Just tried mine at 231 and it seemed like the pull was thin, but didn't taste it as it was a shot for the wife's latte. I turned it back down to 221 as the temp I was getting on my grouphead adapter looked pretty high. Just wish I could rent a scace!

networkcrasher wrote:I turned it back down to 221 as the temp I was getting on my grouphead adapter looked pretty high. Just wish I could rent a scace!

Eric's E61 thermocouple adapter converges on the same brew temperature a Scace would register during the last 10 seconds. You could calibrate simply by pulling garbage shots through the same puck, noting the temperature around the 20 second mark. From Monitoring Brew Temperature using E61 thermocouple adaptor:


Temperature within the valve chamber exit (blue) versus thermofilter (red)

Thanks Dan! I don't think I have ever seen that graph. Definitely will keep that in mind now to dial in my temp.

According to Stefano the temperature differential between the readout and the grouphead is 22 degrees F. So a reading of 223 equals 201F.

I bought my VBM double from Stefano and he has been just fantastic. The transaction was flawless and he replies promply and fully to any questions.

Jerry

I've heard the same thing from Jim at 1st-line, and have heard many good things about Stefano as well. Either way I'd be happy dealing with either vendor as they are great with pre and post sale support.

I set mine back to 221 and am waiting on it to equalize this afternoon, so I'll see how that does. I just changed it back to *F after having it on *C for quite a long time, so I'm kind of testing myself over again.

HB wrote:Eric's E61 thermocouple adapter converges on the same brew temperature a Scace would register during the last 10 seconds. You could calibrate simply by pulling garbage shots through the same puck, noting the temperature around the 20 second mark

Repeated shots on the same puck works for two shots max. Better idea to buy a bag of cheap supermarket coffee and use that for no taste temp studies.

FWIW, 223°F works nicely with a short, couple of seconds, screen clean flush before building the shot if you like shots a l'Italiano.

The PID displayed temperature is relevant ONLY if the machine has sat for a while and the brew circuit is in equilibrium. A very slight breeze across the group from an open lite or A/C system can cool the group by a couple of degrees, the boiler PID indicating set point all the while.

cafeIKE wrote:FWIW, 223°F works nicely with a short, couple of seconds, screen clean flush before building the shot if you like shots a l'Italiano.

I'm curious what this means

So far results in the cup are better @ 223 than @ 234. I think I may be able to grind even finer still and tamp lighter, but I am gaining on getting much better results.

Certainly the syrupy/creaminess of my shots are consistently better, and color is darker - Both of these are massive improvements. I think after I got the grinder "set" in the ballpark anyway I've only pulled one suspect shot, but that was sold cold for some reason that it was "broken"... No reason I know of for that.

buzzmc wrote:but that was sold cold for some reason that it was "broken"... No reason I know of for that.

My guess is thermosyphon stall. Did you happen to have the 2nd boiler on, then turn it off, then pull the shot after x amount of time? Sometimes when I turn off the steam boiler and watch my TC grouphead adapter, I'll note the thermosyphon stalls at about 140* after a period of time.

buzzmc wrote:I'm curious what this means

a l'Americano : coarse grind, massive over dose, lot's of futzing, gorilla tamp, hot +200°F shots.

a l'Italiano : find grind, lower dose, light tamp, cooler ~195°F shots.