Saeco Via Venezia

Just to amplify on this: the brew tstat has a fairly wide operational
range. On my machine (Barista, OEMd Saeco) the tstat triggers at about
150?? and trips at 199?? or so, as measured with a thermocouple on the
boiler near the tstat. However, after the heater element shuts off,
there is temperature overshoot lasting about 15 seconds to about 215??
If I pull a shot (double) at this point I get the 1st 30 ml in the cup
at 198?? or so and the last 30 ml at 190?? (lower since reservoir water is
entering the boiler), which is a marginally okay range for some coffees
but may be a good bit too cool for others.  So, if you want to heat
things up, you can use the steam button as mentioned earlier in this
thread. I found that if I gave a 10 second shot of additional heating
via the steaming switch, I got 203?? in the cup (i.e. as measured in a
styrofoam cup right at the brew head).

You should note that there will be considerable variability in tstats
(they are simple electromechanical devices) so your results will most
likely be different.  If you have a digital multimeter with a
thermocouple, these measures are easy to make - if you don't, it's still
useful to understand the possibilities and experiment, letting taste be
your guide. Also note that these temperature readings are indictors of
boiler exterior temperatures - internal water temperature will be
different, but the measures still allow for some repeatable results.

One implication of the above is that if the Ready light has been on for
some time, it is most unlikely that you should brew - the boiler could
have cooled to say 160?? and the Ready light will still be on but any
shot brewed at this temperature will be awful. So, in general, pull the
shot as soon as the Ready light goes on (or possibly 15 seconds later
when the overshoot temp has peaked).  If your shots don't taste good
then you can try upping the brew temp with a short temp surf. Of course
all these playing with the temperature variable assume you have the
other key pieces (coffee, roast, grind, water, cleanliness etc) under
control and static.
--
Frank L
FR+, Rocky, *$ Barista

Thanks Alan

Where are you exactly? I am in Canberra

Well Amplified!!

I've contacted Saeco in order to trqack down a non-pressurised handle
for the Via Venezia. I'm having trouble as even their technical guru
doesnt know what I mean.  He keeps referring to the standard
pressurized one. Damn frustrating! How standard are these handles?
Will another brand fit?  If anyone can recommend either a brand and
preferably a part No. it will help me enormously.  
(im in Asutralia..if anyone from Aus has any specific info, Id be
particularly interested)

cheers in advance, Brett

Hi there,

Letting the water "settle down" before attaching the handle
(portafiler) is often useful to purge the boiler of possibly stale
water, lower the temperature of a possibly too hot boiler, and/or warm
the portatfilter (if it's attached).  In any case, after you've ground
(to a fineness that gives you about single 30 ml of liquid in 30
seconds, subtract 1 sec for each extra 5 ml) and tamped, you should
certainly wait until the green light goes on again before pressing the
'coffee' button.  Make sure to wipe the brew head (group head) before
inserting the handle.  (And as you'll be correctly advised, replace
the stock handle with a "non-pressurized" one as soon as possible;
order from Saeco's toll-free number)

Then, depending on the color/timing of your resulting espresso shot
(single (7gr) 30 ml in 30 seconds, double (14gr) 60 ml in 24 seconds),
you may want to dump that one and start over if it's either too pale
or too dark reddish or simply tastes bad. The Saeco boilers tend to
run a bit cool IME so to get it up to the proper temp, after the
coffee switch indicates 'green,' you can then press the steam switch
(green light goes off) for 10-15 seconds (experiment to see how many
seconds is best), wipe brew head, then load packed handle on, and hit
brew.  (This 'cheat' by using the steam switch before brewing is only
needed if you don't like the espresso/see that it's too light in color
when brewing after the initial green 'coffee' light goes on)

a.c. disclaimer #2: This assumes of course that you have a reasonably
good blend of espresso beans, freshly, locally roasted (less than 1-2
weeks) or at least a well-known-to-be-decent packaged bean, e.g.
Lavazza Super Crema/Top Class, Illy, etc.

In any case, many other folks will likely give you similar (or
conflicting) advice here and as always, search google groups for more
info than you can absorb: http://tinyurl.com/9idd  and then come back
with more questions!

Good luck,

Martin

In article <513a6592.0304141135.1ba6c @posting.google.com>,
m @yahoo.com says...
The Saeco boilers tend to

Oops, forgot to say "make sure to turn *off* steam switch after the 10-15
seconds have passed, then wipe brew head, etc....and hit brew...

- M 'otherwise it'll be very bubbly indeed' S

thanks Martin, I shall track down a non-pressurised handle asap.
Everyone refers to this magic "25 seconds". With the handle attached,
and the green light on, once I press the coffee button, I get 30mls in
about 10 seconds. If I waited 25 secs, I'd end up with more like 60mls
(including a lot of unwanted water)  what gives??

Hi there,

What's 'giving' is the grounds to the water pressure ;-)  Try grinding
finer, a click at a time, until you can get 30 ml in 30 seconds for a
7gr single shot, using a consistent tamp (start with tamping about 15
kg or so pressure-you've got a tamper, right?).  If you use a double
shot (14gr) of grounds, you then look for around 24-25 seconds for
about 60 ml.  The grind is key (along with the freshness of the bean)
to achieving this formulaic result.  What grinder are you using?

Good luck,

Martin

p.s. For a little more info look here:
http://www.sovrana.com/esphome .htm#pullshot and here
http://www.sovrana.com/esprepr o.htm

I have the same machine at home, I found that just about choking the machine
produces a ristretto (worked this out by eventually measuring the cup - I
thought 60 mls was smaller than that!!) and a slightly coarser grind
produces a 20 - 30 sec 60 ml pour no problem.

The machine is quite capable of producing a good drink. It's limitation is
producing several in a row, specially milk drinks.

As for the lights, green on means it is within the reset temperature range,
if you want to go hotter for brew temp, purge the boiler before you pull the
shot so the element is on (green light off) and hit the brew button before
the green light goes on again. Temp surfing, and not 100% reliable as often
the reheat time is not consistent.

Temp surfing for steaming is easy, I purge the wand til the element goes on,
wait about 20 seconds, and steam till I have finished no problems at all -
turn steam off, element normally goes off a few seconds later.

Brent