# Newbie



## james10 (Feb 28, 2011)

I've ended up buying a new Gaggia Classic and have it up and running - but I had a few queries.

Routine:

1) Every time I power up the machine on, I turn the steam knob and flick the steam and brew button. Once its chucked out 2oz of water I flick the switches back and let the machine heat up.

2) Once it's up to temperature, I put the cups underneath and partially fill them, to heat them up.

3) I then put the coffee grounds into the basket, tamp, then brew espresso. Done.

4) To clean the machine I remove the portafilter and flush some water through, to clear the shower plate. Then I lock in the portafilter and flush some water through that to remove any bits.

That's it.

Is there anything I shouldn't be doing, or something that I'm missing?

Another point;

I'm using illy pre-ground coffee, until I decide on a grinder (Dualit / Porlex / Kyocera). Therefore I'm using the pressurised baskets.

The problem - Once the shot has been pulled the 3way valve releases excess steam/water, but there's still standing water on top of an extremely wet puck. So attempting to knock out, it get's very messy.

Is this something to be expected when using these baskets?

Finally, how often should I backflush and descale the machine? I probably make around 4-7 doubles each day. Is it OK to use citric acid (descale)? I've purchased puly caff to backflush.

Best Regards


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## Wando64 (Feb 28, 2011)

I always had wet puck when I was using the pressurized basket. It is to be expected. Illy pre-ground also works well with the normal baskets. Obviously freshly roasted and ground is better.


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Be careful not to take too much water out of the boiler when warming the cups. Either make sure there is a delay after filling the cups or use a kettle instead.

Are you measuring the amount of coffee you put into the PF?

I would clean the PF separately before flushing through i the machine - at least a wipe clean with a cloth or kitchen tissue in between shots.

You could try increasing the amount of coffee used to reduce the amount of left over water.

Backflush, you could perform daily or once a week depending on usage.

Descale really depends on the hardness of your water supply. Firstly, I would use a water filter such as Brita. If your kettle furs up pretty quick, then you might want to descale weekly/monthly. If not, then perhaps every few months. I would use the Gaggia descale powder, or Puly Baby which I used successfully in a Gaggia Coffee.


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

I think citric acid is fine for descaling (Puly Baby basically IS citric acid).

Do you unscrew the shower plate to clean it? It gets dirty pretty quickly.

Like others here, I would recommend the Iberital MC2 grinder.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

As a fellow newbie I found this vid useful at first...






He mentions timing when you hit the brew button (temperature surfing, I think its called), which I believe is about helping to get the brew head temperature right for the extraction.

Wet puck, same problem here but definitely improved with freshly roasted beans... starbucks beans create sludge for me. Also think it just improves as your understanding of the various factors increases, e.g. I am now understanding the problem of channelling a little more, something I was oblivious to at first. With better dosing and tamping I'm now starting to see better colour as the shot pours, and blonding (another thing I've just learned about) doesn't occur so fast. All this is helping create a dryer puck for me. I don't recommend the Happy Donkey tamper, its a bit small for the Classic basket in my view. I've just ordered the Motta 58mm - hope its better.

Also see http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?3385-Classic-wet-puck-amp-ill-fitting-basket. Helpful replies from he guys on here.

Good luck - hope this helps!


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