Need Advice: Working with a Breville 800esxl

[OldPilot]

I want to know something about grind, tamp pressure and wet pucks as it affects my espresso taste.

I'm a novice with making espresso. To date my experience has been with using the stove top (Italian percolators) primarily to make latin coffee like my Cuban in-laws prefer to drink. Not long ago I bought a Breville 800ESXL at a garage sale for a great price. So I have been experimenting with the machine. So far I have been really pleased to have the machine, but I do want to know if I am getting the best that I can out of each cup.

I do notice that when I make a cup, the puck is very wet, even leaving a little liquid still floating on top. So why is that? Is it really bad to have it like that? Do I need to make the grind finer or coarser? Does it need more tamping pressure? This machine has the pressurized filter, and I have read where some have bought an unpressurized filter. Is a new filter really the secret to better espresso, and where does one buy this?

To be truthful, I am happy with the cups of espresso I get out of this machine. However, I would want to know what to expect when one changes things such as grind, tamp pressure, etc.

 

[shadow745]

It's the machine as it has no 3-way solenoid and uses a pressurized basket. If a machine has a 3-way and standard basket a lot can be learned from observing a spent puck. Under dose (low on coffee dose/too coarse on grind) usually leaves a soupy puck. Overdose (too much coffee/too fine on grind) usually leaves a dry puck. Of course coffee freshness among other variables should be considered as well.

Switching to a standard basket in a pressurized system doesn't always work out for the better as a pressurized system usually has restrictive plumbing and when you remove the pressure you usually lose some flow as well.