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I think a friend is giving me his Gene Cafe drum roaster. Anything I should open up/check on/replace to make sure it's good to go before I dump a bunch of nice beans in it?
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Nov 19, 2023 07:01
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I took apart my Ode the other day to clean it and recalibrate it, only to realize that one of the screws holding on the grind size dial plate had no grooves. It was perfectly smooth. The really dumb part is I took this thing apart when I got it to put gen2 burrs in it and didn't notice. I remember one of the screws not wanting to seat and just assumed I stripped it and moved on. Its not a hyper-critical piece either way, but its really drat weird they assembled it with a defective screw. Anyway, I contacted their support 13 months after I bought it and they are still sending me replacement screws. Side bonus: while I was browsing their site I saw they sell the gen2 feed ramp separately, and it fits the gen1 (screws sold separately for some reason). Went ahead and ordered the new bin and lid, since that will fix my main complaint about the gen1.
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Nov 19, 2023 15:53
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Steve Yun posted:My sister is cleaning out her kitchen clutter and gave me her Nespresso machine If you didn't own it originally, probably take a poke around. Who knows what's been put through it and if the scale has built up.
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Nov 19, 2023 16:49
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I’ve never had a coffee machine before. Is vinegar enough to descale water tanks or do I need dedicated descaler
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Nov 19, 2023 19:44
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I bought a bag of powdered citric acid a while back and mix it up at 2 tablespoons/L for descaling. It doesn't have a smell like vinegar.
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Nov 19, 2023 19:49
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Yeah you are better off using a dedicated descaler. It does a better job and doesn't soak in to any scale left behind like vinegar does and taint flavor. https://youtu.be/jblVRrasJxQ?si=6qwPJB9xZy8JMzZy
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Nov 19, 2023 20:00
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I'm picking up a Niche Duo and am on the fence about buying the "pour over" burrs in addition to the espresso burrs. I've been using the Niche Zero daily the past 3 years for brewing with my clever coffee dripper and been really happy with the results. I make espresso on average once a week using the Flair Pro. I approximate the grind setting between the two brews and rarely dial it in perfectly, but am honestly fine with the results. Anyone with any insight into the Duo think it would be worth getting both sets of burrs for a similar use case going forward? Right now I'm leaving to just getting the 'espresso' burrs and making it work. Thanks!
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Nov 20, 2023 13:01
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Anyone here know more or less how long I can expect a Breville Barista express to last? It's on black Friday sale and I'm considering it. I'm trying to figure out long term costs and maintenance if I can.
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Nov 20, 2023 13:24
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Any recommendations for descaler? I've seen Dezcal https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004NRZ6F0/ mentioned earlier in the thread, and that seems acceptable at $17 for a year's supply
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Nov 20, 2023 13:37
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Microcline posted:Any recommendations for descaler? I've seen Dezcal https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004NRZ6F0/ mentioned earlier in the thread, and that seems acceptable at $17 for a year's supply One thing to keep in mind is that I don’t think Dezcal is recommended for machines with aluminum boilers. I bought a bunch of it and ran it once or twice and didn’t seem to see any changes or ill effects before I read that, then switched to something recommended for Gaggia machines. Durgol is a brand that works well and it’s a very funny name as a bonus.
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Nov 20, 2023 14:10
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:I think a friend is giving me his Gene Cafe drum roaster. Anything I should open up/check on/replace to make sure it's good to go before I dump a bunch of nice beans in it? Hell yeah, dude. That's a solid roaster. I spent years working with it and it's simple and elegant and gives you a couple ways to monitor the beans. It doesn't give you a ton of control (I think I only ever roasted at full blast with the only variable being time) but it's a great roaster and it produces a decent batch size. That being said, it's a super simple design which should make giving it the once over pretty easy. There's a heating element and fan on one side that moves the air through the roast chamber and then through the chaff filter and exhaust port. Obviously, make sure the exhaust port is clean and clear. Make sure the roast chamber locks into place properly and rotates correctly without catching, and make sure the fan and heating element are clean and clear. You might need to check online for a simple guide for opening that side up, but there are a ton of simple mods that require opening it so I can't imagine it's that hard to do (and I never did because the machine was so easy to maintain that I never had the need to). Enjoy that thing! It's a great roaster and my personal recommendation any time someone wants to get into roasting. If you have any other questions, let me know. I'm a dumbass, so I can't really guarantee it'll be GOOD advice, but I can share what I know.
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Nov 20, 2023 14:31
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Bruxism posted:I'm picking up a Niche Duo and am on the fence about buying the "pour over" burrs in addition to the espresso burrs. I've been using the Niche Zero daily the past 3 years for brewing with my clever coffee dripper and been really happy with the results. I make espresso on average once a week using the Flair Pro. I approximate the grind setting between the two brews and rarely dial it in perfectly, but am honestly fine with the results. Anyone with any insight into the Duo think it would be worth getting both sets of burrs for a similar use case going forward? Right now I'm leaving to just getting the 'espresso' burrs and making it work. Thanks! video i found on swapping the burrs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKdyBJ7TkhU this doesn't look too bad but keep in mind the chamber won't be that clean when the grinder's actually in service, and you'll need to make sure the chamber is very clean so that the burrs seat properly - grounds, even fines, will interfere with the calibration and affect your grind. I got both sets of ssp burrs when I bought the p64. IME, it was too much of a hassle and not a noticeable enough difference to swap burrs regularly, so the HU burrs have been sitting until very recently when i bought a marked-down ode v1 to house the extra set. I think the only grinder where i'd be willing to make swapping a part of the workflow would be the eg-1 which has a magnetic mounting system for the burrs, but you're chasing really really diminished marginal improvements at that point.
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Nov 20, 2023 16:42
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hypnophant posted:video i found on swapping the burrs: Great post! Thanks for the breakdown, that kind of confirms my own concerns about the system. I'll stick with the espresso burrs exclusively as it's been serving me well so far.
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Nov 20, 2023 18:15
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Why do you need both burs? Send like if you've got a niche zero and you're adding a duo, just keep them set up for pour over and espresso accordingly. Am I missing something?
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Nov 20, 2023 18:20
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Cannon_Fodder posted:Why do you need both burs? Send like if you've got a niche zero and you're adding a duo, just keep them set up for pour over and espresso accordingly. Am I missing something? I'm moving overseas and buying a 220v grinder to take with me. I'm putting my 110v zero into storage until I come back to the States. Since I'm getting a new one anyways I decided to pick up the Duo and started wondering about whether it was worth it to get both burr sets.
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Nov 20, 2023 20:02
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Totally makes sense. Goonspeed on your big move!
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Nov 21, 2023 05:24
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SlinkyMink posted:Hell yeah, dude. That's a solid roaster. I spent years working with it and it's simple and elegant and gives you a couple ways to monitor the beans. It doesn't give you a ton of control (I think I only ever roasted at full blast with the only variable being time) but it's a great roaster and it produces a decent batch size. That being said, it's a super simple design which should make giving it the once over pretty easy. There's a heating element and fan on one side that moves the air through the roast chamber and then through the chaff filter and exhaust port. Obviously, make sure the exhaust port is clean and clear. Make sure the roast chamber locks into place properly and rotates correctly without catching, and make sure the fan and heating element are clean and clear. You might need to check online for a simple guide for opening that side up, but there are a ton of simple mods that require opening it so I can't imagine it's that hard to do (and I never did because the machine was so easy to maintain that I never had the need to). Enjoy that thing! It's a great roaster and my personal recommendation any time someone wants to get into roasting. If you have any other questions, let me know. I'm a dumbass, so I can't really guarantee it'll be GOOD advice, but I can share what I know. Roasting at full blast and only varying time is all I know how to do with the air popper, so I'm looking forward to tinkering with temp profiles just to see what happens. Even doing the same thing every time with the air popper has a degree of variation I just can't control, but I'm pretty good at hitting my % weight loss targets within a 1-1.5% usually. Just the ability to triple my batch size is going to be huge. I just got 3 batches from Sweet Maria: Rwanda Ngororero, Ethiopia Geta Bore, and Sweet Maria's Altiplano blend. They're all supposed to be good for espresso and the language on the description was heavier on "toasted brown sugar" and stuff like that more than brighter fruits.
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Nov 21, 2023 06:19
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:Awesome, thank you. I'm pretty pumped about it. I really want to dial in a good medium-dark roast so my wife can enjoy this current fixation a bit. And also so we can give Kirklands beans a rest, I'm really tired of that stuff. Oh yeah, you'll love this thing, then. The plate in the roast chamber helps to make it a pseudo contact roaster which helps with roast time and uniformity. The design is really great. Cleaning the roast chamber is... Uh... A bit challenging. But it's not a major requirement super often so not a huge deal. I think you'll enjoy it as an upgrade, and as I said, there are a ton of mods for the thing online to help improve your experience with it. I never got into them though, as the thing is already pretty solid. Those sound like they'll be great! This thing definitely can do as dark as charcoal, so should get those crazy espresso roasts easy.
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Nov 21, 2023 12:15
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Hi coffee goons. I'm trying to improve the consistency, strength, and taste of my morning coffees. Currently using a cuisinart drip thats been doing a decent enough job. Initially was going to replace it (with a Technivorm) but on reading this thread I'm thinking of adding a grinder instead as my next step up. Baratza Maestro and virtuoso seem like the go to picks...but also a bit pricey for me, the oxo grinder is on sale here for $100cad; Is there a huge huge difference vs. the Baratzas given that I'm using a pretty basic drip machine? SocksAndSandals fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Nov 21, 2023 |
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Nov 21, 2023 15:49
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SocksAndSandals posted:Hi coffee goons. I'm trying to improve the consistency and taste of my morning coffees. Currently using a cuisinart drip thats been doing a decent enough job. Initially was going to replace it (with a Technivorm) but on reading this thread I'm thinking of adding a grinder instead as my next step up. You can definitely go with the OXO - It looks like it's made up of slightly better materials than the cheaper Baratzas. For many coffee nerds, one of the biggest benefits of Baratza grinders is that they're built to be repaired and Baratza readily provides parts for them, so if you were ever have an issue with it, you could easily get it fixed vs throwing it out altogether. Ultimately, It's up to you whether or not you prefer the higher quality enclosure of the OXO or the reparability of the Baratzas.
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Nov 21, 2023 16:03
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Anyone have a recommendation for a quiet(ish) non-espresso non-manual grinder? I use a niche zero for espresso and a cuisinart burr grinder every morning. The cuisinart is so much louder and more annoying, sometimes I have to unplug it and take it to the other side of the house to avoid waking everyone else up. I don't expect a cheap non-espresso grinder to be as quiet as the niche - but is there a middle ground? I'm looking at the OXO but it seems pretty loud too.
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Nov 21, 2023 16:34
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TengenNewsEditor posted:Anyone have a recommendation for a quiet(ish) non-espresso non-manual grinder? I went from the Cuisinart to a Capresso Infinity. It's quieter than the Cuisinart by a lot. It whirs but not as loud as the Cuisinart whir, and the grinding sound is much more muted, I think because it's so much slower. It's staticky as gently caress though, my only complaint.
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Nov 21, 2023 17:19
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TengenNewsEditor posted:Anyone have a recommendation for a quiet(ish) non-espresso non-manual grinder? The Fellow Ode v2 is relatively quiet and has an anti-static widget built in. Its a bit pricier, but my v1 is quieter, faster, and quite a bit nicer overall than the Capresso Infinity I upgraded from.
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Nov 21, 2023 17:41
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TengenNewsEditor posted:Anyone have a recommendation for a quiet(ish) non-espresso non-manual grinder? I started coffee with that stupid Cuisinart like 15 years ago. God it was so loud. I have a niche and a baratza virtuoso for home use, and then a fellow ode gen2 I have at work. The Ode is maybe a bit louder than the niche? But it grinds things so loving quick it doesn’t even matter. The virtuoso is the loudest, but still pretty quiet…much more so than the cuisinart. I’m thinking of selling my ode 2 because having that grinder for one cup of coffee at work is loving overkill. I can just use a hand grinder and be content with that.
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Nov 21, 2023 19:08
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there's a mignon filtro silent now, which looks like a pretty good choice for under $300. most anything is going to be better than that cuisinart though, i also had one once and it's just the worst high-pitched vacuum cleaner tone
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Nov 21, 2023 19:19
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Fellow has a nice discount during the mad days of November. https://fellowproducts.com/products/ode-brew-grinder-gen-2?variant=40978992496740 Upgraded burrs too.
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Nov 21, 2023 19:51
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Cannon_Fodder posted:Fellow has a nice discount during the mad days of November. Could probably even do espresso with those upgraded burrs.
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Nov 21, 2023 22:59
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Corb3t posted:Could probably even do espresso with those upgraded burrs. Problem is the grind dial isn't granular enough. There are stepless mods out there for the Ode, but I have no idea if they are worthwhile versus buying something designed for espresso.
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Nov 22, 2023 01:03
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Bandire posted:Problem is the grind dial isn't granular enough. There are stepless mods out there for the Ode, but I have no idea if they are worthwhile versus buying something designed for espresso. When I modded my Ode to be stepless, I had to hold the grind dial still during grinding otherwise it would drag itself finer or maybe coarser (can’t remember which). Definitely not great.
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Nov 22, 2023 21:31
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SocksAndSandals posted:Hi coffee goons. I'm trying to improve the consistency, strength, and taste of my morning coffees. Currently using a cuisinart drip thats been doing a decent enough job. Initially was going to replace it (with a Technivorm) but on reading this thread I'm thinking of adding a grinder instead as my next step up. You might like to give pourover a shot, it's extremely cheap to 'get into', just pick up the hario v60 brewer for $35 and some filters. Any gooseneck kettle will work and they're also starting to get available online for less than $50. These are all Canadian prices.
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Nov 23, 2023 00:11
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When doing multiple shots back to back (Rancilio Silvia + PID), is the following workflow ok? 1. Let machine warm up 30+ minutes while portafilter + blind basket is inserted. 2. Grind, remove puck and blind basket from machine, puck prep, insert, pull 1st shot. 3. Remove portafilter, remove basket, insert blind basket, attach to machine. 4. After 5 minutes of enjoying the 1st shot and measuring the beans for the 2nd cup, got to Step 2 and repeat. If I am using a puck screen, should I run some hot water through the machine right after Step 3 to get residual grounds out of the shower head?
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Nov 23, 2023 03:37
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VelociBacon posted:You might like to give pourover a shot, it's extremely cheap to 'get into', just pick up the hario v60 brewer for $35 and some filters. Any gooseneck kettle will work and they're also starting to get available online for less than $50. These are all Canadian prices. To add to this, some of the most insane world class barista competitions are pourover, so you can get extremely into coffee this way. Same for aeropress. With a decent scale and grinder, and a budget for good beans, you can really have fun. My most enjoyable coffee I've had in the past year has been aeropress and pourover preps of beans I've roasted. You can also do that really cheap; if you find a popcorn air popper free or cheap, green beans cost less than even low tier poo poo at the store and you can actually save money on coffee, at the expense of a bunch of time.
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Nov 23, 2023 04:03
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theHUNGERian posted:When doing multiple shots back to back (Rancilio Silvia + PID), is the following workflow ok? That should work great. You may want to have a brush to clean grounds out of places too, but that should be plenty of time between shots.
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Nov 23, 2023 04:11
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Jhet posted:That should work great. You may want to have a brush to clean grounds out of places too, but that should be plenty of time between shots. I once did try to brush the shower head, but I saw steam and so I thought the head was too hot and was melting the fine hairs of the brush. Ever since then I brush right before I turn the machine on. Thanks.
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Nov 23, 2023 04:51
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theHUNGERian posted:I once did try to brush the shower head, but I saw steam and so I thought the head was too hot and was melting the fine hairs of the brush. Ever since then I brush right before I turn the machine on. Get some tiny kitchen towels. After removing the portafilter from the group head, run the water for like 1 second, get the towel a little wet, and wipe the shower screen with that. That’ll clear the shower screen pretty good. Then knock out your puck, and use the dry side of the towel to wipe the basket out. Also wipe the basket out after letting it sit in the group if you get any condensation. You want the basket dry because you don’t want the base of your puck getting wet first. This workflow is how I’ve seen a lot of fancy NYC espresso bars do things. If your machine is good and your puck prep is good, generally you shouldn’t have tons of wet sloppy grounds on the shower screen or in the basket, and it should be relatively easy to clean with a dry towel.
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Nov 23, 2023 06:31
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For what it's worth, using a puck screen all but eliminates grounds on the shower head!
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Nov 23, 2023 07:57
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I admittedly bought a puck screen when they were in vogue and even though they don't really help with extraction, they are great for keeping the group head clean. If you do get one I would recommend getting a teasing needle as well to make it a little easier to pry the screen it because those things like to get snug in the portafilter.
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Nov 23, 2023 14:18
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Spiggy posted:I admittedly bought a puck screen when they were in vogue and even though they don't really help with extraction, they are great for keeping the group head clean. If you do get one I would recommend getting a teasing needle as well to make it a little easier to pry the screen it because those things like to get snug in the portafilter. Keeping the group head clean is good enough reason for me. Also, if you are crankin' until you've got a sloppy puck, in my experience, the excess water sits above it so you can pour that off before you knock mud into your knockbox
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Nov 23, 2023 15:53
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Get some tiny kitchen towels. I have multiple baskets (all the same make and model), so I can put in a new basket without having to clean it. So should the actual basket be warmed up as well or is it sufficient if it's just the portafilter?
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Nov 23, 2023 16:14
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theHUNGERian posted:I have multiple baskets (all the same make and model), so I can put in a new basket without having to clean it. So should the actual basket be warmed up as well or is it sufficient if it's just the portafilter? Basket should be warm too, yeah. Also, there seems to be no reason to clean/use a clean basket between shots unless you’re dialing in and getting gross, extremely thick over extracted shots.
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Nov 23, 2023 16:53
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