Should I dose/tamp to the line in the portafilter basket? just wondering as I get 19 or more grams (silvano double basket) when I weigh out my dose and I get a small indention in the puck from the group screen. My shots have been inconsistant (start out good but quickly run out and blonde). I normally knock the portafilter as its grinding to keep grounds from spilling over then when its done grinding (vario grinder 11.5sec) I tap twice on the counter then carefully wipe nsew and level with finger. Thinking I am getting too much on the basket for a standard double.
I don't have an exact answer, but - I can get 19g in my triple basket in my Gaggia. I couldn't get nearly that in my double basket. Sounds like a lot for a double basket. Having it head the screen tells you so. In my opinion you need to find a method that gets you a little less in there. A 0-100g scale would do wonders, they aren't that much.
19 g is a fairly high dose for a standard double shot, being closer to a triple shot. The usual dose would be 14 to 18 g depending on your personal taste. However, some baristas even do go higher than that.
You can disregard the line in the filter basket, but the shower screen should not leave a mark on your puck, exept for the screw in the middle of the screen.
*** "This drink of the Satan is so delicious that it would be a shame to leave it to the infidels." (Pope Clement VIII on coffee)
I usually get about 14 or 15 grams in my silvano double basket. I'll have to look tomorrow whether I tamp to the line in the basket.
I am no expert, but I wonder if all of your knocking and tapping is creating a lot of channeling in your puck. That could explain why shots blond quickly.
Posted Sat Jul 21, 2012, 5:54am Subject: Re: dose/tamp question
I have been going down to 18g with much better results. Is it necessary however to actually level the grounds in the portafilter before tamping or can you achieve good results by simply knocking on counter lightly to settle grounds then tamp? the finger level is not good for me. maybe I should use something else to level?
TonyVan Senior Member Joined: 24 May 2010 Posts: 268 Location: Pacific Northwest Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: GS/3, La Pavoni Grinder: Macap M7K, Rocky Drip: Kone
Posted Sat Jul 21, 2012, 10:29pm Subject: Re: dose/tamp question
This is definitely one of those "your mileage may vary" items, since there is so much possible variation between machines, baskets and coffee. Still, however, a standard rule of thumb you can use as a starting point is to fill the filter basket to the top with your loose ground coffee then level it off flat across the top of the basket. If you then tamp with typical ~30 lb. force, the level of the compressed coffee in the basket should be just about right, for both the intended basket capacity and the headroom clearance for the dispersion screen.
Again, that's just a starting point. Try it and adjust from there. If you find that your coffee is a little "fluffy" and it compresses too much in the tamping, you can give a couple taps first to settle the grounds before leveling. But don't tap after the tamp - the only thing that is likely to accomplish is cracking the puck or separating the puck from the basket edge, giving the pressurized water an easy escape route around the compressed coffee instead of working through it (channeling).
There are plenty of additions and variations, one widely recognized being the Weiss Distribution Technique ("WDT") of stirring the grounds in the basket to break up clumps and make the distribution more even prior to the level and tamp. You may want to search on this or other sites for WDT details.
NobbyR Senior Member Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 1,605 Location: Germany Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Poccino Opus One, Ariete Grinder: Eureka Mignon Istantaneo,... Vac Pot: N/A Drip: Melitta Linea Unica de Luxe Roaster: N/A
Posted Sat Jul 21, 2012, 11:45pm Subject: Re: dose/tamp question
TonyVan's rule of thumb dosing is fairly accurate: filling the basket until there's a small heap of ground coffee, so that after levelling the basket is full to the rim, then tamping. With enough experience you can get the same dose (within 0.1 to 0.2 g) every time. However, I strongly advise using a digital scale when you start out making espresso at home, because it takes years to get that accurate. What I'd do is to weigh such a basket for future refference.
Whether you tamp with 28, 30 or 32 lb is of no importance as long as you tamp consistently with the same force each and every time you do it. As a beginner the easiest way to do it is to tamp as hard as you can.
Also, like TonyVan said, it's important not to tap the tamped basket any more, because that would indeed promote channeling.
I found that the WDT is more or less superfluous. It doesn't no any harm, but you can get along fine without it. At least with my Eureka grinder any clumps dissolve easily when I level the grounds.
*** "This drink of the Satan is so delicious that it would be a shame to leave it to the infidels." (Pope Clement VIII on coffee)
One thing I am curious about is what kind of coffee you are using and what is the roast date? Some coffees do not do well when updosed, and if you've got old beans, they will be difficult to brew without channelling. I use only 16 to 18 grams in the double, depending on the bean...light roast I use 16 grams and grind to get a 25 to 30 second pull. The coffee rarely goes over the top of the basket and after tamping, leaves about 1/8 inch clearance. Darker roast I grind finer and dose up to 17, maybe 18 grams and pull ristretto. That's I guess a matter of taste.. In any event, after dosing, I just do a couple of quick taps on the counter to settle, one hard tamp straight down, then lock and load.
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