(pic at end) So after getting overly frustrated with sour bad shots, I decided I had to know what the temp of the water was at certain points in the temp surfing.

I have a single boiler/thermoblock machine at it appears it does NOT over heat the water like a SBDU machine does. Here are some numbers that I registered as I rode the wave of temperatures. Photo of my embarrassing temp gauge solution to follow. I know there will be a loss in temp from the setup, but does it seem my machine is not hitting the idle temp?

Cup and probe were preheated and sitting in a hot PF to help retain heat in the double paper happy birthday cup. Machine had been idle for 2 hours. Boiler size is 325ml.

A) TEST ONE --------------------------------------
Dumped slowly 200ml of water until light turned ON.
0:00 (0min 00sec) - Light ON
1:30 - till light turned off.
1:45 - ran a shot worth of water = 188F
3:00 - ran a shot worth of water = 185F

B) TEST TWO --------------------------------------
Reset timer and allowed machine to idle with light on. (note did NOT dump any water for surf)
0:00 - Light turns off
0:10 - ran a shot worth of water = 193F

C) TEST THREE --------------------------------------
Started timer over with machine at idle and light off.
0:00 Dumped 175ml water slowly till light turned ON
1:25 - Light turns off
1:30 - ran a shot worth of water = 188.8F
2:15 - ran a shot worth of water = 178.8F

Continued to let timer run and allowed boiler to cool on it's own till machine kicked light back ON. Did NOT dump any water.
8:50 - Light turns back ON (can hear water BOILING)
9:45 - Light turns OFF
9:52 - ran a shot worth of water = 194F

D) TEST FOUR --------------------------------------
Reset timer and decided to surf again with light OFF but only a small amount of water.
0:00 - Light OFF, dump 80ml of water
1:15 - Light turns ON
2:20 - Light turns OFF
2:30 - ran a shot worth of water - 189F
3:45 - ran a shot worth of water - 187F

So, that's a lot of numbers. But from what I gather, the machine turns off at a certain set temp and it does NOT super heat (even though sometimes I purge water and it comes out SUPER steamY, spitting, sputtering, but that could be because of decrease in pressure?)

My shots continue to taste just plain bad disgusting. I'm not sure though if I am burning them or with super heated water? I have been pulling shots after dumping and waiting for light to turn off (which would only be the 188F range).

Is my measurement method totally useless and shouldn't bother? I'm still all over the place with grind settings and temp pressure. There seems to be no rhym or reason to any of it. Plus my DIY pressure gauge says 12BAR (with no overflow valve), but I am hesitant to start messing with that.

Man, I wish I knew enough to install a fancy Arduino PID.....

Just starting to get a tad frustrated. I went to intelligentsia today and ordered their house blend espresso and it was $4 and sour. I don't want to pay $4 for sour shots at coffee shops anymore!

First I'll give you Kudos for continued trying!

1) If shot at Intelly' tasted sour should have said something right away. It's possible that was the way they intended to pull it and tasting sour to you by your definition doesn't taste sour to others. It's possible it was a bad pull. Wasn't there, can't say. BUT it will be harder to dial in shots at home without a solid taste baseline.

2) Can't speak to your specific temp readings or how much they'd vary from the water temp at an actual puck. However obviously hottest when heater just goes off. IF that doesn't yield a hot enough shot, and it's not your taste buds off, entirely possible your machine's brew boiler temp sensor is dying turning off too soon.

3) Love the butterflies!

Temps seem reasonable to me, but get the temp sensor right up to the shower screen for more realistic readings.

In any case, I suggest perhaps trying the Mark Prince Rancilio Silvia Shot Walkthrough: http://youtu.be/QhxvDusY3jk It helped me on my first machine (not a Silvia).

I know that you don't have a Silvia, but a boiler is a boiler, and a deadband is a deadband, and you have to get a consistent work flow. Good luck!

Compass Coffee wrote:1) If shot at Intelly' tasted sour should have said something right away.

It wasn't horribly sour, but it was far from perfect. I had already sat down, so I just buried the flavor in my hazelnut croissant. The shots I had the US Coffee Championships kinda ruined my palate

Compass Coffee wrote:3) Love the butterflies!

From my daughters fairy birthday party. I will chop the cup in half to reduce the cooling potential.

baldheadracing wrote:In any case, I suggest perhaps trying the Mark Prince Rancilio Silvia Shot Walkthrough: http://youtu.be/QhxvDusY3jk It helped me on my first machine (not a Silvia).

Thanks, that's basically what I was doing at the start. Slowly releasing water through the extra water spigot (not the group, maybe I should switch that up) till light turns on, waiting till it's off and pulling after releasing some of the heated water (until recently as I thought it was hitting temp correctly or a little under). It was suggested that I dump until light off then count up XX seconds and pull, but the the top-down surf seems to make more sense to me, as the light turning off is more temp consistent then the light turning on.

So back to the drawing board...