the best coffee shop I have been to is Kean coffee in the OC. They use La Marzocco espresso machines with 20 gm VST baskets and super jolly Mazzer's. Unbelievable shots.. oily and rich from start to finish.. They are the ones who recommended VST baskets to me.
That's quite a harsh remark. I've tried to address your arguments directly, as well as I can understand them. Phil has presented photographic evidence of the quality of the Breville and VST baskets, and it stands uncontradicted as far as I can tell. Asking people to search the Internets for evidence that ones arguments may be well-founded is a tactic that I've never seen succeed. I haven't seen all possible debates, but among the ones I have seen this is not a persuasive tack.
"I've Scaced many HX/E61 machines, seeing shot variances of up to 8-10F or more. [The BDB] stays within 1F." - Mark Prince
but don't slam someone's choice. as someone who has chosen the VST baskets i end up being belittled because of my choice! I'm sure others feel the same way. There is no definite answer and I grow tired of judgements.
i am much less interested in slamming people's choices than i am in protecting the interests of new BDB owner's who don't know any better. if you can't make a fantastic shot with the Breville basket, the problem is NOT because you are not using a VST basket, and the solution will not come from using one. the problem lies in an error of technique or insufficiency in ancillary equipment, such as their grinder.* in fact, in the case of an inadequate grinder, as richard/bubbadude has told us too, a VST basket will only make things worse, not better.
*some would say that the machine is ancillary to the grinder, and to a point, i agree.
Let's bear in mind that this discussion started with a BDB owner saying he was getting gushers and wondering if a VST would solve his problem. After much discussion of hole geometry and secret patents, the answer is still "no, the VST will not stop your gushers."
"I've Scaced many HX/E61 machines, seeing shot variances of up to 8-10F or more. [The BDB] stays within 1F." - Mark Prince
My BDB maxes out at 8.5 bar when choking it. Should I be increasing it a bit to 9 or to 10? Or is the gauge not as accurate as the method used to set the OPV?
Also, I find the stream quantity to by lacking (it's hard to get rolling milk, especially with skim). Any tips?
My BDB maxes out at 8.5 bar when choking it. Should I be increasing it a bit to 9 or to 10? Or is the gauge not as accurate as the method used to set the OPV?
The pressure limit may seem a bit low, but it is sufficient to make good espresso. If you want to check that independantly then you can set up a PF pressure gage for under $20 to verify pressure measured at the group.
sae Said:
Also, I find the stream quantity to by lacking (it's hard to get rolling milk, especially with skim). Any tips?
You mean steam pressure, right? I also found the steam pressure to be a bit light, but the steam tip configuration makes good use of the steam it does have (for folks who like to make microfoam). I found it useful to keep the steam tip very close to the milk surface as I was steaming and also to use limited milk quantity.
But my preference is smaller milk drinks, maybe 4 to 6 oiunces total, and the BDB handles that milk volume with beautiful results. It takes a little time to finish the milk steaming process, but you can use that time for texturing lovely smooyth microfoam.
i am much less interested in slamming people's choices than i am in protecting the interests of new BDB owner's who don't know any better. if you can't make a fantastic shot with the Breville basket, the problem is NOT because you are not using a VST basket, and the solution will not come from using one. the problem lies in an error of technique or insufficiency in ancillary equipment, such as their grinder.* in fact, in the case of an inadequate grinder, as richard/bubbadude has told us too, a VST basket will only make things worse, not better.
*some would say that the machine is ancillary to the grinder, and to a point, i agree.
True, I would not expect VST's to solve problems nor stock baskets to cause them.
+1 on looking at technique and grinder to work out gushers. You certainly don't want to purchase a machine like the BDB and not have a grinder that can get the most from it.
Gushers and channeling and/or little sprites are almost exclusively symptoms from grinder/dose/distribution/tamp technique (and occasionally there is the additional problem of beans being too old). If someone has this issue, then VST baskets will NOT be helpful. As mentioned earlier, if you're getting gushers and/or spritzes & sprites with stock baskets then VST baskets will seem even worse.
How concerned should I be about hitting exactly 9 BAR? I've noticed that whenever the needle sticks at 9.0, I tend to have quicker pours (25 sec or so on shot clock). The best shot I've pulled so far was closer to 10 BAR and a 32 second pull. I understand that what's in the cup is what matters, but I'm also trying to learn as much as I can about this.
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