Just recently when I tried to dose some grinds into my portafilter, I noticed that the doser handle wasn’t returning to its starting position automatically anymore. This is something that everyone using a grinder with a doser will eventually run into but luckily it’s an easy repair that won’t deprive you of freshly ground beans for too long. Read More
When I bought my first Mazzer it was incomplete and missed a few parts. One of those parts was the hopper, the plastic container on top of the grinder that stores the beans until they reach the grinding chamber where they will be ground. A key part don’t you think? I thought so too…
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Almost two weeks ago I posted an article on my most recently bought Espresso machine, the Saeco Aroma with a couple of hidden defects. Once things were sorted out with the seller and the necessary parts were ordered I could finally get to work.
As you might have guessed i snagged up another espresso machine. I was told the machine started leaking water after being descaled and that somehow it wouldn’t switch off anymore. Having seen some of the pictures of the machine before committing to the sale it seemed like an easy fix. When i picked up the package it came in this afternoon it all went south though.
A little over 2 weeks ago i got my hands on another little project. I’ve been interested in the inner workings of espressomachines for a while now and i was looking for an easy machine to start tinkering with, preferably with as little electronics as possible. I found one on eBay that fit the bill and needed some work.
With this Astoria badged Mazzer Super Jolly i’ve started a new category on my blog. You will find this and my other current projects under, you guessed it, “Current Projects“. I found this grinder locally on a classifieds website. The seller didn’t specify which brand or model it was, but i recognised its shape immediately. The grinder was cheap enough but somehow it was still listed after being on that site for about a month. When i asked the seller if he still had it for sale i was quite amazed he still hadn’t sold it yet. It did look quite beat up, but these grinders are known to stand up to just about any kind of abuse…
Every now and then your espresso gear will need cleaning. You wash the portafilter and baskets after every use, clean the driptray at least once every few days (i hope) and wipe down the rest of the machine every so often. But what about the inside of the boiler? You can’t just reach in with a brush and start scrubbing around. Well you could but it’d be a lot more trouble than i would want to go through. Especially on a Tuesday morning before (!) i had my first espresso.
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I’ve been looking for ways to get more consistant shots of espresso from my La Pavoni Professional and one of the few things that kept holding me back was the quality of the grounds. Knowing full well that my Nemox Lux was already producing the best grounds it could, I started looking for a new grinder. I found my grail in Italy, read on for the full story.
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Ever since I picked up my La Pavoni Professional it bothered me that the manometer always showed 0.4 bars of pressure even though the machine was turned off, the boiler was completely cold and there was no (residual) pressure in the boiler. Even when I disassembled it to replace all the gaskets it still showed 0.4 bars of pressure. When another member of the Kaffee-Netz forum mentioned the exact same phenomena I thought we both needed new manometers. But we really didn’t…
I’ve had mixed success using the standard La Pavoni Professional steam wand to create the illustrious microfoam with regular milk. The La Pavoni comes with a 3 hole nozzle (see pictures). To get decent microfoam you need to be able to direct where the steam goes. The simple fact that the standard nozzle has 3 holes all pointing in different directions makes it virtually impossible to direct the steam into a single direction.
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