Gaggia Classic dose and distribution
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alexamsel
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 10 years ago
Dear Home-Baristas,
First post here! I just bought a Gaggia Classic (alongside a Rocky Rancilio) and noticed something that is somewhat odd to me. You cannot fill the portafilter basket all the way to the top! If you do that, it touches the brew head screen. Therefore, you cannot do the North Side East West (or 12 6 3 9) technique to achieve an even distribution. I am doing the WDT to avoid clumping and such, but I know that a lot of the channeling I am getting in my shot is because I cannot make sure the grounds are evenly distributed throughout the basket. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any suggestions? Thank you all!
Best,
Alex
First post here! I just bought a Gaggia Classic (alongside a Rocky Rancilio) and noticed something that is somewhat odd to me. You cannot fill the portafilter basket all the way to the top! If you do that, it touches the brew head screen. Therefore, you cannot do the North Side East West (or 12 6 3 9) technique to achieve an even distribution. I am doing the WDT to avoid clumping and such, but I know that a lot of the channeling I am getting in my shot is because I cannot make sure the grounds are evenly distributed throughout the basket. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any suggestions? Thank you all!
Best,
Alex
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amanfredi
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 11 years ago
Hi Alex,
I have a gaggia evolution, not classic, but I think they are similar enough. I had this problem in the past.
A couple thoughts from my experience:
After you grind, the grounds should be fairly fluffy. The degree of fluffiness will depend on the coffee and your specific grinder. When you level and then tamp (whether you do WDT or not), the headspace created will be proportional to the fluffiness of the grounds.
This is why dosing by weight rather than volume is a good idea. If a full basket of grounds doesn't tamp down enough, the finger-swipe leveling technique isn't really a good choice. I use Orphan Espresso's nice portafilter funnel to load my grounds, which also keeps me from flinging coffee everywhere when I stir the grounds with a toothpick for WDT. I use the toothpick to get things more or less level and then tap a couple times to settle the grounds below the portafilter lip before tamping. If your grounds are less fluffy they may be below the portafilter lip when you do this. If you dose by weight, the fluffiness doesn't affect how much coffee you load, and you can adjust your weight to reduce the amount of coffee to the amount that will fit. This might cause you to make your grind a little finer.
Finally, I have found that a lengthy pause for water absorption has eliminated my channeling problems. I start the pump until I see the first drips (a bottomless portafilter helps here, but is probably not necessary). Stop the pump and wait for 10-12 full seconds. Then start the pump again. I tried this first a few days ago and have since had the best shots I've ever made. Previously I was pausing for 4-5 seconds and I guess it wasn't enough.
Good luck,
Anthony
I have a gaggia evolution, not classic, but I think they are similar enough. I had this problem in the past.
A couple thoughts from my experience:
After you grind, the grounds should be fairly fluffy. The degree of fluffiness will depend on the coffee and your specific grinder. When you level and then tamp (whether you do WDT or not), the headspace created will be proportional to the fluffiness of the grounds.
This is why dosing by weight rather than volume is a good idea. If a full basket of grounds doesn't tamp down enough, the finger-swipe leveling technique isn't really a good choice. I use Orphan Espresso's nice portafilter funnel to load my grounds, which also keeps me from flinging coffee everywhere when I stir the grounds with a toothpick for WDT. I use the toothpick to get things more or less level and then tap a couple times to settle the grounds below the portafilter lip before tamping. If your grounds are less fluffy they may be below the portafilter lip when you do this. If you dose by weight, the fluffiness doesn't affect how much coffee you load, and you can adjust your weight to reduce the amount of coffee to the amount that will fit. This might cause you to make your grind a little finer.
Finally, I have found that a lengthy pause for water absorption has eliminated my channeling problems. I start the pump until I see the first drips (a bottomless portafilter helps here, but is probably not necessary). Stop the pump and wait for 10-12 full seconds. Then start the pump again. I tried this first a few days ago and have since had the best shots I've ever made. Previously I was pausing for 4-5 seconds and I guess it wasn't enough.
Good luck,
Anthony
