How to dose in Rancilio Silvia / bottomless portafilter

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badperson
Posts: 159
Joined: 13 years ago

#1: Post by badperson »

Hi,
as per another thread on this forum:

Rancilio Silvia drips around edge of portafilter

I swapped out my old gasket and replaced with new. I also bought a new bottomless portafilter. I usually weigh out a shot before grinding (handy when I want to a/b beans), with the old portafilter, I would weigh out 14/15g then grind. This new basket is bigger and with 18/19g when tamped turns into a little wafer of a puck.

Just wondering if I'm doing that right and if you have any dosing recommendation.
bp

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HB
Admin
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Joined: 19 years ago

#2: Post by HB »

The "Newbie Introduction to Espresso" series of videos was created specifically for those new to making espresso at home. In addition to watching these videos, I strongly urge newbies to spend an evening with the site's Recommended Reading outlined in the FAQs and Favorites Digest. These resources address practically every problem and every question you'll encounter in the first three months as a home barista.

To your specific question, it sounds like you have a triple basket. I would try 17/18 grams and then follow How to Adjust Dose and Grind Setting by Taste. I wouldn't worry about the extra clearance the deep basket provides, since the Rancilio Silvia likes lots of headspace to help with water diffusion. From the Quick Mill Silvano Review:
HB wrote:Below are two extractions using two different baskets. The first was pulled to typical double brew ratios, the second was a tight ristretto.
Extraction using VST 18 grams basket

The above shot probably should have been cut off a few seconds earlier; I was a little distracted by the extra steps required for video production. Video critiques aside, the extraction started with nicely even beading and showed minor signs of channeling starting around the 23 second mark.

For the next video, I switched to a larger Faema-style basket. They're rounded towards the bottom and are known for being tolerant of dosing variance. This was dosed at the same 17.5 grams as the previous shot; you can see that it beads more slowly due to the extra headspace and also pours more slowly. While the first was firmly in double espresso territory, the second is a ristretto as evidenced by the slower development, longer overall pour time, and lower final volume.
Extraction using Faema-style 20+ grams basket
HB wrote:The screw didn't cause the channeling, it indicated the puck clearance was insufficient. The Rancilio Silvia, in my experience, demands extra headspace to allow the water to more evenly diffuse over the surface of the puck prior to full pressurization.

From Rancilio Silvia Review
Generally speaking, espresso machines with less-than-perfect diffusion benefit from extra headroom. The Rancilio Silvia is the poster child for this situation.

BTW, you should give the site's forum search tips a try. There are many, many discussions of every nuance of operation of the Rancilio Silvia. It may take you 10-15 minutes of searching to find just the right one for your situation, but if you do a bit of homework, you'll ask more informed questions and members won't feel obligated to answer the same question that's been asked and answered 10x before.
Dan Kehn

badperson (original poster)
Posts: 159
Joined: 13 years ago

#3: Post by badperson (original poster) »

thanks so much for the reply, I've been spending lots of time practicing, searching the site as you suggest (sorry not to have been more thorough before) and in case anyone else comes across this, I have been getting pretty good results using

triple basket bottomless portafilter
Rancilio silvia
compak k3 grinder

by dosing 23g beans into the hopper, slight adjustments on grind/dose from there. Some minor channeling in some cases, but assuming distribution is good that problem has really not resurfaced for me.

My shots are also now MUCH closer to the shots I get at good cafes, so that has been good.

Is that dose similar to what other folks use?
thanks!
bp