mlempenau Senior Member Joined: 15 Feb 2012 Posts: 5 Location: Thailand Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed Feb 15, 2012, 9:37pm Subject: Not working right
I love coffee and have now become addicted to the espresso machine. Altho I have some knowledge about these things I still have a lot to learn. I have a DeLonghi machine. A small one. I have had it about one year. I never use the steam side of the machine. Yesterday it started acting funny. When I made a cup of coffee instead of the cup having a lot of bubbles on top of the coffee there were none. The coffee was still hot and from what I can determine the seal is working but it just didn't taste as good. I tried the steam side of the unit. It produced steam but since I have never used it before I don't know if it was working as good as it should. Any help would be appreciated.
Posted Wed Feb 15, 2012, 10:07pm Subject: Re: Not working right
I think that the "bubbles" you usually see, we call "crema." Did you try to make another coffee to see if it worked OK? Sometimes the compacted coffee can get a crack in it that allows water to flow too fast and that can make coffee with little crema or sometimes none. Also. Old coffee can look like that.
mlempenau Senior Member Joined: 15 Feb 2012 Posts: 5 Location: Thailand Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Feb 16, 2012, 9:15pm Subject: Re: Not working right
I think you are correct about what is happening. I have made several cups of coffee now and it is a little better. It is possible that my coffee is old so I will buy some coffee that I know is new and try it again.
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,696 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 Feb 16, 2012, 10:02pm Subject: Re: Not working right
you're using a blade grinder for espresso? Wow! I'm surprised you ever got anything good from that. Well, if fresh coffee beans doesn't do the trick then maybe it's time to drop some cash on a burr grinder?
Posted Thu Feb 16, 2012, 11:27pm Subject: Re: Not working right
emradguy Said:
you're using a blade grinder for espresso? Wow! I'm surprised you ever got anything good from that. Well, if fresh coffee beans doesn't do the trick then maybe it's time to drop some cash on a burr grinder?
My guess is our OP's machine utilizes a pressurized PF, which, as you know will create a sort of pseudo crema, no tamping necessary...and less dependent on a proper uniform espresso style grind. Just my .02
Good catch. I thought the same thing when I first ran the post, and I must have had a spigot open because it ran right out, never to be thought of again until you brought it up. ;-)
mlempenau Senior Member Joined: 15 Feb 2012 Posts: 5 Location: Thailand Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012, 2:35am Subject: Re: Not working right
All this talk about a pressurized PF got me to thinking ... maybe the PF needs cleaning. I make sure and clean the water system but I had forgot to clean the PF. I'm definitely getting old!! It was needing cleaning ... now it working more like it should. I think the gunk had made it unpressurized. It's still not working perfectly but must better.
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