I have noticed that after each extraction there is a small pool of water sitting in the middle of the coffee in my portafilter (donut extraction?) and the puck is quite soggy. The extractions are great in milk and a bit sour or bitter (more sour) straight. I know the sourness is a result of low temp, and I have been working on that. It seems that no matter what dosing level I use, tamp pressure or grind, the puck is always still soggy with a bit of pooled water in the middle. On my bottomless porta the extractions seem to be starting nicely and they are thick and look great...taste could be improved for drinking straight, but I am very happy with them in milk. I am just stumped as to why the soggy ending and what I am overlooking.

My boiler pressure is at 9.5 bar and temp is half way between .5 and 1 bar.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

I can only tell you what the problem was for me. I had a Solis 70 for 8 years. No mater what I tried the puck was wet to sometimes soupy. Upgraded to a Astra GA and all the problems disappeared. The pucks from Ms Carmen Astra GA have been dry from day one.
treshell

Don't worry about it. When I grind fine and tamp light, I get a little residual water on top with the consistency of wet sand. Don't read too much into the puck other than the obvious signs of channeling. As long as the shot ran good the consistency of the puck after the shot does not make any difference.

Your stated boiler pressure is a bit on the low side. I know you have been working on that. You may want to tweak it up to one bar. That will shorten your recovery time and slightly increase your temperature which may resolve the sour shot.

As long as the shot ran good the consistency of the puck after the shot does not make any difference.

Great! That makes me feel much better. I will raise up my boiler pressure a bit and see if that will help with the sourness. I have been working with a few different blends, so I have had to make slow progress and tiny changes here and there due to the variances of the roasts. I will be narrowing down my roast preference shortly and be able to better hone things up.

Thanks for the input!

treshell wrote:I can only tell you what the problem was for me. I had a Solis 70 for 8 years. No mater what I tried the puck was wet to sometimes soupy. Upgraded to a Astra GA and all the problems disappeared. The pucks from Ms Carmen Astra GA have been dry from day one.
treshell

The Solis does not have a relief valve. Any residual water must drain through the puck.

Pucks are compost. Full stop.

cafeIKE wrote:Pucks are compost. Full stop.

Nah nah nah nah nah. My buddy is mashing them all together and wrapping them in old newspapers (?!?) and making his own coffee logs to burn in the fireplace. He says is smells like hot coffee when it burns.