Trouble dosing Breville Dual Boiler basket (18 grams?)

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clynch
Posts: 156
Joined: 13 years ago

#1: Post by clynch »

Hi. I am completely bewildered. I have the Breville dual boiler and a Lido E manual grinder (love the Lido). The Breville basket is supposed to hold 18 grams per the manual. I've ground beans from a large grind to the absolute smallest grind I can get on the Lido grinder. I simply can not get 18 grams into the basket. I'm completely perplexed. The best I can get is 17 grams at almost the finest grind I can get on the lido. Shot looks great and tastes excellent. Lots of crema that dissolves into the shot glass in 30 seconds or so. The shots pull in the 28 to 34 second range at 10 bars with with most pulling at 30 seconds. From what I read thats a little quick. I varied the tamp pressure. The best is a firm tamp. Too much pressure at this fine grind and I choke it. Increase the grind size and tamp harder and the shot is underextracted at about 25 seconds. I roast my own beans so I know they are fresh. So, enjoy the 30 second shots with 17 grams and throw out the manual or try ?? to improve it. The shot is pretty good at 30 seconds. Better than anything I can buy in town. I keep wondering what I can do to make it even better.
Charlie

LukeFlynn
Posts: 1293
Joined: 10 years ago

#2: Post by LukeFlynn »

18 grams is just a guideline, if you have really fluffy grinds, it's possible that you won't be able to fit an actual 18 gram dose in there.

Honestly, I prefer the VST ridgeless baskets to the stock BDB basket. HQ-14s are also decent and affordable.

Really though, 17 grams will taste similar to 18 grams if the ratio is persistent.

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clynch (original poster)
Posts: 156
Joined: 13 years ago

#3: Post by clynch (original poster) »

Thank you Mr. Luke. I will follow your advice and buy a vst basket. All I've ever heard on the vst basket has been good. I see there are many vst baskets online. Would you have the exact model you purchased for your Breville? 18gm?
Charlie

LukeFlynn
Posts: 1293
Joined: 10 years ago

#4: Post by LukeFlynn replying to clynch »

I purchased the 18 gram ridgeless basket from Chris' Coffee. Here is a link.

The 18 gram ridgeless fits the BDB PF perfectly. I highly recommend it, it doesn't make the prettiest bottomless pours, but the espresso is very balanced. This goes for all machines though, I think the first thing you should do with any new espresso machine is invest in precision baskets of some sort.

clynch (original poster)
Posts: 156
Joined: 13 years ago

#5: Post by clynch (original poster) »

Just ordered. Thanks. BTW, I went to 17 grams and gave it a good tamp. It pulled at about 12 bars for 40 seconds. Slow and syrupy.
Charlie

clynch (original poster)
Posts: 156
Joined: 13 years ago

#6: Post by clynch (original poster) »

The vst basket made a big difference. The Breville basket gets narrower towards the bottom. You can only tamp so far. The vst has straight sides abd acomodated the 18 grams without issue. Very happy with the purchase. Thanks for the advice.
Charlie