chrisw13 Senior Member Joined: 18 Oct 2012 Posts: 4 Location: uk Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Oct 18, 2012, 2:43pm Subject: Is my baby broken?
Hello!
I have inherited a gaggia baby. It has probably been used 10 times in total. My parents bought it, decided it was too much hassle, and bought a nespresso. It lived, unused, in a garage for two years. I now have it!
However, I can't get a good shot. I have a porlex and have a decent grind that is suitable for espresso. I measure 18g for a double basket and tamp with a metal tamper. The coffee is very sour and really lacks body. Its not at all gloopy and at about 13 seconds in the pour seems watery. The coffee is fresh from a local roaster.
Any thoughts people? I have experimented with diffferent amounts of coffee, grind settings and tamp pressure.
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,692 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Thu Oct 18, 2012, 2:45pm Subject: Re: Is my baby broken?
sounds like you need to grind finer
don't worry about tamp pressure, just do it the same each time and you'll be fine in that department.
you may also have channeling, which would indicate a problem in ground distribution in the pf basket.
first step is to grind fine enough to choke the machine, then back off gradually until you get it dialed in for a proper extraction. if that doesn't do it for you, you'll need to explore distribution techniques, etc.
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,692 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Thu Oct 18, 2012, 3:17pm Subject: Re: Is my baby broken?
if you can't choke the machine, the grinder is either not calibrated properly or inadequate for espresso. I, too, have heard/read the Porlex should be fine for espresso, so you should be able to get it dialed in. When's the last time you took it apart and gave it a thorough cleaning? How long have you had it? If it's been many years, it's possibly it needs new burrs/replacement.
chrisw13 Senior Member Joined: 18 Oct 2012 Posts: 4 Location: uk Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Oct 18, 2012, 3:30pm Subject: Re: Is my baby broken?
Two days! The grind that I can get is very fine - my relatively untrained eye would say easily suitable for espresso. How bizarre.
Am I correct in thinking that to choke the machine the grind would have to be incredibly fine - the tamp pressure should not affect this? Maybe I'm setting my sights too high with my machine but videos on the internet shows that mine doesn't look like theirs!
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,692 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Thu Oct 18, 2012, 6:05pm Subject: Re: Is my baby broken?
be patient, we've all been through this same thing. with a little persistence, a lot of patience, watching videos and doing some reading, you'll learn to dial it all in and then who knows, maybe you too will be here helping others?
choking the machine would mean that the grind is so fine that the espresso barely drips out at all, and you're sitting there watching the extraction run for a very long time, but getting only a few drops into your cup (think on the order of maybe an 1/8 tsp after watching the extraction for a full minute - not that I'd let a choked shot run that long - but it'll give you an idea what it means to choke the machine). At this point, you know the grinder can go fine enough for espresso...the next thing you do is adjust your grind more coarse until you get a nice steady stream like you see in the videos.
Tamp pressure should not affect this. Your machine is pushing 8-9 bar through the puck. This translates to about 130psi. Figure your basket is 2-3 sq inches (you can do the math if you want to know exactly; Pi x r x r for area of a circle, or 3.14 x 29mm x 29mm for a 58mm basket, then of course, you have to convert to inches)...can you tamp with 300 lbs force? All you want to do with your tamp is provide a nice puck for the extraction to run evenly. You're just setting up the coffee for the water. 20-30 lbs is fine, just do it the same each time, so you eliminate the variable. no twisting, no banging the tamper on the side of the pf, just level off the grounds (or do whatever distribution technique you choose) and push down to compact them into a puck.
if you want something to read, go to www.espressomyespresso.com read article 12 Easy Guide to Better Espresso at Home, it's about midway down on the right column, under the how-to heading. I've found it very, very useful, and think (IMHO) it's one of the best tools for learning how to improve your shots. The owner is one of the guys who posts here often (frcn).
Bgosselin Senior Member Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 51 Location: Canada,quebec Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Oct 18, 2012, 7:36pm Subject: Re: Is my baby broken?
You should try a different coffee. When I receive my espresso machine I was so excited that i wanted to try it after work. I bought some decafe and set my vario grinder to a very fine setting. The espresso shot was always to fast and tasted awfull. I switch to my regular coffee and sure enough I choke the machine without changing the grinder settings.
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,632 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Fri Oct 19, 2012, 5:49am Subject: Re: Is my baby broken?
I really suspect that the grinder is not able to do the job. "Powder" as described in one add for the grinder, is not espresso. Espresso requires a very consistent grind and a different kind of grind than other coffee brewing methods.
Your grinder should be able to stop the flow of water through the machine. If it can't do that, it isn't up to the job. Period.
That is the way you adjust the grind to get it in the ball park, you grind fine enough to choke the espresso machine then back off the grind until you get proper extraction. Small changes can make big differences in the flow of the espresso.
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