It really depends on your machine, and coffee. My machine has an inclining temperature profile after 30 seconds. At the 40 second mark the temperature is starting to shoot up very fast. If I ran a 60 second shot I would be burning the coffee.

h3yn0w wrote:Now I'm intrigued about what happens if I go longer? 50 seconds? I'm feeling nervous. 55? the thought is frightening. 60 seconds ... *gulp*

A 50 plus second pull? On what and for what purpose? Why overcook your spaghetti when you know you're going to get mush?

Now do I have the guts to venture beyond 40 seconds? And if not, can I still consider myself a man? These are the questions I must ask myself.

Plato with a coffee machine . Give it a shot but i don't think you will doing it too often after. I quite often get a tasty 40 second shot out of my Aurora but after that the group is heating so rapidly there is just bitterness.

I think the machine makes a difference....during very long pulls on my pre-millenium La Pavoni I see the temperature on my group strip thermometer drop quite a lot...as much as 5°C.

I go past the minute mark all the time. Quite the contrary to overcooked, if you are looking to mellow out any acidity or brightness and capitalize on sweetness than a long (in time) pull is a great way to go.

I was surprised by the results when I first tried it. The results are not very intuitive, so its best to just give it a try and enjoy it.

DrDregs wrote:A 50 plus second pull? On what and for what purpose? Why overcook your spaghetti when you know you're going to get mush?

To discover that you aren't actually getting mush, but fatter juicer noodles that retain good Bolognese sauce better instead of letting it all slide off your fork?

I was actually pretty clear in the initial post that the result was not bad, did not suck, and was, in fact, pretty darned good. In no way did it resemble mushy pasta.

The real question, at this point, is why, (after all the testimonials pointing at how it doesn't suck) haven't you tried it yourself?

I'm using a two group HX, and it's working well for me. Works pretty well on the MyPressi too, though

Psyd wrote:I was actually pretty clear in the initial post that the result was not bad, did not suck, and was, in fact, pretty darned good. In no way did it resemble mushy pasta.

Well bully for you.

I never said I hadn't tried it, I said over 40 seconds and the group is still heating up so the extraction at the 60 second mark is bitter. Overwhelmingly so. Maybe my old Aurora just isn't up to it. Come to think of it the E98 wasn't either - nor the Gaggia D90 two group and certainly not the Elektra.

Must be my hand. Good it works for others though.

Anyway I'm off to have my dinner - al dente pasta.

I've done the 45 second route by accident sometimes. I just wait for it go blond. It is almost always a very lovely shot.