Trying to get the hang of my new La Pavoni Europicolla. I think I've got the grind more or less figured out, but one thing I've noticed is that the shots don't appear very warm - I realize they aren't supposed to be scalding, but they seem fairly cool for as hot as the boiler seems to get.
Trying to get the hang of my new La Pavoni Europicolla. I think I've got the grind more or less figured out, but one thing I've noticed is that the shots don't appear very warm - I realize they aren't supposed to be scalding, but they seem fairly cool for as hot as the boiler seems to get.
Missing something? Perhaps. I owned your machine, and presently own another manual lever, the Olympia Cremina. In both machines usage, you need to bleed the steam wand a few seconds after the "ready" light first goes out, to relieve "false pressure" and allow the machine to then heat up fully to a proper brew temperature. After you flush, the light will come back on till you've reached a proper temperature, and the light will turn off. I'd flush water for quickly, to get the group up to temp, grind, wait for a cycle, and when the light goes out, lock in and pull. The next shot, if performed within 2 minutes should be even better, however the 3rd shot might be a wee bit hot. I'd advise rinsing the PF under cold water till it's cool, inserting into the group for maybe 2 minutes, then grind and pull another shot.
Thanks for the info - I forgot to add that I was letting some steam out of the wand. They were still pretty cool. So I've added the following to the routine that seems to work:
Let the machine warm up a little longer, even if the light goes out after 7 mins or so (I'm finding 12-15 mins is about right)
In addition to letting steam out of the wand, running a little water through the group head by lifting the lever
Putting the basket on sooner so it has time to warm, too
All of these together seemed to have solved the issue - with steps 2 and 3, I may not need to wait the 12-15 mins for warm up, but I haven't experimented enough yet
Mike,. I'd not mess with the lever till AFTER the light goes out the 2nd time. That's a small boiler, and you're flushing needlessly. That group gets hot QUICK! As I remember, it took a good 10-12 minutes or so before a cold machine was ready for work.
Flushing the group after recovering from bleeding the steam arm is actually in the LP documentation for how to heat up the machine. It has been a while since I've seen the vintage docs, but the modern ones specify 4 short flushes in succession. The number and duration of these flushes is actually a good way to control the temp of the first shot, and set a sort of baseline temp for your routine.
Flushing the group after recovering from bleeding the steam arm is actually in the LP documentation for how to heat up the machine. It has been a while since I've seen the vintage docs, but the modern ones specify 4 short flushes in succession. The number and duration of these flushes is actually a good way to control the temp of the first shot, and set a sort of baseline temp for your routine.
That one is a new one to me, but it's been a LONG while since I had my Europiccola.
I can't imagine 4 flushes, besides, the tank of the regular boiler is so small, 4 flushes would empty about 15- 20% of the boiler. LOL FWIW, It seemed like I pulled about 2 quick flushes, made the first shot a "spousal Americano." (any shot not quite ready for straight espresso prime time becomes a spousal Americano!) 2nd shot was spot on, and usually the 3rd if I pulled fairly quickly. Then a cold bowl on the group, or an ice bath for the PF, insert in group, etc.
Mike, maybe try Russel's suggestion. If you have a manual, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to run through it.
Sounds like you pretty much have a handle on things now though. ;>D
I'll have to take a look at my documentation, but I don't recall anything about the four short flushes. Not sure how often they update their documentation
I'll have to take a look at my documentation, but I don't recall anything about the four short flushes. Not sure how often they update their documentation
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