Profitec 800 - water temperature from brew head 94C!?

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fdoenz
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#1: Post by fdoenz »

Was surprised to find out that the water coming from the brew head is at 94C...the temp of the boiler is set at 117C! I guess that's still too hot and may explain that up to now I had only one lovely espresso. The explanation of these temps is perhaps the temperature of 22C in my office?
The ideal temp of the water coming out of the brew head should be around 86? Is this correct?
I measured the temp with a certified and calibrated Thermapen from http://www.thermapen.co.uk

coffee-nerd
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#2: Post by coffee-nerd »

Espresso is brewed between 92 and 95 Celsius.
I have my boiler temp at 123 and was also struggling at the beginning. It takes a bit more practice with a spring lever machine.

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Hooah
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#3: Post by Hooah »

fdoenz wrote:Was surprised to find out that the water coming from the brew head is at 94C...the temp of the boiler is set at 117C! I guess that's still too hot and may explain that up to now I had only one lovely espresso. The explanation of these temps is perhaps the temperature of 22C in my office?
The ideal temp of the water coming out of the brew head should be around 86? Is this correct?
I measured the temp with a certified and calibrated Thermapen from http://www.thermapen.co.uk
Hi,
I'm curious how you measured the temp? I'm thinking about getting a thermapen to measure my pro800 also.

Dan

fdoenz (original poster)
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#4: Post by fdoenz (original poster) »

Hi, I held the tip of the thermapen under the shower and flushed with the water...so I guess I rather underestimated the temp? And now with the PID set at 114 I get a reading of about 85-88, and once in the cup around 67-70C

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JohnB.
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#5: Post by JohnB. »

You need to turn the PID up not down as your testing isn't accounting for the heat the group pulls out of the water when it is filled. Get your boiler pressure up to 1.2 bar.
LMWDP 267

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JohnB.
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#6: Post by JohnB. »

Just ran a few quick brew water tests with my dipper using a thermapen. Based on the Scace testing that I've already done I'd say that the temp readings you get running group water onto the thermapen in a cup are approximately 3-4°F higher then the actual peak brew water temp pulling a shot.
LMWDP 267

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pizzaman383
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#7: Post by pizzaman383 »

It is hard to measure temperatures in these heavy group levers. I think it's best to set temperature by taste. Go down until it tastes sour then go up until it is bitter and you will know your working temperature range.
Curtis
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“Taste every shot before adding milk!”

Javier
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#8: Post by Javier »

fdoenz wrote:I guess that's still too hot and may explain that up to now I had only one lovely espresso.
I am curious. What exactly made that "one lovely espresso" that the other instances couldn't? Are the shots too hot?
LMWDP #115

fdoenz (original poster)
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#9: Post by fdoenz (original poster) »

Many thanks for all your inputs, I am happy to say that now the shots are in the average pleasant, I kept the PID at 114 after having again tried 120, but I have the feelings that with higher temps the shots a more bittery, and for the time being I am pretty sensible to bitterness, it's perhaps a learning curve to appreciate the right amount of bitterness, I remember I had also a long time to start enyoing whisky...it's a school!
BTW I got a hand grinder HG-1, because with the Profitec there was too much coffee being lost while single dosing, so I have to start the tuning all over again...but it's an hobby!
And as for the lovely shot I had, well Javier, I do not know, for the moment I am playing I guess with too many variables to single out the reason of the lovely shot...I know, you should always change only one of the steps preparing the shot...