Ola cannonfodder

I wanted to ask you do you weigh your dose before grinding or after? I started to use a small electronic scale (+-0,5g) and I'm weighing before grinding as I find it less messy and simply easier. I know that some coffee may stay inside of the grinder, but I'm using a simple method (and a nice MDF mod) to get 99% coffee out. I wonder what's your technique.

Cheers,
dsc.

I weight in the portafilter after the grind. I put my portafilter on the scale, do a tare to zero it, grind and dose, weigh, level and tamp. Normally I skip the scale, after a few months of practice you will just know when it is right. I know if I overdosed or under dosed the second the tamper touches the coffee.

Weighing the whole portafilter? My scale only handles 500 grams, so I tare the basket and weigh it again after dose / distribute / tamp. Thanks to Andy's brewing ratio idea, I'm doing the same thing for the cup too.

Great information for beginners like me!


Thanks!

Fabulous idea.... videos are so much more informative than the typical naked portafilter pictures. Snapped at the right moment, even a crappy pull can look good.

Thanks for the video documentation --- this will become a well read "how to" when you finish.

- Tom

HB wrote:Weighing the whole portafilter? My scale only handles 500 grams, so I tare the basket and weigh it again after dose / distribute / tamp. Thanks to Andy's brewing ratio idea, I'm doing the same thing for the cup too.

My scale goes up to 5 pounds.

Unless you remove the retaining spring from the portafilter, or use a ridgeless basket, the 'snap!' from popping it back in the portafilter will kill your tamp, and it is just one more step to fiddle with. So I just do the entire portafilter.

Based on my response to an earlier post of yours (about said A3) you just rubbed salt in my steam wand burn.

Really, I don't have a steam wand burn.

But I might as Elektra's wand is located on the WRONG side of the machine for me.

Those vids were GREAT. As another poster pointed out, espresso porn and naked portafilter poses can be shot at just the right time with a digital camera, its really helpful seeing the extraction in it's entirety.

Helpful not just for the Elektra, but for anyone trying to dial in a new bean or machine. My roaster ran out of my usual, so I made a big change from easy indonesian coffees to his house espresso blend.

I got a pound on Wednesday of coffee he roasted on Monday and was back again yesterday for another pound. I'm pulling drinkable shots, but what came really easily before, is much harder now. I've referred to Chris Tacy's guide here a bunch this week, but seeing those vids just gave me a ton of insight. There is a lot going on and having the timing to refer to is wonderful.

How many ounces are your good doubles? Have you tried any triples?

After watching you steam milk... That was mean! Just for that you have to go use my old Saeco for milk steaming now (just kidding).

So much for studying for my microbiology quiz today... I overrode the timer on Anita so I'm gonna go down and make a lot of sink shots now.

Oh, having been through a few kitchen scales as of late, the little Salton gram scale I've got is pretty good.

Lastly - is Elektra THAT quiet? WOW!

Ann

I have been out on business for a few days and have been eagerly anticipating my return home and a day with the Elektra. As luck would have it, as I arrived home and got out of the car, the delivery man arrives at the same time with a package of Espresso Toscano from Counter Culture.

So I ran my usual Saturday cleaning routine and made a very small pump adjustment. I was running just over 9 bar, around 9.3, I adjusted it down to 8.9 and pulled some wonderful shots. So I broke out the camera one more time. Call it performance anxiety or stage fright, but every time I get out the camera my shot is a little off. Once again, the extraction is favoring the front of the portafilter, but it was a good shot. Not my best, but still better than 98% of the cafe's out there.

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I forgot to add that I am still using the same headspace as noted earlier in the thread, around 16 grams.

annp wrote:How many ounces are your good doubles? Have you tried any triples?

After watching you steam milk... That was mean! Just for that you have to go use my old Saeco for milk steaming now (just kidding).

So much for studying for my microbiology quiz today... I overrode the timer on Anita so I'm gonna go down and make a lot of sink shots now.

Lastly - is Elektra THAT quiet? WOW!

Ann

1.75-2oz

I love a big boiler

It has been a long time since I had a biology class

Yes, it is even quieter than the video. The camera jacks up the microphone gain because it is so quiet. So what you hear is slightly distorted.

I decided to video this morning's cappuccino before I headed out for church. This also shows the headspace using a Reg tamper and frothing a 'normal' amount of milk.

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