slipchuck wrote:I literally felt like throwing everything in the garbage when I first started out



Randy

Thank you!!! You know how it is then - that's definitely where I'm at this week. And it's making me feel a bit like a 3 year old. "I'm just gonna take my ball and go home! waaaah!" haha. I can make a mean artisan sourdough loaf (and it took a few YEARS to get that dialed in), so I know I should cut myself some slack here. This awesome forum wouldn't exist if it were all super super easy. trying to remind myself of that.

I emailed the person who I bought the grinder from who was nice enough to offer some suggestions. He agreed with some of thoughts here around just keep your grinder set for one kind of brew method. and use 2 grinders rather than trying to switch back and forth. I think I need to do that as a way of eliminating that huge variable. (Though I'm genuinely concerned there's something wrong with the grinder. Doesn't seem like it should need to be deep cleaned after just 3 lbs coffee.)

MNate wrote:As long as it's between 20 seconds and 45 seconds or so I'm happy! Sure, if the shot took 45 seconds to get your yield you might grind slightly coarser. But when you say you can't get two shots in a row within .5ounce of each other that must mean your stopping by time... For me that's not the good way to do it.

This is super interesting to me, as everything I've seen talks about the target of time of the boiler running for 25-30 seconds for brewing the shot. The PID functions based on time. It's programmed to pre-infuse for a couple seconds, pause for a couple seconds, then run the boiler for 25 seconds. Those times can be adjusted, but the idea of the shot taking anywhere from 20-45 seconds seems to contradict most of the advice/tutorials, etc. I've read.

That being said, I have weighed some of my efforts. I've never nailed the 2:1 (17g grinds resulting in 34g of espresso), but a I've been within 10g of it a couple magical/mysterious/accidental times. Which isn't saying much really.

Though I have a machine that will auto-stop on weight to a fraction of a gram, I always turn that off when dialing in. I'll stop the shot manually based on the appearance of the bottom of the basket and stream. Then I'll adjust grind or dose to get to the ratio and time I'm targeting. "Time is an output."

Newbie: Flow color vs weight to stop extraction
is a recent discussion of learning how to tell if the shot is "done".


What kind of beans are you using? How old are they?

kmgiants wrote: I've never nailed the 2:1 (17g grinds resulting in 34g of espresso), but a I've been within 10g of it a couple magical/mysterious/accidental times.

You need to put a scale under your glass/cup/mug while pulling your shot, and stop the water flow when you get within a gram or two of your target yield. You will get much more consistent results if you keep the yield constant and let the time vary.

I have a Eureka Mignon Specialita, and I find the extraction time is very sensitive to very small adjustments of the grind dial. It is impossible to know exactly where the dial is set. I can't imagine varying from coarse for brew back to fine for espresso without having to dial in again. So this is another vote for sticking to espresso with your grinder.

I think it is safe to say that there is a learning curve

My first pavoni was put away on and off for 2 to 3 years until we figured it out. Not to discourage

Then we were generally home free. I would second or third staying on espresso or you'll just be fighting the re dial in each time.

mycatsnameisbernie wrote:You need to put a scale under your glass/cup/mug while pulling your shot, and stop the water flow when you get within a gram or two of your target yield. You will get much more consistent results if you keep the yield constant and let the time vary.

Most important piece of advice. Weight the dose and stop the output at the desired weight. Monitor the time -- as that is important but don't stop at X seconds. Compare the flavor you get at different ratios and different times to see what's best for your palate. But expect some variance in time.

Have you cleaned the shower screen on the silvia since you got it?

WDT, correctly executed, was my first thought & a naked portafilter to observe puck defects showing up in the flow.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Mastering the espresso process is a challenging learning curve and that makes it all the more thrilling when you get the bits sorted.

kmgiants wrote:Thanks for the suggestion. I have not WDT'd. I can try that.

I know there are variations as coffee ages, etc. but I can't imagine they're this wide. And in fact, yesterday I got a 26g shot from a 16g dose of coffee. Today, I got an overflowing, weak mess (that i'm sure would have weighed over 80g if I bothered weighing it) from 17g of coffee. SAME beans. Maybe I'm just terrible at this?

omg I can totally feel you mate. Just got top equipment thinking it would ease things a little with all the raved up temperature stability and and flow rates of linea mini, but for the life of me I just can't figure out what is causing the channeling. At this point I just want to get a good drinkable cup of coffee :/