genecounts wrote: About 10 years ago bought a calibrated thermometer from Eric out in Maryland for $21.00 plus shipping. It is still humming right along with very accurate instantaneous temp readings. Sorry don't recall his contact info.
gene

I also purchased the thermometer from erics who frequently posts to HB forums.

Katoci wrote:I'm not a big fan of the temp strips either, eventhough my coffee corner is well lit from above I need a flashlight to be able to read it properly, but if you look at the neighbouring fileds too, based on the 3 field colours you can say the bell temp with a 8-10 F (2-3 C) accuracy. A more precise, yet not very expensive thermometer would be better of course. Can you post a picture of yours (how did you fixed, placed ...)

This is what the thermometer looks like up close...



I used two of my daughter's hair ties and ran the thermometer wire under them to hold it to the group bell housing. This is an accurate reading of the group bell housing and provides a relative temperature to guide you in a starting your pull. It is easily readable and easily attaches to the Cremina frame with two small magnets. Here is what it looks like from afar...



When I bought this a few years ago, my shots improved immediately. I would feel like I am pulling blind without it.

Your cremina setup looks very efficient and effective buddman. I just ordered a temp strip but would like to get one of these thermometer as well as it looks like it will be more accurate. Can you post info on how I can get one and also where did you get that mirror too? Thanks.

If you do a search for "erics" you can PM him to get a thermometer. Small disc magnets can be had at a local hardware store. I don't know where my daughter gets her hair scrunchies. I think a search on amazon of "magnetic based mirror" should bring up several items that would work.

ok, I have my temp strip setup and a 30 lb calibrated tamper...
The beans, roasted in January, the other bag has no roast date, so Whole Latte Love will not be my source for fresh beans.
The list posted earlier on this thread should help.

Anyway, the grouphead temp increased to around 176 after a flush, so I prepared a few shots.
One with the single basket, and two with a double basket.
The single produced 17ml, and the double 27ml, which seems a bit low.

The time was probably too quick as well. Once I got some water in the pf and it started flowing, there was little I could do to slow it down.
The shots had a bit of crema, but were too sour, probably worthy of the sink.

I've watched the video where a few slight up and down motions can build up pressure before releasing water through pf.
But when I try this, the water starts coming out with the first up motion, and can't be stopped.
Any suggestions where to go back to the beginning with this machine?

Beans roasted in January? It is March last time I checked. I'd be happy to send you a bag of Luna roasters espresso ottimo on my next pickup. Fresh beans are critical and a good grind.

I can build pressure at the top. First the late lock-in and short pumps at the top. Be happy to do a Skype or a FaceTime to show you from my Cremina.

woodmakesitgood wrote:ok, I have my temp strip setup and a 30 lb calibrated tamper...
The list posted earlier on this thread should help.

Anyway, the grouphead temp increased to around 176 after a flush

I've watched the video where a few slight up and down motions can build up pressure before releasing water through pf.
But when I try this, the water starts coming out with the first up motion, and can't be stopped.
Any suggestions where to go back to the beginning with this machine?

The beans are a bit old, but you can't blame them for all of your issues. What grinder do you use? Most likely you need to grind finer. A lot finer. If by lifting the lever, water starts flowing through the puck, and your tamping is right (having a calibrated tamper I suppose it is) you must grind finer. Up and downs movements of the lever helps to get a larger volume shot, but have no influence on the actual brewing time/flow.

Katoci wrote:What grinder do you use? Most likely you need to grind finer. A lot finer.

+1
The grind is of utmost importance in slowing the flow of water through the puck. If you read through a number of posts on HB, you will get a feel for why the grinder takes on so much importance. Do let us know what grinder you are using and if you can get the beans to be ground much finer than they are now.

There a so many variables to attempt to control in getting a good shot. You have done a good job on many of them. Once the grind issues are taken care of, you can zero in on the age of the beans and temperature of the shot. I would agree that your beans are still too old. I like using beans a week or two post roast. Some are still good up to a month old, but much past that, I will not use them for espresso. As far as temperature goes, depending on the type of beans and/or darkness of roast, I will often begin my shot between 180 and 185 degrees F.

Keep on pushing through this, it is worth the effort,

I have a Eureka MDMCA grinder 65mm, basically a rebadged Nuova Simonelli MDX
I've been experimenting with the grind, and still have room to go finer.
Are we looking for powdered sugar consistency here?

No. That's Turkish coffee what needs coffee powder. You need to go finer step by step, until the flow is good. You will waste some coffee (maybe a lot of coffee), but that's part of the learning process. Try to check the grinder description, how to find the espresso range. They usually give some advice in the manual (if you don't have the manual, try to find it online, or check the grinders forum).

Still at it...
I have been using the temp strip, but can really only tell that the temp is above 190, with the understanding that these strips have some inherent error. So I decided to measure the outlet water temp directly using a pen thermometer, and I'm seeing around 190. So the temp being too low doesn't seem to be the problem.

Next, I've worked on a few combinations of grind and level of tamping.
The best result was the finest grind used so far, and a not very strong tamp.
I backed off the calibrated tamper before reaching 30lb.

The beans are Sweet Maria decaf Ethiopian that I roasted two weeks ago.
Most of the shots had a sourness to them that I don't care for.
Could the beans not be suited for espresso? They taste fine in my regular brewed coffee.

I thought that the water temp must be too low, but it isn't...so it might be the brew time is too fast.
I'm using 12-13g in the basket, and getting 1.5ml for the shot.
The least sour shot was one that I used a few pumps to build pressure and barely exerted any force to move the lever down.
How to extend the contact time?