Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Raymond Lin

Raymond Lin

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the-evaluator said:
I think it's a false economy. I did some home roasting for a while with a 1st generation Behmor coffee roaster and I wasted loads of beans doing it. Some were under roasted, some over. Very rarely did I get it spor on and when it wasn't spot on the end result was no better than a bag of supermarket beans.

Plus the smell of roasting coffee is fairly nasty, nothing like I expected it to be.
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I was thinking one of those smokeless, automated machines like the Kaffelogic or Ikawa, but they are 4 figures machines.
 

Siliconslave

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You can try it out with a modded popcorn machine, iron skillet or even just oven roasting but as mentioned your results won't be great & you'll waste a load of greens in the process.

You'd probably be better off buying in bulk and splitting it down, maybe get a vacuum sealer if you don't have one - makes a huge difference if your freezing.
 

jpaul

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Anyone got a good strategy for draining the portafilter, faster after the cooling shot.
my pf seems to retain more water than ever, even though I don't close the pf tightly, so that the pressure should equalize fast,
I end up having to tip the pf into the drip tray, it wasn't always like that ?
 

jpaul

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new HX flushing process - hold the portafilter practially unlocked (to avoid any retention) above cup, stop the pump early so that the cup ends up full and pf drained,
ready to charge;
only issue is whether the HX gets cooled enough - to wit below article

https://www.home-barista.com/tips/water-in-empty-portafilter-after-warming-flush-t684.html
...
The most important step was the flush before the extraction. Dan's article helped enormously. I did not use the portafilter in the flushing because I don't think that you can dose, and then lock and load fast enough before you have super heated water all over again. Because of the thimble sized drain tray, I got in the habit of collecting the flush in a small milk pitcher. I would run the pump and listen to the characteristic sound of the steam and water mixture from the superheated water. I would let the pump continue to run for 3-5 seconds after the sound disappears. I would then quickly lock the portafilter in place and pull the shot about 10 seconds after the end of the rinse. Almost coincidentally, that is about when the heating element light shuts off. If the machine had been idle for a long time, about 1/2 hour or more, I would do a short rinse as I approached the machine. By the time I had my portafilter ready to load, the machine had recovered enough that it was ready for the real rinse. (See Dan's review of the Cimbali Jr.)
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haven't reverted to porcelain cups yet - so looks like the double walled borosilicates have their feet under the table.
 

jpaul

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is that an acute accent ... can you photoshop it.


Dj_Jestar said:
Why not flush after tamping then pop the pf straight on?
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on the basis that the 3-way valve may not be releasing fast enough, so there is more water in the pf than expected,
next time I descale I'm also going to put in the blind filter and back-flush some citric acid, in case there are caco3 deposits pulycaf doesn't shift.
 

Irish_Tom

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There's a guy on eBay who sells rebuilt Gaggia Classics.

He does the following to all of his machines:
  • Descale
  • Service the solenoid & OPV + new gaskets
  • Silicon gasket on the group head
  • Calibrated to 9 bar
  • Changes the steam wand to a Rancilio M2

And they all come with:
  • Original PF
  • Double and single unpressurised basket
  • Blank basket for backflushing
  • Milk pitcher
  • The removed original steam wand
The last couple have sold for £325 and £335, there's one currently at £210 with five hours left, so will probably also end up around the £300 mark, plus £15 postage.

Is this a good deal or would one be better off spending the extra ~£100 for a brand new model?
 

jpaul

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I think I'd look out for a good condition classic on local gumtree classic, or ebay sub £200 and fully decalcify/pullycaf it yourself,
other than (external) grouphead seal I've not had to replace seals,
just replaced pump, on the silivia & now bezzera, I own, which is not part of their recon's

pre 2015 appears the way to go - not sure if the element replacement is as easy across all pre 2015 models
 

Irish_Tom

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Thanks @jpaul.

Buying a pre-modified unit appealed to me because I don't really have the time to play around with it, but I guess it makes sense — you pay around half the RRP of a new one and you get to know the machine inside and out (literally).

Also, you could buy the new version and still have to mod it which could potentially invalidate the warranty etc.

Raymond Lin said:
Are there no modern machines with the same spec for £400?
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Good question. I'll be honest, I haven't really explored the market in much detail.

I watched James Hoffmann's 'Espresso for under £250' video and he did exactly what @jpaul suggests. But as above, having someone else do the refurb work was an attractive proposition. Maybe if they were going for ~£200 instead of £300+ it would be a more obvious buy.

P.s. I just checked eBay and the third one that was £210 with five hours left actually sold for £358! :eek:
 

jpaul

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