Keeping it all Squeaky Clean

Heykaramba · November 2012

Keeping your espresso equipment clean is the best lesson I've learned since getting into coffee big time a few years ago. So I made this video clip to share my approach.

I'd be interested to get some feedback from other keen home baristas.

Brett H · November 2012

Hello there HeyKarumba... Did I buy a Saeco grinder of you on EBay about 18 months ago? http://www.bestcafes.com.au/forum/grinders/grinder-reviews/msg22560/#msg22560 (reply 9). I think the video is great however just because you asked for feedback: 1. Roast date of the beans? 2. Tamp is a little uneven but okay 3. I think the shot looks a little long 4. Is that a dual floor basket? Tsk, tsk! 5. If you desacale a HX once a month you'll shorten its life. Best advice is quality water in, no need for bad chemicals in the boiler or thermoblocks. I acknowledge that you are using a dual pump thermoblock machine. 6. Back flushing needs to be mentioned and is essential irrespective of water quality. 7. Welcome to Crema and thank yo for a fabulously smooth transaction and great buying experience 18 months ago!

Kelsey · November 2012

It's a good starting point, that's for sure. As far as the cleaning side of things go, I don't have much to argue with, although our techniques differ a little due to the double-walled baskets you're using. The video was about a bit more than cleaning tho and I'm going to disagree with you somewhat on some of it. Double-wall baskets are great - IF you're using beans that aren't fresh or don't have a decent grinder. The EM6910 is a serious domestic machine, but it's aimed right at that uncertain spot between average home coffee lover and serious fanatic. The double-walled basket is really not great for creating a rich, full-bodied espresso. It is good for ensuring that you get a consistent result, even if it's not as good as it could be otherwise. And given that consistency was the point of the video, I can't take too much issue with that part. Maybe just the 'good' bit.

And that blonding at the end looked a little extreme for my tastes. I'd be stopping the pour well before it got to that stage, but the spurty nature of it makes me think it's possibly the pressurised baskets at play. Cleaning the portafilter might be a little different for double-wall baskets too, I don't recall. My current routine has me washing out the PF with hot water after every use and I flush the group without the PF in at the same time. Without a pressurised basket I don't get grind or oil retention between the walls and the hot water tends to wash away most of the oils. Instead I do a nightly backflush with a blind filter - not sure if that's possible or recommended on a 6910. It certainly wouldn't be for most machines without an OPV.

Koffee_Kosmo · November 2012

Can you do my videos Very professional thats for sure I can't comment on the procedure as I have not owned a Sunbeam 6910 But the videos structure is good at offering a broad spectrum of information as a minimum must do guide KK

Heykaramba · November 2012

Thanks Koffee Kosmo - all comments greatly appreciated. I'm probably more production savvy than coffee savvy, but I was hoping it would hit the right mark. Thanks.

beanflying · November 2012

Nice video production quality.

Hate to be the first to say it but you NEED to lose the close to if not stale Lavazza coffee. Their coffee much as I don't hate (used to drink preground in a plunger pre roasting my own or owning Espresso gear) it isn't as fresh as ideal. Coffee generally Peaks somewhere between 1 and 3 weeks as a rough idea for Espresso roasts (different for brewed) and Lavazza or other Italian roasted coffees will be generally a lot older than that.

Heykaramba · November 2012

on 1352978585:

What the others said... Mind you with the L brand of coffee, you will need the dual floor basket... If your in Brisbane, would love to have you do a short vid of the Sunbeam EM7000 I have; in operation :thumb:

Unfortunately I'm a bit further south in Sydney. But thanks for the invite.

Heykaramba · November 2012

on 1352962162:

Nice video production quality. Hate to be the first to say it but you NEED to lose the close to if not stale Lavazza coffee. Their coffee much as I don't hate (used to drink preground in a plunger pre roasting my own or owning Espresso gear) it isn't as fresh as ideal. Coffee generally Peaks somewhere between 1 and 3 weeks as a rough idea for Espresso roasts (different for brewed) and Lavazza or other Italian roasted coffees will be generally a lot older than that.

Yup, my local deli-man told me that vacuum packed coffed from Italy is probably around 6 months old by the time you grind it !!!. He said (as you do) that locally roasted beans that are around 18-24 days old are best. I thought he was just trying to make a better sale - but it seems he was quite genuine. Thanks for the input.

Kelsey · November 2012

Just be careful, we've got another thread going on here showing the perils of improper bean storage at delis! Most of us here are home roasters (if not actual professional roasters) - your Deli-man speaks the truth, but he's probably a little off, depending on the bean. This isn't true for all, but generally speaking beans tend to be a little too fresh prior to seven days and usually past it at 30. A simple rule of thumb: use-by dates are useless - if it doesn't have a roasted-on date it's already stale!

Heykaramba · November 2012

Thanks for your reply. Although my status of 'Instant Drinker' is almost libelous !! I am not yet up to the level of home bean roasting - but maybe one day, with some help from members of this forum.

lemoo · November 2012

you're definitely on the right track then! it doesnt take much to home roast, a simple popcorn roaster is the easiest way to get going and have a crack at it! Target currently have the pre christmas sale going and popcorn poppers are going for $12!

Brett H · November 2012

on 1353026770:

Thanks for your reply. Although my status of 'Instant Drinker' is almost libelous !! I am not yet up to the level of home bean roasting - but maybe one day, with some help from members of this forum.

Beaten by a quality post from Lemoo :thumb: Absolutely!!! Many of us started with popcorn makers and grew from there. It is an inexpensive fun hobby that can potentially drinking from the top shelf very inexpensively. Myself and others would be thrilled to have another convert to bounce ideas off and our share successes and failur... maccas moments!

Heykaramba · November 2012

on 1352959646:

Hello there HeyKarumba... Did I buy a Saeco grinder of you on EBay about 18 months ago? http://www.bestcafes.com.au/forum/grinders/grinder-reviews/msg22560/#msg22560 (reply 9). I think the video is great however just because you asked for feedback: 1. Roast date of the beans? 2. Tamp is a little uneven but okay 3. I think the shot looks a little long 4. Is that a dual floor basket? Tsk, tsk! 5. If you desacale a HX once a month you'll shorten its life. Best advice is quality water in, no need for bad chemicals in the boiler or thermoblocks. I acknowledge that you are using a dual pump thermoblock machine. 6. Back flushing needs to be mentioned and is essential irrespective of water quality. 7. Welcome to Crema and thank yo for a fabulously smooth transaction and great buying experience 18 months ago!

Sorry Brett, that wasn't me on eBay (sounds like a variation on spelling Heykarumba as opposed to me being Heykaramba). 3. The timed shot is a fixed duration - but I agree it does seem a little long, maybe I need to do a manual timing instead. 4. Whats the issue with dual floor baskets? 5. I read somewhere that after a machine has been descaled that it needs seasoning after it has been throughly flushed through - sounds a bit odd to me and not clear what 'seasoning' means.

Heykaramba · November 2012

on 1353027040:

you're definitely on the right track then! it doesnt take much to home roast, a simple popcorn roaster is the easiest way to get going and have a crack at it! Target currently have the pre christmas sale going and popcorn poppers are going for $12!

Wow! I always assumed coffee roasters to be much more expensive, though I'm sure the professional ones are. - I might give that a go. Not much to lose at that sort of price.

Brett H · November 2012

on 1353027155:

Sorry Brett, that wasn't me on eBay (sounds like a variation on spelling Heykarumba as opposed to me being Heykaramba). 3. The timed shot is a fixed duration - but I agree it does seem a little long, maybe I need to do a manual timing instead. 4. Whats the issue with dual floor baskets? 5. I read somewhere that after a machine has been descaled that it needs seasoning after it has been throughly flushed through - sounds a bit odd to me and not clear what 'seasoning' means.

Hi Mate, I got all excited about my Saeco f5 for a moment thinking I might be meeting his father... or so to speak. 4. Dual floor or dual wall baskets create fake crema by pressurizing the water and the puck creating extra turbididty in the shot for crema but destroying oils/flavours. Someone with a physics/science background chime in here with correct terminology please. 5. Seasoning generally refers to running a shot to be discarded subsequent to backflushing to remove the chemical taint and coat any moving parts like cams in E61 machines in coffee oils. Descaling is a different matter but a seasoning shot is still essential if you've run chemical through your brew path as most need to do. regards BH

Brett H · November 2012

on 1353027601:

Wow! I always assumed coffee roasters to be much more expensive, though I'm sure the professional ones are. - I might give that a go. Not much to lose at that sort of price.

spot on mate! www.beangreen.com.au or www.ministryofgrounds.com.au or www.mycuppa.com.au or http://koffeekosmo.com.au/index.php/shop or any quality local roaster will sell you a smaller amount to get you started.

lemoo · November 2012

http://www.bestcafes.com.au/forum/roasting-how-to-do-it/the-absolute-beginners-guide-to-roasting-coffee-using-minimal-equipment/ very good starter guides on that thread for you. beware though, roasting is stupidly addictive but immensely fun at the same time much like everything else coffee related haha the most important point to note when you first start out: burning and wasting beans is not the end of the world i found that making mistakes when roasting was the quickest way to learn!

askthecoffeeguy · November 2012

also agree that the production values are very good re: dual floor baskets - the common conception is that they're to compensate and add extra body to stale, pre-ground coffee, and as such this 'over compensation' can hamper the barista's input into the coffee that they're making just a word on the descale - my understanding is that you need to pop your shower screen (on the brew head) off when you're descaling in order to flush any trapped gunk out, without it backing up and becoming trapped in the water pipes and / or flow restrictors, thus potentially blocking up the machine also the milk texturing is a bit froth and bubbles for my liking, I'd prefer to see an even creamy texture without the froth on top, so that the milk folds evenly through the coffee without settling or separating but some very good points raised over all and again excellent production values FTR record though I would say that 7 to 14 days post roast is optimal for coffee consumption, longer depending upon storage - but the most sophisticated cleaning routine is still not going to compensate for stale beans and putting my mod hat on for a moment i would say that any commercial reference to a non sponsor product is usually frowned upon and that actual sponsorship of the forum is probably the best way to get a commercial endorsement across cheers ACg

Brett H · November 2012

on 1353190754:

also agree that the production values are very good re: dual floor baskets - the common conception is that they're to compensate and add extra body to stale, pre-ground coffee, and as such this 'over compensation' can hamper the barista's input into the coffee that they're making just a word on the descale - my understanding is that you need to pop your shower screen (on the brew head) off when you're descaling in order to flush any trapped gunk out, without it backing up and becoming trapped in the water pipes and / or flow restrictors, thus potentially blocking up the machine also the milk texturing is a bit froth and bubbles for my liking, I'd prefer to see an even creamy texture without the froth on top, so that the milk folds evenly through the coffee without settling or separating but some very good points raised over all and again excellent production values FTR record though I would say that 7 to 14 days post roast is optimal for coffee consumption, longer depending upon storage - but the most sophisticated cleaning routine is still not going to compensate for stale beans and putting my mod hat on for a moment i would say that any commercial reference to a non sponsor product is usually frowned upon and that actual sponsorship of the forum is probably the best way to get a commercial endorsement across cheers ACg

I didn't say it better myself! I completely concur!

askthecoffeeguy · December 2012

Had a good look (but not a play on) a Breville Dual Boiler in a store today Good looking machine, build quality and aesthetics seem to be very good - but, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, the baskets are dual walled and pressurised? Is that right? If everything else stacks up why would you need pressurised baskets on what is otherwise a very highly spec'd machine? P

lemoo · December 2012

i believe they come with both pressurised and non pressurised

C-man · January 2013

super well made video! couple things I might add: when pouring the milk, tilt the cup and pour slowly and carefully trying not to disturb the crema so much will result in a much better tasting coffee, especially when you learn to make real crema with a single floor basket and proper beans. removing and cleaning the water reservoir sometimes is something most people overlook, standing water will start to turn greenish after time. Hang around this site and you will look back at this video and see all the changes you made.

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