Depressurizing the Saeco pressurized portafilter - Page 2

#11: Post by **toenail** » October 9th, 2011, 10:17 am

erics wrote:No . . . although I do believe opinions will vary .

This espresso machine was designed to function well with a wide variety of coffee grinds, including those you might purchase preground, e.g. Illy, LaVazza (sp?) and others.

Should you really desire to experiment, a "standard" portafilter is available from this source: http://www.partsguru.com/SaecoPortafilters.html rather than modify your existing equipment.

Now, take some of this with a "baby grain of salt" - operating this machine with a standard portafilter will typically drive brew pressures into the neighborhood of ~13 bar in order to obtain the output you desire. This high pressure, in and by itself, has been shown to lessen the quality of the product.

Just curious, do you know who did these measurements and is there reference to it online somewhere? I understand the theory behind it but have seen some pretty good shots come from my modded Saeco Aroma while the pump is on the verge of stall for the majority of the pull. I'm assuming that puts me at lest at the 13 bar range if not higher by your earlier "grain of salt" statement. I'm trying to get my head around how the shots could taste so good and have such amazing body under these circumstances.

http://users.rcn.com/erics/ · #12: Post by **erics** » October 9th, 2011, 10:48 am

Sure - see this and the links I listed therein: Brew pressure and its effects on espresso

BUT . . . the above doesn't mean anything because . . .

. . . how the shots could taste so good and have such amazing body under these circumstances.

And, if you really wanted some further reading - Influence of Water Pressure on the Final Quality of Arabica Espresso Coffee. Application of Multivariate Analysis - Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Volume 50, 2002, pp. 7426-7431.

#13: Post by **toenail** » October 9th, 2011, 3:34 pm

Thanks for the "light reading". I've read through the majority of it and understand pretty well the relationship between pressure and result in the cup. I should have been more specific in my quote/question earlier. What I was trying to find was reference to the fact that this particular machine was likely pushing 13 bar with non pressurized portafilter. I know it was originally designed with a "15 bar pump", a fact proudly tossed about in the marketing. Do you know if anyone ever stuck a gauge on it with non pressurized portafilter to see what it's actually doing?

http://users.rcn.com/erics/ · #14: Post by **erics** » October 9th, 2011, 5:55 pm

Do you know if anyone ever stuck a gauge on it with non pressurized portafilter to see what it's actually doing?

No, I do not. It's possible to do - likely via the steam wand - but not much benefit other than info. The ~13 bar is from here:

#15: Post by **toenail** » October 10th, 2011, 12:55 pm

Thank you for that.

November 29th, 2011, 9:56 am

This morning my portafilter was acting up - so I took it apart to clean it, and noticed that the little nub that holds the metal spring broke. I started to freak out, and didn't want to spend $80 on a new part (and no vendors in Canada appear to carry it). I stumbled upon this thread - and you totally saved my life. I removed the plastic parts, reassembled, tamped my coffer (as I usually do anyways) and poured my shot. Thanks very much for this info.

#17: Post by **Saecohacker** » April 10th, 2012, 6:13 pm

operating this machine with a standard portafilter will typically drive brew pressures into the neighborhood of ~13 bar in order to obtain the output you desire.

I have depressurized the PF that came with my Saeco Aroma and was wondering if the quoted problem (the machine being driven into the 13 bar range) could be fixed were I to use a pressure gauge and some sort of limiter/controller for the pump, or whether there are other factors that play into driving it up to ~13 bars. Thanks.

http://users.rcn.com/erics/ · #18: Post by **erics** » April 10th, 2012, 6:28 pm

There are no other factors that "come into play" other than pump flow rate (ml/unit time). I would measure the pressure and get a good feel for the taste of the product (as if you haven't already

). Instead of applying an OPV, you could simply bleed off some of the flow via the steam wand and compare the resultant products.

#19: Post by **danthelawyer** » August 22nd, 2012, 1:06 am

Hi. I'm a total novice, but I was so intrigued (and so frustrated with the watery puck I've been getting) that I tried this. But the first shot I pulled was a weak, burnt-tasting failure. What am I doing wrong? Not fine enough grind? Not tamping hard enough?

Thanks!

August 22nd, 2012, 7:09 am

But the first shot I pulled was a weak, burnt-tasting failure. What am I doing wrong? Not fine enough grind? Not tamping hard enough?

Most likely it's your grind. If you went from using a pressurized portafilter to a non-pressurized, you will probably need to buy a new grinder/grind much finer.

What kind of grinder do you have?