Breville Barista Express BES870XL - way too much coffee needed for proper extraction

[nyclamusician]

The instructions say that the Razor that comes with it - when using it - is supposed to produce perfect shots of espresso, when used with fresh water, fresh coffee, etc. etc.

Mine doesn't and under extracts it every time.

In fact, to get the pressure in the ideal setting, I have to overstuff and overstomp it, to the point where I can barely insert the portafilter in and have to use force. Doesn't seem right.

Any thoughts?

 

[shadow745]

That's Breville advertising/hype for you... Keep in mind that even though they have drastically improved over the years, they are still an appliance company.

Even though something like the Razor may help you get the dose consistent/close, there will always be changing variables. Dose depends on the coffee/roast level, grind fineness, how tight/loose you want it to extract based on your taste, etc. There's no such thing as using ___ grams in this basket at this brew pressure for perfect results every time!

Have you tried dosing a bit less, grinding finer and tamping with less pressure? For years I've been grinding finer, tamping with maybe 12-15# and have much better results than doing otherwise. Once you reach a certain level of tamp pressure and the puck is compacted anything more than that is a waste of effort.

Are you using the non-pressurized (single wall) basket? OMT... if you don't have a scale with at least 1 gram resolution you would greatly benefit by getting one.

 

[FormerBaristaGuy]

Mine works pretty darn good.