# How much do you dose with your gaggia?



## tommyp215 (Apr 2, 2016)

I ask the question as I been wondering if I've been wasting coffee. let me explain:

My setup is gaggia classic, Caedo E7 grinder, currently Mossoon Malabar from rave:

In the past I have been dosing around 17 grams (seems to fill up the double basket nicely). In order to get 34grams of coffee in around 27 seconds i've had my grinder set to about 4 anything finer and it it take ages or no coffee comes through. therefore it got me thinking that i'mnotusing my grinder to its full capability as it can grind much finer.

Recently i have been tried turned the grind setting finer to 3 and dosing 14 grams (the stated size of the double basket) and I'm achieving similar amount of coffee in a similar time. I cant really notice a difference in taste or crema, so whats the point in dosing more but grinding at a coarser setting? Is it a waste of coffee?


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I expect there will be differing views on this. Firstly, time isn't the final arbiter - taste is. Getting a shot in 25 seconds or whatever is only a guide. You've correctly realised that there's a relationship between dose and grind affecting shot time. But there will be a difference in extraction between a finely ground 14>28g @ 25" shot and a 17>34g also pulled in 25". If you prefer the results from the 14g dose, (or you can't taste the difference) then you might well be 'wasting' 3g of coffee if 14g is what you like. But they're not the same. Also, if you under-dose the basket too much, you are more likely to get channeling and gushers I would think. You can't just keep going finer and finer and use less and less coffee - but there's no harm in seeing how far you can go (and noting the taste difference and your % successful shots from a consistency point of view). Remember that as you reduce dose, you either get less coffee out, or you stretch the brew ratio to the point of bitterness (potentially, ristretto and lungo notwithstanding). That's my tuppennorth anyway! Hope it helps.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

How much head clearance (coffee to screen) do you have at 17 gm dose, and how much at 14 gm dose. At 17 gms you may be overfilling the basket.

Try placing a small coin on the tamped puck and lock into the M/ch, remove it and check to see if the coin has left an imprint. Yes = too much coffee


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

What baskets are you using? The only 14g basket I have is the pressurised one that came with my machine.


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## tommyp215 (Apr 2, 2016)

@ hotmetal

: I'll look out for channelling, the basket is stated for 14 g so don't see that I'm reducing the coffee too much I just see a lot of people dosing more.

@ashcroc

http://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/gb/Gaggia-14g-Standard-Double-Filter-Basket/m-1974.aspx?PartnerID=22&utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=UnitedKingdom&gclid=Cj0KEQiA6_TBBRDInaPjhcelt5oBEiQApPeTF4Y6v6tUOXwlAP9Y04SHOZptKsdj1QsTxh5uXEcP758aAg-W8P8HAQ

I have this basket non pressurised I think.

I will try the coin trick @El carajillo

thanks for your replies


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

tommyp215 said:


> I have been dosing around 17 grams (seems to fill up the double basket nicely). In order to get 34grams of coffee in around 27 seconds i've had my grinder set to about 4 anything finer and it it take ages or no coffee comes through. therefore it got me thinking that i'mnotusing my grinder to its full capability as it can grind much finer.
> 
> Recently i have been tried turned the grind setting finer to 3 and dosing 14 grams (the stated size of the double basket) and I'm achieving similar amount of coffee in a similar time. I cant really notice a difference in taste or crema, so whats the point in dosing more but grinding at a coarser setting? Is it a waste of coffee?


The 17g dose was too much i suspect and as it swelled it was restricting the flow thus giving a "false" reading.

If you had stuck to the same grind and dosed less Im guessing it would have been quite a fast flow.

The lower\correct dose and finer grind is the right way forward.

I found that mosoon malaba AA needed a very fine grind compared to other beans, much finer.

Personally I dont get hung up on where on the dial my grinder needs to be for the correct grind as long as it is the correct grind.

In my experience beans can differ greatly on where the dial indicates once ive dialed in.

So if the monsooned malaba shows a dial reading of 0.5 I dont use that as a yard stick and think im not grinding my ethiopia yigacheffe fine enough because the dials showing 2.0 , i go by flow rate of the pour with a correctly filled basket


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

tommyp215 said:


> @ hotmetal
> 
> : I'll look out for channelling, the basket is stated for 14 g so don't see that I'm reducing the coffee too much I just see a lot of people dosing more.
> 
> ...


Don't worry too much that others are using higher doses. They're most likely using larger baskets. As a rule of thumb, you only really want to be dosing about +/- 1g to the rated capacity of the basket you're using.


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## greymda (Oct 6, 2016)

ashcroc said:


> Don't worry too much that others are using higher doses. They're most likely using larger baskets. As a rule of thumb, you only really want to be dosing about +/- 1g to the rated capacity of the basket you're using.


so in a standard double basket from gaggia you would use ..?


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

About 14g.

If you want to dose higer the 16-20g IMS competition or 18g VST* will fit your portafilter (the classic uses the standard E61 size). Much larger & you may find they're too deep unless you have a bottomless portafilter.

*linked to ridged baskets @BB but ridgeless also available both there & from other suppliers.


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## greymda (Oct 6, 2016)

hm, i'm using 17g in a standard double.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

I think some of the "standard" baskets are a different size.

I believe they have been made by many different companies over the years who have all produced varying sizes.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

So I thought I would set about a little experimentation. (Using the lovely LSOL beans!) Drinking as a straight espresso.

I normally dose 18g. Keeping the grind and ratio (1:2) constant I down-dosed 1g per shot.

Each time i pulled 2 20minutes apart, and doing the usual "gaggia dance"

18-17 there was a noticeable change in taste. Less fruit acidic flavours, more muted sugar and toffee flavours. Not bad, just different.

17-16 flavours balanced out slightly still erring towards toffee apples and molasses.

The shot time increased by a few seconds too. (I'd expected it to decrease with a smaller puck) my pucks also became soupy.

16-15

Ugh. This was terrible. Notes of acetone and weirdness on the front of my tongue. Fortunately there isbarely one mouthful of coffee!

I gave up here, and will switch to 16g dosing, it's less caffeine, but still a just about big enough espresso (14g-28g would be pointless even starting!!) Plus the taste balance is good.

My point being, it's worth experimenting to see what works for you and your machine and the beans you are using. Only changing one variable helps pinpoint the cause of any changes or any problems.

(I dose differently for each bean, it's why I buy 1kg. But usually in increments between 17&18.5 in .5g steps, stopping when I get to what I like)


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