Stocktonmanners Senior Member Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Canada Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Wega Nova Junior EVD Grinder: Budget Drip: Breville Cafe Roma
Posted Sun Jun 1, 2008, 11:35am Subject: Breville Cafe Roma ESP8XL Mods/Tips - Modifications/Tricks
Portafilter Drill Out Modification: The Drill Out Modification was “invented” by someone else in reviews and forums and is just being repeated here for ease of use. See reviews/forums for a more detailed explanation.
The Breville Café Roma filter Baskets consist of 2 layers. Top layer (when in the Machine) is the Espresso Bean Filter. Below that is a second layer Bottom Layer (Crema Enhancer) Exposed when you take the Portafilter basket out of the Portafilter.
1) Take Portafilter Basket out of Portafilter. 2) Find smallest drill bit you can. 3) Place basket with Crema Enhancer (Bottom side when inserted in Espresso Machine) side up on secure workspace. 4) Very carefully and slowly drill out the Crema Enhancer while making sure the drill doesn’t go far enough down to damage the Espresso Filter. 5) Rinse with water and reinsert in Portafilter.
Extreme Steam Modification:
TIP. Steps: 1) Heat up machine and Pull shot as per normal. 2) Wait until Thermoblock is heated and “Heating” light turns off. 3) Turn the Knob VERY slowly towards “Steam” until the heating light comes back on again but not so far that the pump is yet activated. 4) Wait about 15-20 Seconds or so. (Do not leave in this position for extended periods or Overheating of Machine could occur, resulting in a possible fire, as you are overriding the thermostat.) 5) Turn Knob the rest of the way left to Steam as per “normal”
I think if I kept this machine I would install a switch with a thermostat/PID to achieve the same steam results as per the above manual technique, but I have recently upgraded to commercial Heat Exchange Machine.
Transmission Junior Member Joined: 6 Oct 2008 Posts: 1 Location: Montreal, QC Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Oct 6, 2008, 4:11pm Subject: Re: Breville Cafe Roma ESP8XL Mods/Tips - Modifications/Tricks
Thanks for a great resource, the steaming tip finally helped me achieve respectable microfoam with my Cafe Roma. A word on the basket drillout though. I'd heard elsewhere on this forum that I could substitute a La Pavoni Europiccolla/Professional - Millennium Model Double Shot Basket, so instead of procuring a drill and delving into a potentially disastrous modification I decided to hike it out to my local espresso equipment dealer and purchase the new basket. When I got home to try it out, I found it fit quite perfectly in the portafilter itself, but due to its slightly higher clearance around the edge, it wouldn't quite fit into the cafe roma. Unfazed, i unscrewed the black plastic attachment holding on the portafilter ever so slightly to allow for the basket's higher clearance. Unfortunately, the shot I produced was strangely watery and had ZERO crema. It clearly did not pour correctly, which leaves me with a question: is the basket that i bought even compatible with the machine? It seems like it would be, because of the perfect fit into the portafilter, but after that lost shot, im not convinced. Oddly enough, while the texture of the espresso was completely bizarre, it tasted nearly as good as some of the shots i was pulling with the old basket. go figure.
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