I have a scale now.
I checked it against known weight for accuracy and zeroed it before use.
I weighed my ground coffee in my portafilter at 16gms for a double.
Tamped and brewed as usual.
I weighed my coffee coming out.
I stopped at 32gms.
I only had 44ml at my goal weight of 32gms, short of 60ml for my typical double shots.

I can't put more coffee in the portafilter, so how do I solve the missing shot volume?

I don't chase time, volume or ratios... more importantly how did it taste? Quality trumps quantity.

Bitter. However, my SBDU has always been hard to control for extraction temps. I have the temp drop from 94c down to 88c, even 85c some times, during extraction. However, I have had some good tasting coffees even despite that. But this time is wasn't good. Maybe the extra water would've made a difference? I still had 8 seconds left on my shot timer when i stopped it.

My Vetrano 2B just got here today, so hopefully the temp issues will be a thing of the past.

goalerjones wrote:I weighed my ground coffee in my portafilter at 16gms for a double... I weighed my coffee coming out. I stopped at 32gms.
I only had 44ml at my goal weight of 32gms, short of 60ml for my typical double shots.

I can't put more coffee in the portafilter, so how do I solve the missing shot volume?

There is no "missing shot volume". Espresso is considerably less dense than water, due to crema. Did you ever weigh your 60ml shots? Extrapolating from your measurements, they probably weighed about 44g. This means your brew ratios were 16/44 = 36%, squarely in lungo territory. Perhaps you prefer lungos. If so, then try to extract 44g of espresso. But if your goal is a normale (50% brew ratio), then the 32gm beverage weight is correct for a 16g dose of coffee, regardless of volume.

Because volume is hard to measure accurately, weight-based brew ratios make it easier to get consistent results. I suggest you pick a brew ratio, stick with the scale, and ignore volume.

Enjoy your new machine.

Volume calculation is not accurate for several reasons. Some beans produce more yield than others, so if you adjust your parameters for 60ml, you can get very different results, depending of the beans you are using. Some beans, for the same weight, will need completely different parameters to get the same flavor profile, but your yield in ml won't be the same. You are missing it with volume calculation in this case.

Crema also takes a lot of space, but water weighs a lot more than crema. And again, it's all about bean type and roasting. Your same bean at 3 days past roasting date and 10 days past roasting date will not produce the same yield, and not the same amount of crema, so your cup will end up with more or less water in it. Maybe at day 3 you were grinding at 5 to get 60ml with a cup 2/3 full of crema, and at day 10 you will need to grind at 2 to get the same results in ml. But taste will be completely different.

By weight, you get all the goods for consistency. And preparation judging by taste will be way more easy, especially if you change your bean type very often. You also will be able to dial-in your shots more accurately depending of the age of your beans, and get the maximum taste of them anytime in the degasing process.

Hope this helps.

Renegade wrote:Volume calculation is not accurate for several reasons...
Hope this helps.

Yes, very much. I make Grande sized lattes and take then with me to work. So I've been mistakenly attributing volume to caffeine content. When I did that test the other day, and got only 44ml rather than the 60ml i was used to, I assumed there wasn't enough coffee in my coffee.

If I understand correctly, the lower volume still has the same amount of coffee, and just more water to blend with it.