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Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

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dagoat
Senior Member

Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Posts: 295
Location: santa barbara, ca
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: BDB (Breville Dual Boiler...
Grinder: baratza vario
Vac Pot: aeropress
Drip: manual
Roaster: cafe rosto

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 10:57am Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Shane, are you using either of the preset volume buttons? Because if you are, don't. Use the manual button to cut off the pour. And keep noting the time and adjusting the grind. -peter

Park_Ridge_Dave
Senior Member

Joined: 15 Feb 2010
Posts: 74
Location: Mundelein (Chicago)
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: BES900XL
Grinder: Baratza Vario
Vac Pot: N/A (French Press)
Drip: Technivorm MochaMaster
Roaster: None

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 11:02am Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

scruzloose33 Said: Any other suggestions or am I just fighting the typical learning curve for a new wannabe barista? I feel like I have read hundreds of pages of threads on CG and HB and watched enough videos to make this much easier, but there doesn't appear to be any way to bypass the "welcome weeks" of moving to the semi-automatic world. Thanks, Shane Posted December 7, 2012 link Shane, I too have a Vario, and I fiddle with it also. My adjustment is (today) @ 2 E (mine has the macro scale from 1-10 and the micro from A-W). But, that is today, it changes day to day (1 or 2 micro clicks max). Remember that is my machine and yours may be (probably is) calibrated differently. The full pull time with 7 sec Pre-infusion is 24 sec. I weigh 19 g charges to my La Marzocco basket or 18g to my BDB single wall basket. Both give very good shots. OBTW the la Marzocco basket introduces a whole new set of variables so don't go there just yet. You should be able to get good pulls from the stock BDB basket (JMHO). I have a naked PF from Breville that I have used to check the streams (handy but not necessary) and I use a shot glass (I have a 3 ounce, very necessary ) to check the volumes. I also let the crema "subside" to measure shot volume (it seems to be best about 2 1/2 oz with crema). I like to write down notes on each shot i.e. observations tasting notes etc. So far, I have done (according to the machine 110-120 shots) The set up on my machine (times etc.) are almost exactly the same as the factory defaults, so it can and does do great shots. So hang in there and don't get too worried. You'll be fine. I got it to work so anybody can QED! Cheers, Dave

Don't forget to stop and smell the coffee...... er flowers!

michaelgo
Senior Member

Joined: 21 Jan 2012
Posts: 92
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville 900XL
Grinder: Baratza Vario

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 12:25pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

carz07 Said:

how many grams are you using for the double shot?

Posted December 7, 2012 link

I'm usually around 18.5g but it does vary with bean, some of the fruiter roasts I go a little less.

scruzloose33
Senior Member

Joined: 5 Dec 2012
Posts: 10
Location: Chicago, IL
Expertise: I love coffee

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 1:05pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

dagoat Said:

Shane, are you using either of the preset volume buttons? Because if you are, don't. Use the manual button to cut off the pour. And keep noting the time and adjusting the grind.

-peter

Posted December 7, 2012 link

Yes, I have been using the preset double button. I will give it a shot using the manual button and just trying to stop the shot when I see a lot of blonding. My biggest challenge has been more with shots that don't start fast enough (not starting until 15-20 seconds in) or that run too long, so I think I just need to make the grind a little larger. I made the assumption that most people were using the pre-programmed buttons with with BDB, so thanks for the tip on using the Manual button!

cgjamj
Senior Member

Joined: 5 Nov 2012
Posts: 3
Location: Virginia
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler
Grinder: Kitchenaid Proline
Drip: Technivorm Moccamaster

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 1:37pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Hello everyone. First, I want to say a sincere thank you to everyone here. You've been helping me very much without even knowing it. I purchased the BDB about 6 weeks ago and it's my first espresso machine. To make a long story very short, I was exceptionally close to returning it. Not to get a different machine, but to give up on espresso completely and just stick with my drip coffee. Even though I was using a scale and weighing my beans (18g) for every shot, I couldn't get anything close to something drinkable...getting around 3 bars at ~ 20 seconds. I wasn't using the freshest beans and I'm using the KitchenAid PL grinder at the finest setting (after modifying it). I know the KA is not great for espresso. I'm getting a Vario for Christmas. Also, I don't like straight espresso. I like lattes and other milk based drinks. So I really have no palette for espresso, but I did taste most of the shots and they were indeed sour as expected. Then again, since I've never had great espresso, maybe I would like it straight if I had a great shot. Well, after reading further and further into this thread, I went to a local shop and bought freshly roasted beans. Immediately made a huge difference! 9 bars from 30-40 seconds! I couldn't believe the difference having fresh beans made. It makes all the difference as many of you said. I do have a couple of questions though. I'm using the 2cup button. I know from reading here, I should be using the manual button. But how do I know when I should stop it? I'm consistently weighing 18g of beans. With the 2cup button, I'm getting 1.5oz. I know I should be getting about 2oz. I'm just not sure how you know when to stop the manual button. I am using all the defaults as well, pre-infusion pressure (60%), pre-infusion time (7 secs) and I do see coffee flowing right at 10 seconds on the shot clock as expected. Second question...I read in the manual that it mentions wiping the PF and basket dry after each shot to prevent channeling. I have not been doing this at all. Is it really necessary, especially since it's best to discard the first shot of each day? Also, I've noticed from some of the videos posted that my initial flow of coffe is not as thick as others. It's certainly not dripping but it's much more of a thin flow. I do get good crema and the shots "look" very good once done. I'm pretty anxious to get the Vario as I know this is going to improve things greatly. Again, thank you all so much for the tremendous information. You really saved me from taking this thing back (after buying it on sale at WS at 20% off, no less) and ending my foray into espresso before it really began.

michaelgo
Senior Member

Joined: 21 Jan 2012
Posts: 92
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville 900XL
Grinder: Baratza Vario

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 1:44pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

cgjamj Said:

With the 2cup button, I'm getting 1.5oz. I know I should be getting about 2oz. I'm just not sure how you know when to stop the manual button..

Posted December 7, 2012 link

I've been using a 2 to 1 guideline and weigh the shots so 18g of beans, I shoot for 36g liquid in around 32-35 seconds on the shot clock. I don't know if that's a normale, ristretto or any of the other fancy names. <g> I just know it tastes good.

MG

biochemgawd
Senior Member

Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 67
Location: Canada
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: BDB
Grinder: Vario

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 2:22pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

FYI, you can stop an automatic double shot by tapping the double shot button again if you see the shot starting to blond. I've set the volumetric dose for the double shot to be quite large - that way I can hit the double shot button and steam the milk while watching the shot - stopping it when it's done.

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 2:35pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

That's another question...what exactly is blonding? I do see the last few seconds of the shot it changes to that really light color, but I assumed that was the crema.

compaddict
Senior Member

Joined: 30 Dec 2011
Posts: 51
Location: Auburn, CA USA
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: BDB
Grinder: Proline W/Mazzer burrs
Drip: Capresso MT600
Roaster: Behmor

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 2:36pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Did you get the Proline mod kit or did you mod it yourself?

Posted Fri Dec 7, 2012, 2:39pm
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

compaddict Said:

Did you get the Proline mod kit or did you mod it yourself?

Posted December 7, 2012 link

I followed the instructions in the manual on how to adjust it to grind finer. But it won't matter much longer since I'm getting a Vario in a couple of weeks.

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