Hi, I am just getting started with non pressurized baskets and I am choking my machine.
I am working with a Breville Infuser and a Smart grinder pro and I just don't get if I am failing at a point in the process or my coffee beans are just wrong or what.
This is what I am doing: grind fresh beans on a setting from 7 to 20. tamping with some strength, using the razor to achieve the right level of coffee in the basket, and polishing with the tamp. Doing so, I find it very hard not to choke my machine. Could I be overtamping? could it be the coffee beans?
I was assuming that the infuser would easily pull a shot from a grind as fine as 7. Would that be possible or should I grind coarser for this machine?

Why not weigh your beans? The basket will be rated for a weight. Maybe you are packing in too much.

mateomazzini wrote:Hi, I am just getting started with non pressurized baskets and I am choking my machine.
I am working with a Breville Infuser and a Smart grinder pro and I just don't get if I am failing at a point in the process or my coffee beans are just wrong or what.
This is what I am doing: grind fresh beans on a setting from 7 to 20. tamping with some strength, using the razor to achieve the right level of coffee in the basket, and polishing with the tamp. Doing so, I find it very hard not to choke my machine. Could I be overtamping? could it be the coffee beans?
I was assuming that the infuser would easily pull a shot from a grind as fine as 7. Would that be possible or should I grind coarser for this machine?

Welcome Mateo!
You have come to the right place for help. So many great home baristas here, and I am far from that. The little help I can provide says the short answer to your questions are yes and yes. Now let's move on...by fresh beans what exactly are you saying? Make sure you are using freshly roasted beans about 7 days off the roast. As far as tamping, read the current chatter here about tamping, but bottom line...if your grind in right, your distribution in good, and your puck is level then a light tamp will do. Your dose should be okay since you use the "razor" to trim. Once upon a time I used this tool since I own a BDB 920XL. Over time, you learn to eyeball it and then the tool gets placed in the drawer.
Keep trying and enjoy the journey!

Thanks a lot for your quick replies! I do think that my lack of skills is the most probable culprit. I bought the beans yesterday from Union Coffee in Montreal, and they roast their coffee so although I didn't check the "roast on" date, I believe in their freshness. As for the way I'm doing the tamping and dosing, I'm aiming to a 16g dose on my 54 diameter basket and I would like to try as finer the grind as possible, which rule should I follow? the finer the grind the light the tamp should be?
So many questions, I know... I find the process very inconsistent... sometimes the shot goes well and sometimes with the same values I get bad results. That's why I want to really understand how to do it by the book first.

thanks again!

mateomazzini wrote:This is what I am doing: grind fresh beans on a setting from 7 to 20. tamping with some strength, using the razor to achieve the right level of coffee in the basket, and polishing with the tamp. Doing so, I find it very hard not to choke my machine. Could I be overtamping? could it be the coffee beans?
I was assuming that the infuser would easily pull a shot from a grind as fine as 7. Would that be possible or should I grind coarser for this machine?

Some simple rules for starting out:
1. Make sure you have good quality, freshly roasted coffee beans.
2. Select a coffee dose for your basket, and use a scale (0.1g resolution) to weigh your grinds. 16-18g is good dose range for many double baskets. (Toss out the Razor tool. At best, it prevents massive overdosing.)
3. Distribute coffee grinds as evenly as possible in the basket.
4. Aim for a level tamp. Any tamp pressure over a few pounds is fine, just be consistent. I don't believe it is possible to overtamp.
5. Pick a brew ratio, and adjust grind until you hit this brew ratio in 25-30 seconds of extraction. Brew ratios of 67-50% (2:3 to 1:2) are good for most espresso roasts. (For example, a 16g dose should extract 24g espresso at a 2:3 ratio, and 32g espresso at a 1:2 ratio. Use your scale to weigh the espresso; do not measure by volume.) Ideally, the extraction should blond as the shot ends.

This approach should put you in the right ballpark, as far as shot mechanics are concerned. Then (and only then) should you start adjusting grind, dose, brew temperature, etc. for taste.

nice!, time to practice now and see what I can pull off. really useful tips, thanks a lot.