Hi,

I have the Elektra Semi Automatica espresso machine, standard 58mm portafilter with double basket.

How much ground espresso do you recommend using in the double basket, I've heard anything from 14.5 up to 18 grams of coffee.

Just thought I would ask the experts, thanks in advance for your help.

Anthony

The Elektra group has no headspace over the shower screen, so the dwell time is controlled by the amount of space you leave between the puck and the shower screen. If you are mashing up the puck against the shower screen, or the puck swells into the shower screen, so you see a screw impression, you have overfilled the basket and you will get a poorly extracted shot. For the double basket supplied, the maximum dose is about 16.5 to 17 grams, and I liked medium roasts best dosed at around 16 grams (lighter roasts will require finer grinds and lower doses).

You many run into difficulties using a Strada or VST basket at their recommended dosages, since they don't leave a lot of head space above the puck; but I'm not sure about this.

I use 14g or 15g in the stock double basket, and also a VST-15. Usually lighter roasts.

That's about the upper limit for the VST-15, as with some roasts I will occasionally get puck-stuck-on-shower-screen - a sign of very little headspace. However, I do have a sticky shower screen. (IMS 35um mesh shower screen, chosen to minimize the buildup of grounds in the 3-way solenoid. The same puck/situation wouldn't stick to an IMS 200um.)