eeeeeeeeeeh <-------------annoying sound of game show buzzer indicating to try again. But, this gameshow gives you the answer: Alexia is not an hx, but a single boiler, similar in that respect to yours and my Silvia. But, Alexia has the E-61 group and a temp profile during the shot that gets me lots of ladies, Silvia included.
wrestling or boxing or or.. something manly.
Cooking is manly, so is gardening. So is shaving with a pink razer and naming it Susan.
A whole year almost gone and wasted, never to be gained back again and nothing in forums to show a newb like me the way forward.
Again, we're here to help in any way we can. Actually, if you have trouble sourcing the parts for this, just let us know. My Silvia isn't sold yet, and I could always do a day or more with it and pre-infusion. Alexia already beat me down for today with more caffeine than I can handle, so it will have to be on another day.
I know what compounds make a desired flavor, I know what extraction method isolated those compounds. At what temperature and pressure do those desired compounds freely fall out of the puck into my cup in the greatest abundance and concentration. Now, like pasteurization, If the temp is too high those delicate compounds fall all apart to be lost in the flavor collector of shame (kitchen sink). Likewise too low of temp or pressure and the compounds aren't free to come to the espresso party.
I wish I knew as much as you. All I know is when I taste something bad, that means do something different. I can usually taste burnt or sour or dull on first tasting, but after multiple tastings, it all becomes a wash, and then I pass out on the 25th shot. Game ova'. On H-B, Shadowfax recommended this to me as a great learning tool, although quite expensive: http://www.aromes-de-vin.com/english/nez_du_cafe.aspx Interesting though.
I've found by cheating (cracking open the steam valve) early in the pre ramp, during, and at the end. I can coax those berry flavors back into a strong abundance once more.
Fascinating. Really. And adventurous. I always crack the wand for a split second before the pull to let out the extra blast of pressure at the top of the boiler, but you're using it as a tool rather than as a necessity like I was. Very, very interesting. Is your palatte that developed where you can get what you are looking for based on different profiles of steam wand cracking? I need lessons with you if so.
My playing around, based on all the friendly people here, lead me to use a finer grind and a lighter tamp to get at those desired flavor compounds.
me too.
All those spurting squirters and foaming gushers that blasted across my counter and ended so disgraceful in the collector of shame made me start to get a little discouraged.
Do you know where your pressure is at? It might be high. Like I said previously, mine was at 10 bars. At least order a PF pressure gauge or go to a good fortune teller. By lowering my pressure, cracking the steam wand for a second before the pull to let out excess pressure, and learning a better tamp, I don't get those kind of spurting gushers. No spurts, sometimes gushers, but when tamp is right, not so much.
TyB Senior Member Joined: 7 Jan 2009 Posts: 14 Location: Oly "it's the water" Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: nope Drip: only a little Roaster: Olympia Roaster Co.
Posted Wed Jan 14, 2009, 3:21am Subject: Re: Silvia mod: E61 Style Pre Infusion Chamber
Holy multi quote, batma.....errr Jesus. Your mom called and she is worried you are up at all hours of the night thinking about coffee and not music. Can you focus a little more, I don't know if I can cover for you at this rate for very long.
Glad you are doing well with the ladies, JeoJeep I'm worried about. Might want to shy away from any rub downs with baby oil; don't know for sure, just sayin. Please say hi to Susan for me, she doesn't call me as often anymore.
I tracked down a copy of the Coffee Flavor Chemistry and had it shipped in from England. Saved 200 on that one, Abebooks for the win baby! I'm kinda rusty with pushin electrons, I could get into organic chemistry its a challenge and fun. Flavor, like smashing things, is all about energy control. Too much energy and things break, those orgasmic flavor compounds too. They can find 200 or so flavor compounds in coffee, some taste good and some bad, but the way it is done and how to do it is all published. Inside the book is a nice little breakdown based on flavor, look up berry ... pg 242... blueberry, chemical is ... ...and off you go to review how they isolated it. Now you know temp and pressure where it lives. Time to go testing on pucks.
Yes, Yes I know I have a pressure problem and once I install the guages (when they get here), why do you keep making fun of me for not knowing my pressure?
Cash, grass, or espresso beans.. no one rides my flavor mobile for free, not even me. Ok, Ok when we end up in the collector of shame you get counter cleaning duty. Kinda makes you think huh? So simple even a cave man.... I mean it was right there in front of you and you didn't even see it. He He, It just came to me after my third towel in 30 minutes. Then as I said, practice practice practice.. Thanks for all the leads, I didn't know about any of this. So many new ideas, so many cool people doing fun things.
I don't know if my pallete is on or off, but I know what I can smell and I know how to schlurp. Driving the flavor mobile around for a sunday drive through flavorville is all about enjoying the ride. I don't know where I'm going, but it sure is fun driving around. Just like the driving though, you start to get the feel for what is smooth and glides along versus a buckin bronco ride. Just don't stall the car, the girls will laugh and laugh at you.
Thanks again for all the leads and the fun discussion.
Posted Fri Jan 16, 2009, 2:43am Subject: Re: Silvia mod: E61 Style Pre Infusion Chamber
Jeepin don't need any help with the ladies. What a playa'.
On page 3 of H-B's thread about the Dalla Corte, there is an interesting discussion developing between Ken Fox, Greg Scace, and some others about whether you'd want pre-infusion on a vibe pump machine (like Silvia). You might all like to follow it here: Click Here (www.home-barista.com)
TyB Senior Member Joined: 7 Jan 2009 Posts: 14 Location: Oly "it's the water" Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: nope Drip: only a little Roaster: Olympia Roaster Co.
Posted Fri Jan 16, 2009, 3:12am Subject: Re: Silvia mod: E61 Style Pre Infusion Chamber
hmmm, very interesting! I'd like to see the puck surface post pull, I don't get the feeling that he has any channeling problems with that head design. Part of my problem remains channeling. I know, I know what is my opv bypass pressure.. just keep making fun of me. :)
Definately the difference between 2 and 4 seconds is nill there. If the pump is off for pre infusion what is the point. I cant tell from the post if that machine has a mechanical device to start the pre infusion, sure looks like gravity only.
I do know, even with my lowly vibe pump, my puck is gettin blasted if I just flip the switch and let her rip. Even if I pre bleed with the steam wand, channel city.
Posted Mon Feb 2, 2009, 9:48am Subject: Re: Request to E61 owners with pre infusion chambers:
JeepinGeo Said:
This is the basic parts I used for the installation. Notice the difference in chamber size even though the arresters have the exact same Oatey part number and were picked from the same carton at Home Depot (??). The ramp is slower with the longer arrester, which has more capacity. The heart of the system is the Beswick adapter which gets us into the M6 screw port on the Silvia group. Originally, I matched the Beswick adapter with a separate fitting for the 1/8" tube, which leads to problems. There is a seal on the fitting and the 10-32 brass threads are easy to damage from over tightening. I have since found a one-piece solution from Beswick (the 1/8" compression fitting is incororated into the M6 adapter) and have some on order.
So far the basic single arrester kit is at ~ $32 without the 1/8" tubing or tax/shipping AND there is another rub - Beswick has a $50 minimum. :(
Do you have any Beswick adapter in stock? I would like to buy one from you because I can't get one from Beswick here in Canada. Of course I would pay for the shipping too. Contact me if you have any left. Thanks!
JeepinGeo Senior Member Joined: 5 Dec 2007 Posts: 175 Location: Campbell, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Alex Duetto, Silvia Grinder: Mazzer SJ (x2), Rocky DL
Posted Mon Feb 2, 2009, 9:23pm Subject: Re: Request to E61 owners with pre infusion chambers:
JeffB Said:
Do you have any Beswick adapter in stock? I would like to buy one from you because I can't get one from Beswick here in Canada. Of course I would pay for the shipping too. Contact me if you have any left. Thanks!
I have the brass version and although it works fine, I did damage one adaptor from over tightening the compression fitting. SS is more expensive at $25 ea. compared to $11 for the brass version.
303 SS version: M6CBL-1018-1-303 Brass version: M6CBL-1018-1-S
I purchased the brass version with silicone o-rings (the -S suffix). The SS version is listed as available with Buna-N or Viton o-rings. I'm checking with Beswick to see if the silicone o-rings will work with the SS version.
If I were doing it again I would go with the stainless steel version for the added strength.
George
EDIT: UPDATE - Beswick will supply the SS version with a silicone o-ring for $26.40 ea. Part number M6CBL-1018-1-303-S
ethorson Senior Member Joined: 4 May 2009 Posts: 50 Location: Port Townsend Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Bunn ES-1A, Bezzera BZ35 Grinder: Mazzer Mini Roaster: Homemade
Posted Sun Oct 25, 2009, 4:53pm Subject: Re: Silvia mod: E61 Style Pre Infusion Chamber
I was surprised to find so much commentary on a preinfusion modification for the Silvia. I was all ready to start a new thread until I found this. At any rate, here is a photo of a preinfusion chamber I came up with to approximate the performance of my E61 machine. The hardware is a 3/8" brass block that installs in between the group and the 3-way valve. There is a drilled hole that connects the portafilter side of the 3-way valve to a little brazed copper chamber I made from a plumbing fitting. I tried to make the connection as large as possible so it would drain completely after each shot. The chamber volume is about the same as that on my E61 machine. I also had to cut about 1/8" off the 3-way valve drain for drip pan clearance.
The preinfusion chamber seems to be effective in that it extends the time from pump activation to the start of extraction by about four seconds. I was hoping that the chamber would also damp out some of the pressure pulsations from the pump. For some reason I still have more problems with channeling on the Silvia than seen on the E61 machine, even though I used the same portafilter and grinder settings for the experiments. I was wondering if the pressure pulsation from the Silvia vibration pump was causing the channeling. My E61 machine has a rotary pump and has much less of a problem with channeling.
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