chlorine.

Franklin √ 1.22 (0.76-1.74) MRDL=4 MRDL Water additive
Vest √ 1.21 (0.87-1.53) G=4 used to control
Lee Dukes √ 1.19 (0.66-1.77)

I am not sure which treatment plant my water comes from.....but they all have similar values. From a coffee making perspective, is this good or bad?

what else should I be looking for?

I use Samsung filtered (refrigerator) water for all our drinking and coffee.