What's caffeinating you today?

[ElyDave]

I don't have a Silvia either.

Then why the fuck are you entering into a discussion specifically about the Rancilio Silvia???

Jeez.

It was a discussion specifically about fucking PID control.

Next time, I'll be sure you ask you what I think.

[Hot Flatus]

No it was about Hillbilly's Silvia.

Then you appeared.

Next time when you appear, Ill be sure to check with you what I and others were previously talking about.

Why would I presume that a PID would be appropriate for all machines? They are pointless on HX machines for example.

I wouldn't presume to say anything about your machine if I didn't know what it was, nor if I had no experience of it.

I will give you one piece of unsolicited advice though:

The last thing you need is another coffee 

[T42]

18 years ago, I thought all the fuss about grinders was nonsense, but now I know they make an enormous difference.

Oyez oyez.  Trouble is that most espresso beginners budget for the machine, and only realize afterwards that they're going to have to come up with the same £££ again for the grinder.  That, or turn a Porlex crank >100 times for every shot.

BTW, I've got nowt caffeinating me today: last order disappeared between supplier's dispatch dept & the post-office van. Nice lady said "oh, we'll send that out again". They've sent it by express courier, too. 

[Hot Flatus]

Have you gone into withdrawal yet? 

I ran out of coffee yesterday, new batch arriving today, but I went decaff some months back so I am surprisingly chilled about it 

[Hot Flatus]

Not chilled now. Had an instant coffee 30 minutes ago. I am pacing round the room.

[T42]

Heh. Colissimo's site suddenly posted 3 days' worth of tracking messages and my package arrived just after lunch. Currently listening to hold punitive music before saying 'sorry pardon' to the nice lady.

Curiously enough, withdrawal did not set in, probably due to the amount of Twining's Old & Filthy I've been pouring in.

[Hot Flatus]

You mean you didn't crack open the package straight away and jack some up?? 

[T42]

You bet I did, right after dessert.

[hillbilly]

Have looked at a PID.  Will consider if I move on to using the steam wand.  At the moment though, me and the lady prefer straight espresso so I think temparature surfing isn't something I need to do.  To date, we seem to be hitting awesome shots 5% of the time and more than acceptable ones the other 95% (well with the odd dud due to newbie errors like overfilling or tamping down at a weird angle).  The acceptable ones are better than any I remember from the high street, but not as rich as some independents I've been to.  I suspect I can live with that (for now).

[Hot Flatus]

PID all about espresso shots....not steaming.  Stick on a PID and you'll turn the 5% to 100%, all other things being equal.

In essence what you have is a thermostat. When it reaches temp it turns off the element...but the temp keeps on rising. Then it drops back to the point where the thermostat clicks back on and turns on the element...

....but the temp keeps on dropping for a bit. Hence the wide temperature fluctuation.

A PID pulses in the power to the element and keeps the temp pretty stable.

On my last two machines I've been able to play with the temp a bit, and even 2° makes a noticeable difference. From memory, IIRC the Silvia has an 8° variance.

It is particularly worth modding a Silvia because the rest of the important kit is pretty good (big beefy group head thatretains heat)

The steaming is a weak point of the Silvia, and indeed all single boiler non-HX  machines.

[ElyDave]

No it was about Hillbilly's Silvia.

Then you appeared.

Next time when you appear, Ill be sure to check with you what I and others were previously talking about.

Why would I presume that a PID would be appropriate for all machines? They are pointless on HX machines for example.

I wouldn't presume to say anything about your machine if I didn't know what it was, nor if I had no experience of it.

I will give you one piece of unsolicited advice though:

The last thing you need is another coffee 

When dealing with you, I'll start with several, and go from there.

[Hot Flatus]

I guess if you insist in making a utter tit of yourself that is your prerogative.

Meanwhile there are two conversations going on here. One about grinders, and the other about Silvias.

Got anything useful to say?

[T42]

If espresso machines came with decent thermostats a PID wouldn't be necessary. Hell, for the tuppenceworth of electronics involved they could PID them as standard.

But then, of course, they wouldn't be able to charge 100 € more for a PIDed machine vs a bog standard.

---o0o---

Anent my double delivery, the nice lady at Maxicoffee said "keep the extra kilo and Merry Christmas".

[Hot Flatus]

£350 more in the case of the Ascaso Dream 
It takes the price up to £750. Not sure I see the point, you might as well stump up another £150 for an HX machine that will steam well, or £350 for a decent dual boiler.

....or £440 for a Silvia, then...what?...£25 To fit a PID.

[T42]

Had to crank my jaw up off the desk at that £350. It's Lelit (OK, very basic machines) who charge the 100€.

[Ham]

On holibobs our French ski apartment had a Nespresso machine, which produced a cup of OK-ish coffee, I can see the attraction, especially for space challenged kitchens, but the waste is astonishing. However, that's not the end of the story as I discovered there is a competing capsule system called Tassimo, clearly the result of a bunch of blokes (yeah, I reckon) sitting around thinking, "Those folk at Nespresso really haven't taken the packaging concept as far as they can, let's see what we can do". The simple Nespresso foil capsule is replaced by a substantial plastic contraption. To be honest, I don't know how they work as I found this difference out by buying the wrong type for the Nespresso. If anyone has a Tassimo machine and would like a few coffee capsules, let me know, I'm going to put them on my local freecycle very shortly.

[T42]

I have a bunch of Nespresso-compatible capsules that you can fill yourself; back when I still roasted my own I occasionally filled a batch for El Presidente.  The results were so-so, though: hard to get the right grind/tamp combination. Too loose and you get gnats' water, too tight/fine and you bugger the machine.

[hillbilly]

Have bought a bumper selection of Coffee Compass beans.  First up has been a mahogany roasted Indonesian (Jalambar).  It's maybe too aggressive for a straight espresso, at least for my tastes, but makes excellent Americano (and I suspect coffee with milk froth of some variety, but I don't dabble in such things so wouldn't know).  Comment from the lady was "I don't think I'll be able to enjoy high street coffee again."

Making good progress through that 500g bag (which at an average of around £8 a bag was pretty good value compared to the high street, given it was roasted the day of packing so reliably fresh).

[pumpkin]

Recently renovated the Gaggia Classic with a new group seal but the shower screen screw was burred on the head so brute force needed to peel back the screen and get it off. Whilst fiddling about there I removed the original group head which was a block of aluminium but was now corroded/charred/whatever. So a new shower plate and screws ordered and a brass group head.It's a substantial chunk of brass and there is a marked improvement in the coffee. It may be the new screen (so no oils) and the seal has helped but he brass does hold more heat.

[T42]

Ran out of my usual coffee and tried the local supermarket's own brand today - "Pure Arabica" and "South America" it says - proof that origin is no indication of quality. As a jeweller chum of mine once observed, you can make shit watches in Switzerland too, you know. God help anyone who drinks the stuff every day.

[ElyDave]

Turkish, I'm running low on espresso beans - had planned to pick some up Saturday, but No1 Son's pneumonia had other ideas

[hillbilly]

In a bid to see what else is out there, I ordered some Coffee Masters Super Crema Espresso beans from Amazon (£13 for a kilo).  Landed on it after searching Google and the "wisdom" recommending it.

Lives up to the name on the label, with the dark roast delivering a rich crema, but the chocolate/nut taste doesn't match up to this, being strangely subdued compared to similarly dark roasts I've had.  Don't think I'll buy another bag when I get through it. 

[pcolbeck]

The best Makita tool ever:



A coffee maker that runs of either of two types of power tool battery packs and can use either ground coffee or pods. The future is truly here today!

[Hot Flatus]

In a bid to see what else is out there, I ordered some Coffee Masters Super Crema Espresso beans from Amazon (£13 for a kilo).  Landed on it after searching Google and the "wisdom" recommending it.

Lives up to the name on the label, with the dark roast delivering a rich crema, but the chocolate/nut taste doesn't match up to this, being strangely subdued compared to similarly dark roasts I've had.  Don't think I'll buy another bag when I get through it.

Names like 'Super Crema' hint very heavily at inferior quality beans. Crema is associated with high robust content (or overly freshly roasted beans...yours wont be) and therefore higher caffeine content.

I take it the bag didnt say 100% arabica?

[hillbilly]

Is a mix of arabica and robusta.  And mentions the "caffeine charge".  So pretty much as you thought.   

Only another half bag to get through before I can put this sorry experiment out of its misery.