Hey everyone,


I just got my La Pavoni Professional in the mail a few days ago, so far I've been getting decent shots but nothing spectacular. When I pull my shots, one lever pull makes the coffee come out very fast but I don't get enough for a double espresso so I have to pull twice (I don't know if I should be doing that) and my second problem is I get very little crema. I'm using a Kyocera Ceramic Coffee Grinder, Black Cat Espresso roasted on May 2nd and the tamper is the right size for the portafilter. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Max[*]

I had the same problem with my La Pavoni Europiccola...it was too problems combined. The first is I was worrying about overheating so much that I wasn't letting the boiler develop enough pressure to really fill the grouphead with water...thats why I was getting very low shot volume from a single pull. The second problem is that I was grinding too coarse...I'm using a similar hand grinder to yours, the hario mini mill and what I had to do was turn 3 clicks finer to get good crema.

Ok, when I make a coffee tonight I'll try that and see how it turns out. Also, I always steam my milk before I pull my shot. On almost all the videos I've seen with Pavoni's people do it the other way around, is there a reason for that or is that just how they want to do it. Is there any way to know if the machine is too hot?

Steaming milk definitely overheats my machine...I have a thermometer on my group and when I finish steaming it reads around 110°C and I get the correct temperature pulling a shot at 90°....then it seems to heat up to around 95° when the water is going through the coffee.

I use a strip thermometer from Orphan Espresso to tell how hot the group is.

mthilen wrote:Ok, when I make a coffee tonight I'll try that and see how it turns out. Also, I always steam my milk before I pull my shot. On almost all the videos I've seen with Pavoni's people do it the other way around, is there a reason for that or is that just how they want to do it. Is there any way to know if the machine is too hot?

It's because the time from pulling a shot to heating up to steam milk is about 30 seconds. But the time to cool down from steaming milk to where you can pull a shot is more like 3 or 4 minutes. So if you steam the milk first, then by the time you get the machine cool enough to pull a shot, the micro foam is basically shot.

If you pull the shot first, then heat up the machine to steam, you only have to leave the shot sitting for about 60 seconds total.

What I do is flip the machine up to high as soon as I fill the group head and start to apply pressure down. This way, by the time the shot is down, the machine is pretty much ready to steam milk.

Ray

My machine only has one switch unlike the europiccola. So far I've been leaving it on while I'm pulling the shot. Should I be letting the pressure rise and then shutting off the boiler?

mthilen wrote:My machine only has one switch unlike the europiccola. So far I've been leaving it on while I'm pulling the shot. Should I be letting the pressure rise and then shutting off the boiler?

Don't know. I only have experience with the older machines, which have the two stage switch. Hopefully, some one else with a later machine will swing by and comment.

Ray

mthilen wrote:My machine only has one switch unlike the europiccola. So far I've been leaving it on while I'm pulling the shot. Should I be letting the pressure rise and then shutting off the boiler?

No. The new ones have a pressurestat, which switches it off and back on again for you.

Concentrate on getting good fresh coffee, grinding fine, tamping relatively lightly, not overdosing and pulling shots that ramp up steadily to a firm pressure and then gradually decline towards the end. If you can, get a bottomless portafilter to benefit from a visual check that your distribution is allowing you to to obtain an even extraction.

Cheers

Mike

I'll chime in- for reference, I replaced my pro with an e61hx machine, but the best shots pulled on the pro were some of the best shots I've pulled.

What I learned during my time with the pro: The machine wants to overheat, so you have to manage temps carefully to get the best espresso. The goal is to use the grouphead, at close-to-room temperature, to cool boiling water before it hits the puck. Once your grouphead is too hot too touch, the machine has overheated. You should be able to make 2 excellent drinks in this time span.... maybe 3.

Adjust your pstat low as recommended. (I seem to recall .8?)

Turn the machine on 10 minutes before you make your coffee (not more or less)- just enough for it to get up to pressure, but not long enough for the grouphead to absorb any heat.

If pulling multipe shots, rinse your PF under cool water and towel dry before dosing.

Pull shots first (while the grouphead is cool) then steam milk- milk doesn't care what the machine temp is, espresso does.

BEFORE locking the PF into the group head, pull the lever up until you hear a quick "slurp"- then lower just a bit, THEN lock in the PF. This way you aren't pulling air through your coffee puck.

"one and a half" Fellini move worked great for me.

Agree that bottomless portafilter, a bean scale (weigh per dose!) and the single hole steam tip are all very worthwhile.

Hope that helps...

I have a Pav Pro and use it differently then many. I set the p stat high (1.3) but brew shots at .8.
How?
I too am a pressure stat. I turn the machine off at .8 and then pull my shot, while pulling the shot I turn it back on.
Why?
So that when I need to steam I'm at 1.3 bar and have lots of pressure.
This is just my way, but really the brew temp is only one issue, beans/grind/roast are paramount.