Trouble

bk wrote:
> I don't know what machine you have, but perhaps it uses a pressurized
> portafilter, and you might have depressurized it...? Or maybe you
> affected the seal of the portafilter to the group?

I have a delonghi ec701 which had a pressurized portafilter. I removed
all the pressurized stuff a while ago in my attempt to make real
espresso. Seal to group seems fine, no leaking of any kind. I know
the machine isn't affected at least on that end because i used the pod
portafilter to brew some pods. Worked fine. I did notice though that
when using the pod adapter and pods, that the machine gave a different
sound when brewing. A very strained sound to it.

Bwisit wrote:
> bk wrote:
> > I don't know what machine you have, but perhaps it uses a pressurized
> > portafilter, and you might have depressurized it...? Or maybe you
> > affected the seal of the portafilter to the group?
>
> I have a delonghi ec701 which had a pressurized portafilter. I removed
> all the pressurized stuff a while ago in my attempt to make real
> espresso. Seal to group seems fine, no leaking of any kind. I know
> the machine isn't affected at least on that end because i used the pod
> portafilter to brew some pods. Worked fine. I did notice though that
> when using the pod adapter and pods, that the machine gave a different
> sound when brewing. A very strained sound to it.

Jim's suggestion below is good, the round, rotating tamped movement
alongside the basket's edges to seal an evenly dispensed measure.
Dispensation more important than any exact or precise tamp poundage
exerted. The pressure release plunger on the creme enhancement
delivers what's called a "faux" or false creme to purists, a less rich
and watered byproduct, even though others seem not to mind that aspect.
As the pump strains, it's encountering sufficient resistance up to
impede all flow to start over from scratch. Too fine of a grind will
often stop up the PF or need an annoying allowance for lighter tamping.
I find roasting preferable to buying roasted, both above consideration
I'd give pods.

Bwisit wrote:
> bk wrote:
> > I don't know what machine you have, but perhaps it uses a pressurized
> > portafilter, and you might have depressurized it...? Or maybe you
> > affected the seal of the portafilter to the group?
>
> I have a delonghi ec701 which had a pressurized portafilter. I removed
> all the pressurized stuff a while ago in my attempt to make real
> espresso. Seal to group seems fine, no leaking of any kind. I know
> the machine isn't affected at least on that end because i used the pod
> portafilter to brew some pods. Worked fine. I did notice though that
> when using the pod adapter and pods, that the machine gave a different
> sound when brewing. A very strained sound to it.

Jim's suggestion below is good, the round, rotating tamped movement
alongside the basket's edges to seal an evenly dispensed measure.
Dispensation more important than any exact or precise tamp poundage
exerted. The pressure release plunger on the creme enhancement
delivers what's called a "faux" or false creme to purists, a less rich
and watered byproduct, even though others seem not to mind that aspect.
As the pump strains, it's encountering sufficient resistance up to
impede all flow to start over from scratch. Too fine of a grind will
often stop up the PF or need an annoying allowance for lighter tamping.
I find roasting preferable to buying roasted, both above consideration
I'd give pods.

> I do it lightly.
>
> No amount of tamping force you use (unless you are really strong) will
> equal the pressure of the water as it hits the puck. The purpose of
> all the stuff you do is not to compress the grounds, but to distribute
> them evenly, and seal the surface. Pressing helps with the sealing,
> but isn't as efficient as tapping and levelling to fill in holes and
> gaps.
>
> The ideal naked pour initially has the bottom of the basket go black
> with coffee droplets over all its surface simultaneously. However,
> this is quite rare. The major criterion is that there are no squirts,
> and that the coffee gathers into a stream at the center before it
> starts to pour.
>
> If you are experienced with espresso machines, it'll take 3 to 5 days
> to get this when first using a naked. If you are a beginner, it can
> take a few weeks. So patience is definitely a virtue when starting to
> use a naked PF.

This is enlightening. I always had the idea tamping was to seal the
grounds. The harder, the better the seal. I will definitely
concentrate more on even distribution than brute force to seal the
puck. I will now put away the mallet I was using (just kidding, it was
a hammer, hehe). I have seen the naked go black, but very quickly
before all the squirting and blonding. Except ofcourse when I choked
the machine. I saw black, but only around the edges, nearly no drips
from the middle. I will nutate more carefully to seal the edges more.
I thought I was going in the right direction before I tried the naked
portafilter, but now I think that the early bloding actually just
covered the bitterness caused by me making the water too hot when I
turned on the steam button. I re-did the temperature test, the easy
way with Randy G's instructions, and found that it was pretty
consistent at 201F after the ready light came on. Came down 1 degree
or so every 5 seconds. After reading the perfecting the naked shot
article, it said that sour may not be under temp water but too fast a
brew. So I shall try again tonight. Concentrate on my distribution
and sealing and hope I don't kill my machine by choking it again. What
are the dangers of choking a machine without a 3 way valve? Can I
overdo it and blow it up somehow or is that too dramatic?

I also had a question about the basket. I usually take it off and just
leave the portafilter in the machine and take my time with dosing and
distributing, at least what I thought was distributing. My question
is, can I take too long and have the basket get too cold before I put
it back on the portafilter and will that affect the extraction?

Bwisit wrote:

> brew. So I shall try again tonight. Concentrate on my distribution
> and sealing and hope I don't kill my machine by choking it again. What
> are the dangers of choking a machine without a 3 way valve? Can I
> overdo it and blow it up somehow or is that too dramatic?

Backs up grinds in the showerhead. Between shots I clean the
showerhead with a toothbrush with the PF removed and pump running. Stop
the pump and scrub a few more times. Then run the pump again and look
for a nice smooth flow coming out of the showerhead.