JDHarding Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 1,099 Location: WA, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso Steel Pro PID Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MDX,... Vac Pot: None Drip: Hario v60 Roaster: Behmor, Fresh Roast
Posted Wed Sep 15, 2010, 10:17pm Subject: I forgot how to pull shots
It's been so long since I've used my espresso machine, about a year infact, and I've totally forgotten how to pull shots. I got my grinder at half a number from total zero, some fresh home roasted beans taken to second crack, and my machine all cleaned and ready to go. Using 14 grams of coffee, the yogurt cup stirring method, and I guess I'm applying 30 pounds of pressure when tamping (I don't have a scale that'll go up to 30 lbs to test it), and I'm pulling 10 second shots that blonde immedietly. I don't understand where I'm going wrong. My grind size should be choking my machine, but it's not. This sucks. :/
Maybe I'm getting channeling somewhere.. perhaps around the puck? It could happen when I tap the tamp against the portafilter to knock the remaining grounds down off the walls. Maybe I'll try a soft tamp, knock, then a hard tamp and polish.
dseah88 Senior Member Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18 Location: CA, USA Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Thu Sep 16, 2010, 12:44am Subject: Re: I forgot how to pull shots
id suspect the grind needs to be finer and perhaps more pressure on the tamp. i would adjust the grinds a little finer first to see if theres any difference.. sometimes the most subtle adjustments make the difference.
JDHarding Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 1,099 Location: WA, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso Steel Pro PID Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MDX,... Vac Pot: None Drip: Hario v60 Roaster: Behmor, Fresh Roast
Posted Thu Sep 16, 2010, 1:04am Subject: Re: I forgot how to pull shots
My grinder is a Rio Super Auto, same as the Mazzer Super Jolly, with a different badge. The burrs are upgraded titanium burrs. Very durable. Should still be pretty sharp. I have 8 little notches (little bumbs on the dial) before I hit point zero. I guess I'll try each one. Now it's all down to the tiny, tedious settings.
JDHarding Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 1,099 Location: WA, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso Steel Pro PID Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MDX,... Vac Pot: None Drip: Hario v60 Roaster: Behmor, Fresh Roast
Posted Thu Sep 16, 2010, 2:17am Subject: Re: I forgot how to pull shots
Okay, so I tweaked the grinder, moved it in little increments, and found the spot that creates a 30 second shot. It looked great, but when I went to drink it, there was grounds in it! Wtf? I don't remember my espresso getting grounds in it. Did my filter basket go bad? A bad filter basket is the one thing I haven't had in 2 years, so maybe it's time for a replacement?
It was also bitter as hell, but I roasted these beans today, so.. in a week they'll be okay. They were also pure crema. It was hard to tell when the shot blonded 'cause it was just caramel colored crema the whole time. 30 seconds of crema. The two shot glasses were pure crema. Crema crema cremedy crema. :D
Posted Thu Sep 16, 2010, 2:25am Subject: Re: I forgot how to pull shots
Zero on the adjustment scale probably doesn't correspond with the actual zero point of the burrs (were they start to chirp as the touch) unless you specifically set it that way at some point.
JDHarding Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 1,099 Location: WA, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso Steel Pro PID Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MDX,... Vac Pot: None Drip: Hario v60 Roaster: Behmor, Fresh Roast
Posted Thu Sep 16, 2010, 3:12am Subject: Re: I forgot how to pull shots
Bob_McBob Said:
Zero on the adjustment scale probably doesn't correspond with the actual zero point of the burrs (were they start to chirp as the touch) unless you specifically set it that way at some point.
Just for purpose of elimination, I would check the calibration on the grinder if it hasn't been checked recently. I have found that knocking the p/f after tamping wrecks the seal around the edge and sets you up for channelling. Do your distribution, either nutating or WDT. level off, then one straight tamp down, no twisting, no polishing. Do a cooling flush before locking the p/f in, that's helped me greatly. Gives a more stable temp, you don't get that first blast of super hot water. That's where a lot of your bitterness comes in, burning the top of the puck. Beans within one day of roast would be outgassing like crazy, and that could cause some channelling issues too. As for grounds in the cup, I would look at your grouphead closely, and give a thorough cleaning under the 'wings'. You've probably got some grounds built up there that knocked loose and went into the cup.
JDHarding Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 1,099 Location: WA, USA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso Steel Pro PID Grinder: Nuova Simonelli MDX,... Vac Pot: None Drip: Hario v60 Roaster: Behmor, Fresh Roast
Posted Thu Sep 16, 2010, 4:38am Subject: Re: I forgot how to pull shots
fwtechwiz Said:
Just for purpose of elimination, I would check the calibration on the grinder if it hasn't been checked recently. I have found that knocking the p/f after tamping wrecks the seal around the edge and sets you up for channelling. Do your distribution, either nutating or WDT. level off, then one straight tamp down, no twisting, no polishing. Do a cooling flush before locking the p/f in, that's helped me greatly. Gives a more stable temp, you don't get that first blast of super hot water. That's where a lot of your bitterness comes in, burning the top of the puck. Beans within one day of roast would be outgassing like crazy, and that could cause some channelling issues too. As for grounds in the cup, I would look at your grouphead closely, and give a thorough cleaning under the 'wings'. You've probably got some grounds built up there that knocked loose and went into the cup.
The grinder is now set up correctly to pull a proper shot.
I now do sort of a light tamp to push the bulk of the grounds down, tap the side, then do my actual tamp. This has helped A LOT. I recommend this to anyone else that taps the side to knock the grounds down. Light tamp would be just letting your tamper rest on the grounds, don't push any. Just put the tamp in, pull it out and tap, then do your actual tamp and polish.
This particular espresso machine is fussy and temp surfing is tough, and after a year I've completely forgotten how to do it. I was mostly trying to choke the machine to get my grind dialed in. Took about 10 shots to get it there. Now I'm working towards making it taste better, which will take a week for these beans to age.
After ten shots, I probably should clean the grouphead. Haven't done it yet, so thanks for reminding me.
Since this started after doing a cleaning on the grinder, I would look there first. As I commented on your other thread, it sounds like it might be a burr misalignment.
If the burrs are misaligned (even 50 microns - the width of an eyelash) it can cause serious issues. This could also explain why you have to grind so close to burrs touching to get proper timing for your shot (i.e. one side touches before the other).
The sweet spot for espresso on most Mazzer grinders is about 1/4 turn from true zero, give or take. If you are much closer to zero than that, it could very well be burrs not laying perfectly flat on the mounting (burr carrier).
The machine runs cold, so you need to superheat the boiler. You need to get the boiler to kick on; either wait for the boiler to automatically kick on, or run a little water through the group to get the boiler to kick on. Once you hear the heating element kick on (forget if the light goes on or off while heating), wait for it to shut off (accompanied by the light going on or off). At this point, the boiler is at the top of it's cycle which is the hottest point. When the boiler turns off, flip the steam switch on which will super heat the boiler. IIRC, flip the steam switch for 10sec., turn the switch off, run water through the group for a couple seconds, lock in the PF and go. It's imperitive that you flip the switch when the boiler is at the top of the cycle; this is a constant. Feel free to email me if you need a refresher too.
JDHarding Said:
After ten shots, I probably should clean the grouphead. Haven't done it yet, so thanks for reminding me.
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