# Little miss silvia



## prankard (Aug 24, 2014)

Hey,

Thought I would join in the fun and post my setup.









It's all about the little extras.

- Silvia V3 (All nice, but steam wand leaks a little when heating up).

- Motta 58mm tamper (Not as snugg as 58.3 for VST, but works fine)

- New VST 18g basket (which has made my extraction much much better. I'm assuming due to just a larger basket than VST but it was well worth the money and would recommend).

- Two jugs for one or two people (and for thirding milk).

- Magnetic timer

- Bottomless group handle

- Plastic cup with Hair pins for Weiss Distribution Technique (I used a needle before, scratched my old basket. Highly recommend hairpins over needle)

- Vario grinder (But now over adjusted due to worn blades, new burrs are on the way).

- Black flannel dedicated to cleaning the portafilter

Still going after 3 years. Might upgrade when I get this thing nailed. Still not perfect, but getting better.

Much better than the plastic Delonghi I started on. Going back to those sort of machines with plastic tampers are horribly fiddly.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

nice compact set up, glad you are enjoying coffee


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## Milanski (Oct 10, 2013)

Nice little set up.

Welcome to the forum.

Have you thought of adding a PID?

I have the Auber on my Silvia and the consistency is an upgrade well worth the money IMO.


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## prankard (Aug 24, 2014)

Thanks for the compliments.

I've considered getting a PID, although I've been told that the PID is the last thing you should get to master you espresso. And idiot with a PID is still and idiot









I think I won't get a PID for this machine (mostly due to the hassle of getting someone to set it up).

I've been very happy with my Silvia so far, but I think I'll save up for an upgrade one day with HX or Dual boiler rather than a PID.

*@Milanski *Did you get someone to set up your PID or did you do it yourself?


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## Milanski (Oct 10, 2013)

prankard said:


> I've been told that the PID is the last thing you should get to master you espresso. And idiot with a PID is still and idiot


Haha, I choose not take offence at that! I would disagree however. Learning how to temperature surf and learning how to make good espresso are two seperate things. If you own an HX or DB then you wil never need to know how to temp surf (though everyone has to learn how to use their machine optimally). The PID just gives you the temp stability enjoyed by owners of more expensive machines. This eliminates one massive variable out of the equation, in turn allowing you to concentrate on becoming that espresso-making master.



prankard said:


> *@Milanski *Did you get someone to set up your PID or did you do it yourself?


I bought my machine used from this forum and the previous owner had already installed it. Luckily he was an electrical engineer


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## prankard (Aug 24, 2014)

Milanski said:


> Haha, I choose not take offence at that!


Haha, I didn't mean you. I meant myself. I've got lots of flaws to iron out before temperature is a massive issue.

At the moment I temperature surf my Silvia. Not perfectly, but enough that I'm always extracting on the higher end of it's two temperature bands.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Used the temp surf method when I had a Silvia. When properly dialled in, Silvia produced excellent shots. Also had it paired with a Vario.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Learning how to temp surf is just that - learning a technique to circum navigate the deficiencies of your machines thermostat , it's not a skill that you will need if you PID your machine or have a machine that has a adequate temperature management system .

If you can't PID or eventually get another machine then yep you need to know how to do it for the silvia ...an idiot with a pid, is an idiot pulling shots at the same ish temp each time ...


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