Profitec Pro 300 User Experience - Page 29

Need help with equipment usage or want to share your latest discovery?
sambuist
Posts: 137
Joined: 7 years ago

#281: Post by sambuist »

generally the gauge at the portafilter reads about 1bar higher when you don't have any way to release the pressure while brewing. so what you are seeing is normal.

therefore when you put coffee in the portafilter and brew you should be seeing around 9-9.5bar during extraction.

as a side note it is always fun to try the same coffee as different pressures. for example I find that on my LMLM I am running around 7.5 bars for the style I like. I do have to grind a little finer than I would if I was at 9 bar but I feel the shot tastes a little smoother for me.

Stanford55
Supporter ♡
Posts: 137
Joined: 5 years ago

#282: Post by Stanford55 »

I recently ordered this machine and prayed to the espresso gods that it would arrive safely (shipping to/from Hawaii is exorbitant, and there is very little, if any support out here). Thankfully it arrived just fine and I've been very pleased with it thus far. I have an Olympia Cremina and was looking for a simpler, double boiler machine with a small footprint under $2k that didn't have preinfusion or volumetric capability, but that did have PID control; in effect, temp control, consistent 9bar pressure without the song and dance (and versatility) of my Cremina. The 300 has lived up to it's billing.

Aesthetically it has a down-to-business, boxy, utilitarian feel, but with some nice touches. The laser-etched 'P' on the drip-tray, robust switches and smooth steam/hot water knobs, suggest some thought went into the design. If someone had told me it was German made, I would have believed them.

I just got a 5lb bag of Intelligentsia's Black Cat Analog espresso beans. First extraction with this on the 300 had excellent crema and a hint of orange zest and bittersweet cocoa but with the smoky, even ashtray/cigar butt finish many have complained about with this roast. After controlling for the dose and grind (18g in/36g out in 30sec) but raising the temperature from 200 to 203 yielded an entirely different espresso experience. Gone was the ashtray and in was a pleasant balance of chocolate and orange zest; the higher temperature subdued the smokiness and elevated the citrus, which feels counter-intuitive, but who am I to argue with how something tastes. Playing with the temperature was a luxury not easily afforded my Cremina. Steam pressure was relatively anemic, coming in at a pedestrian 45sec. to froth 6oz. of milk, compared to 25sec. with the Cremina; however, I'm the only coffee drinker in the family and don't mind waiting, in fact, it's a bit easier to texturize the milk when it's not so powerful.
I'm looking forward to experimenting with the various strengths and weaknesses of these two machines; so far, I'd say they compliment each other very well.

checkers3333
Posts: 6
Joined: 3 years ago

#283: Post by checkers3333 »

Has anyone run a continuous steam test on the Pro 300 like in this video of the Pro 500 from WLL?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFButNxsP-Q

I'm curious where it would bottom out if you started with it set to 1.4 bar. Sometimes I steam 15-20oz to pour 3 or 4 drinks at once and I'm thinking of upgrading to the Pro 300 or Pro 600 from the Breville Infuser. Most of the time I'm steaming 8-12oz so I think either way the Pro 300 would probably still be a step up in steaming from the Infuser.

heytchap
Posts: 383
Joined: 3 years ago

#284: Post by heytchap »

Stanford55 wrote:I recently ordered this machine and prayed to the espresso gods that it would arrive safely (shipping to/from Hawaii is exorbitant, and there is very little, if any support out here). Thankfully it arrived just fine and I've been very pleased with it thus far. I have an Olympia Cremina and was looking for a simpler, double boiler machine with a small footprint under $2k that didn't have preinfusion or volumetric capability, but that did have PID control; in effect, temp control, consistent 9bar pressure without the song and dance (and versatility) of my Cremina. The 300 has lived up to it's billing.

Aesthetically it has a down-to-business, boxy, utilitarian feel, but with some nice touches. The laser-etched 'P' on the drip-tray, robust switches and smooth steam/hot water knobs, suggest some thought went into the design. If someone had told me it was German made, I would have believed them.

I just got a 5lb bag of Intelligentsia's Black Cat Analog espresso beans. First extraction with this on the 300 had excellent crema and a hint of orange zest and bittersweet cocoa but with the smoky, even ashtray/cigar butt finish many have complained about with this roast. After controlling for the dose and grind (18g in/36g out in 30sec) but raising the temperature from 200 to 203 yielded an entirely different espresso experience. Gone was the ashtray and in was a pleasant balance of chocolate and orange zest; the higher temperature subdued the smokiness and elevated the citrus, which feels counter-intuitive, but who am I to argue with how something tastes. Playing with the temperature was a luxury not easily afforded my Cremina. Steam pressure was relatively anemic, coming in at a pedestrian 45sec. to froth 6oz. of milk, compared to 25sec. with the Cremina; however, I'm the only coffee drinker in the family and don't mind waiting, in fact, it's a bit easier to texturize the milk when it's not so powerful.
I'm looking forward to experimenting with the various strengths and weaknesses of these two machines; so far, I'd say they compliment each other very well.
Just so you know, intelligentsia espresso is meant to be 1:2.5 (18:45).

msg
Posts: 33
Joined: 13 years ago

#285: Post by msg »

I've had my Pro 300 for 2 years. My results are mediocre. Good shots are rarely repeatable.

I started with a combo of the Pro300 + T64. I use a scale. I've invested a lot of time in my technique. Over the summer, I bought a Lagom P64 with the High Uniformity burrs for espresso. My espresso didn't improve. I've tried beans from La Cabra, Olympia, Soul Work, and more. These tend to be lighter roasts. I bought a refractometer. Even when I'm measuring 20% extraction, the espresso lacks sweetness. Across coffees, two grinders, and a lot of time, I can't pull a shot with sweetness. I've tried adjusting temp, up and down. I've switched to an 18G VST basket. I can dial-in an espresso recipe exactly, but my results in the cup are different. The lack of sweetness is consistent across coffees, grinders, etc. The only constants at this point are me or the Pro 300.

I'm considering buying a Decent. Yet, I hear people get great results with the Pro 300. For a long time, I assumed my technique was the problem.

For those of you getting great results with your Pro 300, what kind of beans are you using? What's working for you?

heytchap
Posts: 383
Joined: 3 years ago

#286: Post by heytchap replying to msg »

are you doing the basics like RDT & WDT? They majorly help me. I'm also wondering about the water you're using. If there's too many minerals, your coffee flavor and extraction can wildly swing. Are you using filtered water at minimum? Some diehards here make their own water - that's too involved for me but many swear by it to good results.

makspyat
Posts: 69
Joined: 4 years ago

#287: Post by makspyat »

I got plenty of sweet shots with PP300 and simple Baratza Vario (although I am currently getting Ceado E5SD, but not because Vario is bad, rather because I wanted a dedicated pour over grinder).

These are my favorites:

1. Verve Sermon (which tastes like blueberries)
2. Blue Bottle Hayes Valley
3. Dragonfly Vesuvius (it is a dark chocolaty blend, but there is a point when fruit notes come through).

msg
Posts: 33
Joined: 13 years ago

#288: Post by msg »

heytchap wrote:are you doing the basics like RDT & WDT? They majorly help me. I'm also wondering about the water you're using. If there's too many minerals, your coffee flavor and extraction can wildly swing. Are you using filtered water at minimum? Some diehards here make their own water - that's too involved for me but many swear by it to good results.
Yeah, RDT, WDT. Seattle water is great. But, I'm running it through a filter in addition.

coopachris
Posts: 30
Joined: 3 years ago

#289: Post by coopachris »

I have made some excellent and sweet shots. If this was my machine I would first try making some water using one of the recipes here, even if Seattle water is generally good. Next I would check the pressure and the temperature coming out of the group head.

NerdyMug
Posts: 4
Joined: 3 years ago

#290: Post by NerdyMug »

checkers3333 wrote:Has anyone run a continuous steam test on the Pro 300 like in this video of the Pro 500 from WLL?

video

I'm curious where it would bottom out if you started with it set to 1.4 bar. Sometimes I steam 15-20oz to pour 3 or 4 drinks at once and I'm thinking of upgrading to the Pro 300 or Pro 600 from the Breville Infuser. Most of the time I'm steaming 8-12oz so I think either way the Pro 300 would probably still be a step up in steaming from the Infuser.
I've been a happy user of the Pro 300 for a few years now and have been pleased with its steaming performance for smaller milk drinks up to 8oz. You sometimes have to time it right though so that the machine doesn't start to refill the steam boiler while you are steaming the milk. I mitigate this by pulling some hot water to make the machine refill the steam boiler, then wait a minute for it to come to full pressure. 8oz seems to be the limit when doing this and so to be able to steam bigger drinks I pulled the trigger on a different machine.