De'Longhi EC155 and what little I know!

[mawil1013]

I'll just add I started with a Delonghi Bar32 few years ago, which is the same internally as the EC155. Doesn't make espresso, no Delonghi does, it's more akin to a shot of drip. They use pressurized portafitlers which force coffee through a tiny whole (hence why these are normally cheap wedding gifts etc) as majority of the population has no idea they should use a grinder or have a good grinder at that, they use preground stale coffee and the pressurized portafilters let them do that. No crema, what looks like crema is just the froth from the coffee being shot out through a tiny hole (imagine sticking your finger over the end of a hose and spraying the water). That's not to talk down the OP or their equipment, just is what it is, they also don't operate at the correct temps for espresso nor have any stability b/c the boilers are so tiny and there's no metal or anything to stabilize really.

You can depressurize the baskets by removing the pressure clip mechanism like I did, or swap in a Krups basket that fits. But if you do that, you'll need a far better grinder. There's no grinder for $15 except for a blade grinder or bean masher, actually really anything under 60 doesn't really have a burr set, they really just mash the beans, or in the case of a blade grind chop them up. If you really want to get closer to espresso, depressurize the portafilter and your looking at around $300 min for a real espresso grinder (Preciso or Le'Lit), as nothing below that range will have a good burr set for espresso, stepless dialing, or consistency and fines control.

if your gonna keep the $15 grinder, leave the machine as is. Unfortunetly the Delonghi are disposable as well, no parts, can't be fixed and even dealing with them under warranty you'd have better luck finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow lol. Mine started having issues after 1 year so I had to chuck it in the trash, same thing for two other people I know that started with EC155s.

I modded my Bar32 and even using a Preciso on it, my CC1 setup and same Preciso is far far far better for real espresso and drinks. Just to give you an idea. hate to say it but if your current setup is the same as your local coffee shop, they don't know what their doing and shouldn't be running a coffee shop (again no offense meant). Plenty of coffee shops and roasters that have no clue what their doing lol, so hard to go by that. But as long as your happy with your setup and drinks, that's what matters.

Here is my grinder, they said it was a burr grinder, what do you think? Electric Burr Coffee Grinder | cutleryandmore.com also, I don't under stand your suggestion to depressurize the basket, why do that?
PS: Can any one explain the internals of a pro espresso machine, the difference's between them and a machine like mine?

 

[mawil1013]

Just measured the water temp with two temp probes, the water comes out at 194 F, is that a good spot?

 

[mawil1013]

https://www.sweetmarias.com/library/content/espresso-almighty-crema

They say; "The range is 7 to 11 grams per single espresso"

EDITED: I've been screwed up, I've apparently been running barely half the grind (2.5 grams) and too much shot (1/3 cup). If I use the large grinder holder and fill it all the way to the top before tamping I get 8 grams, and instead of 1/3 cup I should be only collecting 1/8 cup, which is one ounce. Do I have it right now?

mawil1013

 

[peterjschmidt]

EDITED: I've been screwed up, I've apparently been running barely half the grind (2.5 grams) and too much shot (1/3 cup). If I use the large grinder holder and fill it all the way to the top before tamping I get 8 grams, and instead of 1/3 cup I should be only collecting 1/8 cup, which is one ounce. Do I have it right now?

mawil1013

8g for a 1oz. shot sounds like it's in the ballpark.


Not to rub your nose in it, but when I said;

I would strongly contend that what you're producing is espresso-like, but is not espresso. Have you been to a coffee shop where they know what they're doing and have proper equipment?

You said;

I have been to a local barista, I didn't note any massive difference

If your local coffee shop is making espresso that resembles 2.5g ground coffee producing 1/3 cup output, you need a new shop.

I trust you'll be enjoying your new results more. Or maybe not; if it gets closer to actual espresso, you may not like it at all. The great thing is, you were enjoying it at the old ratios and can simply go back to that, and be happy.

 

[Surfer]

Here is my grinder, they said it was a burr grinder, what do you think? Electric Burr Coffee Grinder | cutleryandmore.com also, I don't under stand your suggestion to depressurize the basket, why do that?
PS: Can any one explain the internals of a pro espresso machine, the difference's between them and a machine like mine?

I would say that's barely passable as a burr grinder, cheap burr grinders are more like bean mashers. You depressurize if you want to resemble real espresso, but you need an espresso capable grinder (min of $300 and way up from there). Pressurized baskets like on DeLonghi force the coffee through a small hole whether stale preground, or poorly ground coffee etc, no crema etc, it allows people to think their drinking espresso (and not saying that to offend you at all). Real espresso machines have sturdy construction, metal for stability, large boilers, PID for boilers (mine controls temp adjustment, preinfuse on, e61 groups, h/x is a different beast. And yes 194 is way low, you want to be at least in the 199-201 range, and not just that but stable, DeLonghi and other similar machines don't really have group heads and tiny boilers so intrashot temp drop even further. I modded my Bar32 which is same as the EC155 and it was no where near my CC1 for espresso even using same grinder (baratza preciso) and steaming milk. I've played with temp a lot and I always stay around during 201 for the most part for all single origins or blends, I went down to low 190s and same beans tasted awful and sour.

But like said, as long as you like your coffee and are happy that's what matters. I can tell you my Bar32 and fresh beans and Preciso made much better coffee than Charbucks lol

 

[mawil1013]

8g for a 1oz. shot sounds like it's in the ballpark.


Not to rub your nose in it, but when I said;

Yeah, yeah, I know you struggled to contain yourself! LOL You were right! there, happy! ROTFL
I went back and looked at it again, if I take the small basket and fill it completely full, then skim off the excess with a knife, there is 4 gram. But why would they sell a small basket like that which only can hold 4 grams? The double basket will hold double the amount. Note; After tamping down it's obvious I could add more grind.

 

[Surfer]

Yeah, yeah, I know you struggled to contain yourself! LOL You were right! there, happy! ROTFL
I went back and looked at it again, if I take the small basket and fill it completely full, then skim off the excess with a knife, there is 4 gram. But why would they sell a small basket like that which only can hold 4 grams? The double basket will hold double the amount. Note; After tamping down it's obvious I could add more grind.

B/c these types of machines aren't real espresso machines, they use way smaller PFs and baskets then normal. For example on my CC1 I normally dose 16-18g in the double basket, when I had my Delonghi Bar32 (believe they all use the same basket size on these machines, think it's 51mm) the double basket held less than 12g if I recall as there are some real espresso machines with baskets around that range however their longer and hold more volume. That's a massive difference that will hugely affect taste, let alone the other issues involved.

If you want to really try to make better coffee on a budget, your better off getting a Hario Skerton (or Mini) hand grinder, do the step-less mod to them. That and fresh beans should make a nice difference for you, Hario will be much much much better than the grinder you currently have. Then you can try depressurizing the basket with the Hario and see an even nicer improvement.

This is the Bar32 (or really any Delonghi) basket depressurized: