# Help please!! Batista Express under extraction.



## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

Hi Guys,

I am in need of advice please! My Barista Express is under extracting every shots that I'm making. My normal settings for grinder is at 4 and the front dial at 3 o'clock and it normally works well. Until yesterday it asked for cleaning. So I did the cleaning cycle as usual. Using a teaspoon of urnex Cafiza 2 powder. Not made any coffee until this morning and that's when it went wrong. Changed different settings and even at the lowest grind setting its under extracting. Not sure what to do now. I have a Motta tamper and tamp with 25-30 lb of pressure. I did push it down on my last attempt. Just used nearly 200 g of coffee.







(

Any ideas would be very much appreciated.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Are you weighing the coffee going into the basket and the espresso coming out?


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## MatthewBw (Sep 9, 2015)

What coffee are you using?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

As above

coffee used ( age also )

How are you establishing thats its under extracted

What weight coffee are you dosing in 0.1g

What weight espresso are you making to 1 g

In what amount of time .

What does it taste like

What are the notes on the coffee

What temp do you have the machine set too


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

Hi guys thanks for the reply, was using Foundry's CPUK co-op from William and it was roasted 1st of June I believe.

I do have to admit I did not weigh the coffee. I don't way normally as the machine setting grinds approx 19 g mostly and extraction takes 25-35 seconds. And the pressures dial goes up to 12 am/pm.

But since cleaning cycle. This morning it's at 8 pm dial. I'm about to leave for work and will have to try when I get back with different coffee. Will weigh 20 g this time.

Coffee colour looks very watery and very sharp can taste anything else.










It's suppose to taste like the above. That was before the cleaning cycle yesterday.










That's the pressure dial.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Until you are weighing in your coffee and weighing the output there is little anyone can do to help but take complete stabs in the dark at whats wrong.

If you dont have some scales, buy some. Is you basket definitely 19g capacity? It's probably more like 17-18g.

You can leave the scales out of it if you like, but AFTER you have dialled in and got your espresso where you want it. They are an unavoidable essential for dialling in.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

What Dylan says ... if you are not putting enough water through the coffee then it will be under extracting . You wont know this until you weight the output

If you are under extracting a bean that has bright Grapefruit notes then this will potentially add sourness into a mix of brightness and not add any sweetness to balance it out


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

Got it thanks guys. Weigh 20 g in with 30 sec shot time. Forgot to weigh the output but seems to have worked also new beans too. IMM extraction was back to normal. And tasted better. Might have been the beans. Lol


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Is 20g the right amount of coffee for the basket?


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

Could it also have been an element of the cleaning tablet or powder stuck in the system as these are more often than not based on citric acid.?

Just a thought and may have now diluted itself especially if was alright before with the same bean then very citrussy after with the same bean?

John


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## djkidman (Jul 6, 2016)

The 2 cup basket is designed for 15g to 18g, so I am surprised you can squeeze 20g in there and still get an extraction. But hey, if it works and tastes good, who am I to argue?!


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Because if your putting 20g in a 17-18g basket you are very likely to be pressing the coffee against the shower screen and this is a pretty much guaranteed way to get channeling. (I know you were being somewhat rhetorical djkidman







)

Basically if your basket is 18g stop putting 20g in it unless you are absolutely sure there is still head space between the shower screen and coffee puck.

To check - put a penny on top of the DRY puck, lock in the PF and then remove it. The penny should just barely have made a dent on the dry puck, if it has pushed in much more than a fraction or worse - broken the puck then you have too much coffee in your basket.

It's a bad solution, but this is why Sage include a 'razor', as this always provides the right depth and provides the vital room for the water to gather above the puck. (I'm not sure there is any hard evidence on the razor being a bad idea, but it certainly seems like a bad idea to anyone who has struggled with the tiniest things to get distribution right)


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Dylan said:


> It's a bad solution, but this is why Sage include a 'razor', as this always provides the right depth and provides the vital room for the water to gather above the puck. (I'm not sure there is any hard evidence on the razor being a bad idea, but it certainly seems like a bad idea to anyone who has struggled with the tiniest things to get distribution right)


You could put the PF on scales & tare, dose & tamp record weight. Then use the razor to skim the puck, discard the excess coffee & re-weigh perhaps...just to calibrate the dose weight? Then aim for that dose weight going forward, not using the razor each time.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

MWJB said:


> You could put the PF on scales & tare, dose & tamp record weight. Then use the razor to skim the puck, discard the excess coffee & re-weigh perhaps...just to calibrate the dose weight? Then aim for that dose weight going forward, not using the razor each time.


Seems like a good way to get the head space right. Would need repeating with each bean. Also worth dropping the tamper in after skimming it with the razor to note how deep it sits.


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## djkidman (Jul 6, 2016)

I notice a slight indent in the middle of the puck at 18g sometimes, so I can't see how you could really fit 20g in there without the issue that Dylan describes.

There's no real need to go up to 20g with this machine anyway, you will be able to get a better extraction if you keep within the dose that the portafilter, basket and machine are designed for. Plus you will save at least 2g of valuable coffee each time!

Although it is bean dependent, and just 1 variable, I have been pleasantly surprised at how much nicer the taste has been to drop down to 16g this week, after the wise advice of others here.

Well anyway, it's your machine and your coffee, but if you start having problems, particularly with machine choking, or overly long extraction time, reducing the dose below 18g should be the first thing you try


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Indentation after extraction is nothing to worry about as the puck expands during extraction.


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

Thanks for the advice guys. Been away from the coffee machine for a bit with travelling at present. Will try 18g and also the doser took too.


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