Would Love Suggestions On Espresso Dosing

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
coffeenewb56
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago

#1: Post by coffeenewb56 »

Hi everyone. I just bought my first home espresso kit which consists of the Breville Bambino Plus and the Smart Grinder Pro. I'm using the pressurized head with a double shot basket to pull an espresso. I've been trying all sorts of tweaks but haven't been able to dial things in yet. I'm either over or under extracting. I'm currently at a grind setting of 13 (the default is 12) which is on the coarser side for espresso.

What I'm noticing is that if I try to dose on 18g of coffee, the amount is too much for the head and I have some overflow. Is that a sign that I should make my grind finer? The grinder doses based on time, so I have the time currently set to a dose that results in 18g (I weight it afterward to confirm).

Here is a photo showing what I mean by the volume being too much when I have it set to dose 18g.

ojt
Posts: 837
Joined: 6 years ago

#2: Post by ojt »

I have to admit I know absolutely nothing about pressurized baskets, but..

1) I think the general consensus here is you have to use the non pressurized baskets to get good results.

2) 18g of one bean can mean 15g of another bean in actual space.

It is quite difficult to give exact advices on dosing since every bean and machine is different, as are tastes, but search for articles and discussion on how to adjust by taste. For example:

Espresso 101: How to Adjust Dose and Grind Setting by Taste

Also read the excellent guides, for example starting from here: /espresso-guide.html
Osku

coffeenewb56 (original poster)
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago

#3: Post by coffeenewb56 (original poster) replying to ojt »

Thanks. I have a non-pressurized filter on order so I'm still waiting for it to arrive. My question was more about whether that amount of coffee looks normal given that the weight is correct (18g), or if that's a red flag that the grind is too corse since it's taking up too much volume. I see some videos where the ground coffee barely goes over the top of the basket.

ojt
Posts: 837
Joined: 6 years ago

#4: Post by ojt »

Well, how's the taste? If it's too strong and rough dose less, just as an example. Sometimes the dose is OK but the basket is too small :) I very rarely get to the point of overflowing the basket, but I do tend to like medium and light roasts more, which tend to be denser and hence take up less space.

In a non-pressurized basket I would probably dose less and grind finer but the again I do not know what coffee that is, what brew ratio you had, brew temperature.
Osku

Nunas
Supporter ♡
Posts: 3661
Joined: 9 years ago

#5: Post by Nunas »

Here are a few thoughts for you:
I'm currently at a grind setting of 13 (the default is 12) which is on the coarser side for espresso.
The number on the dial is totally meaningless. you can't compare machines by the numbers. Also, as the burrs wear the number will vary. To "dial in", just keep changing the grind until you get the requisite amount of coffee out in 25 seconds +/- 5. This is only a starting point. After that you have to fine tune to your personal taste.
Note: Since you are using a pressurized basket at the moment, you will have difficulty dialing in. The pressurized basket has only one tiny hole in the bottom, so it has a lot to do with extraction time. Once you get regular baskets the grind of the coffee will become paramount; changing it a little will make a big difference in the time of pulling the shot.
What I'm noticing is that if I try to dose on 18g of coffee, the amount is too much for the head and I have some overflow. Is that a sign that I should make my grind finer?
No, the amount of loose coffee in the PF is meaningless. What is important is that after distributing it evenly and tamping it down your PF has "head room". This means that when you put the PF in the group, the top of the coffee does not mash up against the distribution screen. A common test for this is to put a coin (nickle or quarter) atop the tamped coffee and then insert/remove the PF. Look to see if the coin has been depressed into the coffee; if so, then you have too much in the PF.
Note about tamp pressure. With your regular basket, the most important thing is consistency. Pick a pressure from 10 to 30 pounds and try to use that every time.
Note about experimentation. You can mess with grind, dose, pull time, type of bean, roast level, brew temperature and more. Only change one variable at a time.

coffeenewb56 (original poster)
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago

#6: Post by coffeenewb56 (original poster) »

Thanks, friends. Here's a quick update. I just dosed a 17g grind which, using the double shot setting on the Bambino Plus, yielded 35g of espresso. It took 11 seconds until the first drip (including preinfusion time) and then 19 additional seconds to complete the program, for a total of 30 seconds since I tapped the button.

I think the machine uses volume for the program rather than time, but I may be wrong. That would mean it took ~19 seconds to push 2 oz through the portafilter? The temperature on this machine is fixed (but it uses PID).

User avatar
C-Antonio
Posts: 376
Joined: 5 years ago

#7: Post by C-Antonio »

Take also into account that if the basket is smaller than the average basket talked about in forums it might take even less than the standard grinds quantity (there are double baskets that dont even reach 14grams). In other Breville machines the top corner of the tamper was supposed to be at the leavel of the basket rim, and then that other tool they give you would scrape off the extra coffee...

Edit: looked up the specs and the basket is a 54mm, but in the website they mention 19gr of coffee... which seeing the pictures with 18grams seem improbable, even counting all the variations that there can be in the beans... looking at the pictures it doesnt seem extraordinarily deep... (maybe they think its fine to fill with 19 grams, level by hand throwing out 3grams and then press and use that razor thing to scrape out another gram?)

Out of curiosity: is there a particular reason to overdose to 18 grams?

If you have problems where you dont know the grind setting, dont know well the machine because its new, you seem to do all the same stuff and hit above and below the mark but never extract something decent then my suggestion would be to lower the amount of grinds to the classic 14 grams, keep it there and start figuring everything else around it.
A pressurized portafilter wont let you dial in the grind like a non pressurized, thats what it was designed to do, allow the extraction taking perfect grinds out of the equation. Which means that its also an ok starting point, its not all evil like its made to sound all over the net.

I would say lower the amount of coffee, dont stress too much the grind finesse, just find the ballpark, and figure out everything else (including how the machine works for 1cup and 2cups etc) so to obtain something consistently "good enough" from a pressurized portafilter, once you are there you can go on the non pressurized and tighten the aim even more.
The reasoning would be to not try to go after a zillion things all at once so that you cant figure out whats in the ballpark and what isnt.
“Eh sì sì sì…sembra facile (fare un buon caffè)!”

coffeenewb56 (original poster)
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago

#8: Post by coffeenewb56 (original poster) »

Thanks y'all! I've been tweaking my settings over the past few days and things are a bit better now, but not perfect. I'm dosing 17g in the double walled double shot poets filter. When I use the standard machine's double shot program, I net around 28g. I feel like I should be getting closer to 34g. What do you all think? Here's a video.



Sorel
Posts: 2
Joined: 4 years ago

#9: Post by Sorel »

Did you get your non pressurized basket? If you didn't lmk I have a spare I don't have a machine for. For your double shot you'll need to adjust the program or just do them manual. I found doing them manual was best for me on the Brevilles.

coffeenewb56 (original poster)
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago

#10: Post by coffeenewb56 (original poster) replying to Sorel »

I did order one but it's still in transit. It should arrive next week.

Post Reply