Rancilio Silvia help

[Rigatoni]

Greetings! I'm new the forum and am looking for some helpful tips. I have a Rancilio Silvia and Eureka Specialita grinder, an IMS Baristo Pro 18gram basket, and the stock tamper that came with the Silvia. I adjusted the Silvia's OPV to 9 bar.

Just when I think I'm getting close to getting a decent shot something changes and I seem to be farther off than I thought. It feels like there are too many variables at work to know which to tweak. I'd appreciate some input on the following:

- How many grams should I be putting in the 18 gram IMS Barista Pro basket? I tried 17 and it seemed to be too much, in that there was a mound of ground beans well above the rim of the basket (pre tamp) which required a very hard tamp to become manageable. Something around 16 grams seems to work better. Is there a recommended gram amount for this basket?

- The bolt that holds the shower screen in the group head has a large head, and this sometimes leaves an indentation in the puck. Does that mean I'm using too much ground coffee in the basket?

- If I'm not geting enough flow in my shot within a 30 second time frame, how do I know if this is due to my grind being too fine or my tamp being too hard?

Thanks for your input!

[Nunas]

I think you've almost answered most of your own questions, and have a good idea what to do. It just takes experience after that. 9-bar is the most common pressure cited, so fine there. The dose should not touch the screen for a dry puck, but for a spent puck, it may expand to cause a bit of shower screen/screw head marking. Use the nickle test on the dry puck. Prepare as you do, then put a nickle on it and insert the portafilter into the group, then remove it. If the nickle is depressed, then you don't have enough headspace. As for the flow, the grind has by far more effect than the tamp. The dose also has more effect than the tamp. Choose a tamping pressure anywhere from about 10 to 30 lbs and try to keep it constant. This eliminates the tamp as a variable. Vary the dose and judge the results. Vary the grind and judge the results. But, at first, do only one, not both.

[Rigatoni (original poster)]

Thanks for your input. That's helpful.

[Jeff]

Just when I think I'm getting close to getting a decent shot something changes and I seem to be farther off than I thought.

One of the things that is not well controlled "out of the box" on a Silvia is the brew temperature. It can vary enough to throw off shots a lot. Without spending more money, you can get reasonable repeatability with "temperature surfing". Basically, you time your shot to start the same number of seconds after the light goes out (or turns on, I don't recall which one) so you're at about the same temperature as it cools down from its often too hot peak, but before it reaches its too cool valley and the heater turns on again.

[Rigatoni (original poster)]

I installed an Auber PID today. My barista life is now 1000% improved. I can't say enough how being able to see the boiler temperature improves the workflow, makes things more efficient, and provides me with an overall improved experience.

I have the 18 gram IMS Barista Pro basket and decided to start with 16 grams of beans and go up from there as needed. I was able to get decent shots within the 30 second time frame.

I also think I wasn't tamping hard enough. This seems to be important on the Silvia due to the protruding bolt head on the screw that holds the shower screen.

Next upgrade will be to replace the stock shower screen with the IMS version.

[Jeff]

If that screen lets you use a recessed, flat head screw, it might be worthwhile. Otherwise, you might get better espresso with the money spent on better beans. I've not found a big difference in the cup changing screens on the couple of machines I've messed with in that way. I ended up running my E61 with a generic screen that I'd change out every year or two. On an E61, it's harder to soak the screen weekly as you need to pull the group gasket to remove it.

[Randy G.]

Does Silvia still come with the plastic tamper? if yes, that needs to go.
I have not had to post this in many months, but on my website www.EspressoMyEspresso.com, check out this article: 12 - EASY GUIDE TO BETTER ESPRESSO AT HOME. It answers a lot of your questions and will give you a lot of solutions.

[Rigatoni (original poster)]

Randy - Thanks for posting the link. I will check it out.

Silvia comes with a metal tamper. It's an improvement over the plastic one but it's still challenging to use. For one, although it's designed for a 58mm basket it's a little narrow in diameter relative to the basket. Also, I'm new at this and using a tamper requires some skill--I find it challenging to get a level tamp. I'm looking forward to using a Jack Leveler which should arrive in a few days.