My theory to explain your differences in shots between situation 1 and 2 is that in situation 1, the portafilter, basket and other exterior parts of the group are not fully warmed up yet. In situation 2, they are. I do not expect the temperature display to be able to take this into account.

Anecdotally, my warmed up morning shots are very similar to my ad hoc mid day shots so long as I let the machine sit for 10 min or so after it has fully woken from sleep mode.

To the OP. Sometimes I flush out of utility. In the morning I make a latte so I flush the group for a second onto my rag to make cleaning the steam tip easier. Otherwise, I don't bother because I haven't found that it makes a significant difference.

lancealot wrote:To the OP. Sometimes I flush out of utility. In the morning I make a latte so I flush the group for a second onto my rag to make cleaning the steam tip easier. Otherwise, I don't bother because I haven't found that it makes a significant difference.

Same here ^^

I have the one cup button programmed for a 5 sec. flush.

I don't flush before brewing, I think I did it once but I find it a hassle to then have to wipe before I pull a shot and then wipe again after I pull a shot to flush the leftovers on the screen.

You guys know if you press and hold manual brew button you go into the "manual" PI mode but if you press and hold the programmable brew button like the 1 cup it will stop as soon as you release. I guess it's made to do that for flushes. I do that as I'm walking over the sink for example so that it does the 1-2 second flush I need and then when I come back (2 steps) I dry the PF and drip tray right away.