# No crema at all with my Gaggia Baby Class



## light87 (Oct 4, 2013)

Hi there!

I have a Gaggia Baby Class and a Mazzer Super Jolly grinder, today I have been to a roasting and I have bought some fresh toasted beans coffee ( Robusta quality, toasted 4-5 days ago ) and I have grinded them with my superjolly, then I have made several coffee with my Gaggia Baby Class with the NON-pressurized filter and the result has been very disappointing, really no crema at all. A very liquid coffee comes out. Also the coffee comes out very fast in something like 4-5 second and not slowly in 25 sec as it should be.

I don't know, youtube is plenty of video of people that takes out really great crema from thei Gaggia, I don't know why it's not my case...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Crema tastes bad .- it is not an indicator of a tasty brew on its own . I suspect your coffee is stale and poor quality tho . What is " robusta quality ? "


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Mrboots2u said:


> ..What is " robusta quality ? "


Answer:


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Sounds like it's not ground fine enough. Also sounds like you ground the lot in one go, in which case it will now be totally stale.


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

Sounds like you need to grind finer if it's gushing through. The SJ should be able to handle that. Where did the beans come from?


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## Ghostrider (Jul 3, 2008)

If you haven't already ground it all in one go, with the grinder empty and switched off dial it in until the plates touch then come out a couple of notches. Switch on and grind enough for a shot. See how that is. If the Gaggia chokes, come out a couple more notches and adjust from there. Robusta usually has good crema but lacks quality of flavour. You may also want to flush (temperature surf) the Gaggia before pulling a shot to stop it being too hot which is a feature of single boiler machines. As asked by others, what beans are you using?


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## light87 (Oct 4, 2013)

I think that the ground was fine enough, going finer would be too much, at least I guess. Anyway I was basically almost at the end of line with regulation. Anyway I have grinded just the quantity for one shot. The coffee beans are good and fresh indeed they have a very good fragrancy. I have been to a roasting, they have give me the coffee from their production facility it wasn't even wrapped. Also the fact that the coffee comes out in 4-5 secondi seems to me more a problem of my Gaggia baby that of the coffee used.


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

The SJ should be near the end of its adjustment for espresso and it won't take much to fine the grind further. Rotating anither 10 degrees may be all it needs. Since this problem started with the new beans, It is unlikely that your machine has broken and your issue is not typical of this.


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## h1udd (Sep 1, 2015)

light87 said:


> . Also the fact that the coffee comes out in 4-5 secondi seems to me more a problem of my Gaggia baby that of the cotffee used.


nope, the complete opposite ... When coffee machines break, they get slower and stop ... They don't get quicker .... The machine works by applying water at pressure to a puck of coffee ... The finer the coffee is ground, the harder it is to get the water through it, so it takes longer ..... If you had no coffee it would take 2 seconds .. If you had stale coffee or didn't grind enough it would take 10 seconds ... If you have fresh well ground then 39 seconds ... Grind too tight then it takes forever and your machine chokes.

you need to tighten the grind more


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

H1udd sums it up nicely!


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Your answer is above. Grind finer.

Also

Robusta = Bad

Arabica = Good

Buy some nicer beans.


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

Ghostrider said:


> You may also want to flush (temperature surf) the Gaggia before pulling a shot to stop it being too hot which is a feature of single boiler machines.


You've got that confused with HX machines which can require a cooling flush. Typical temp surfing on a Classic is the opposite and usually involves flicking the steam switch on for a few seconds before pulling the shot to counteract the cold water being pulled into the boiler.

As suggested in the thread though, the OPs problem is almost certainly that the beans are not ground fine enough.


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## light87 (Oct 4, 2013)

I have just made a coffee by grinding finer ( never grinded so much fine to be honest and I think that it was even too much finer, it seems almost dust....) and the result has been pretty much the same...there was no crema and an extraction in 5 seconds...don't know what to say...


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## Nod (Sep 7, 2013)

\ said:


> I have just made a coffee by grinding finer ( never grinded so much fine to be honest and I think that it was even too much finer' date=' it seems almost dust....) and the result has been pretty much the same...there was no crema and an extraction in 5 seconds...don't know what to say...[/quote']
> 
> Weigh the dose of beans you are grinding. Depending on the basket size it should be around 18gr going into the portafilter. We all know the grinder and machine you are using and so you can be confident you have gear that should work. Get some new beans from somewhere like hasbean which we know are quality. It will quickly fall into place....


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## Ghostrider (Jul 3, 2008)

risky said:


> You've got that confused with HX machines which can require a cooling flush. Typical temp surfing on a Classic is the opposite and usually involves flicking the steam switch on for a few seconds before pulling the shot to counteract the cold water being pulled into the boiler.
> 
> As suggested in the thread though, the OPs problem is almost certainly that the beans are not ground fine enough.


Yes you are of course spot on. It's been ten years since we had a Rancilio Audrey and my memory is mush these days! I remember flushing between shots after texturing milk to bring the temperature back down to brew temp. We ended up pid'ing.


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## frothycoffeeman (Oct 10, 2015)

h1udd said:


> nope, the complete opposite ... When coffee machines break, they get slower and stop ... They don't get quicker .... The machine works by applying water at pressure to a puck of coffee ... The finer the coffee is ground, the harder it is to get the water through it, so it takes longer ..... If you had no coffee it would take 2 seconds .. If you had stale coffee or didn't grind enough it would take 10 seconds ... If you have fresh well ground then 39 seconds ... Grind too tight then it takes forever and your machine chokes.
> 
> you need to tighten the grind more


This.

Everything is pointing towards a finer grind and or better/consistent tamp pressure. You may find the grind level is fine but not tamping enough is allowing the water to flow through too fast. This is or should I say was the issue with my New Sage BE, but I did have a 2nd grinder to test against. The BE grinder was not going or allowing a fine enough grind and regardless of how consistent my tamp was every shot flew through the coffee puck resulting in thin weak Crema and a pale looking coffee. Put the same beans through my stand alone grinder which could grind fine enough and the results was like night and day. Shot flow was down to more of a fine steady stream(if you like) of espresso and the Crema level was 4 times as much.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

light87 said:


> I have just made a coffee by grinding finer ( never grinded so much fine to be honest and I think that it was even too much finer, it seems almost dust....) and the result has been pretty much the same...there was no crema and an extraction in 5 seconds...don't know what to say...


Has the bottom burr carrier been removed at anytime? If so, it may be warped (some folks prise them off with a screwdriver through the chute). My RR45 has a damaged bottom burr carrier and would chirp before I could get a fine grind. It's fine for pour-over and darker beans though. You'll maybe see this in the consistency of the grind, and the sound it makes when the burrs touch. Could be worn burrs as well, are they sharp or dull? Or tamping as mentioned (assuming you weigh in the appropriate dose for the basket).


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