Reddit reviews LuxHaus 53mm Calibrated Espresso Tamper - Coffee Tamper with Spring Loaded Flat Stainless Steel Base
We found 4 Reddit comments about LuxHaus 53mm Calibrated Espresso Tamper - Coffee Tamper with Spring Loaded Flat Stainless Steel Base. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
YOUR ESPRESSO WILL TASTE BETTER - For perfectionists who demand the best possible tasting espresso shot - our calibrated tamper ensures you get a 100% PERFECT TAMP EVERY TIME. The tamper is pressure sensitive - when fully compressed, the coffee grounds in the portafilter are compacted with consistent pressure every time - the perfect tamp for the best tasting espresso possible.FOOD SAFE STAINLESS STEEL - Your health is our #1 priority. Rest assured that you are getting your money's worth here. We use the highest quality, food-safe 100% stainless steel for our tampers' base with no coating. Don't buy other cheaper tampers as they may flake off metal pieces into your grounds when tamping. Your well-being is too important to risk it.SAVE TIME AND MONEY - Step up to by far the highest quality tamper available anywhere at this price point. You will never need to buy another tamper again, and will save time, money and frustration. Once you taste the rich aroma of smoothly tamped espresso from your own machine you will forget about your local coffee shop and prefer to make your own.IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS - The elegant red velvet pouch makes the LuxHaus tamper an ideal gift for any coffee enthusiast and home barista looking to get the most out of her espresso machine. It also doubles up as great place to store your tamper, fitting nicely into your drawer and keeping it well protected or looking great right on your counter-top.PLEASE MEASURE YOUR COFFEE FILTER BEFORE ORDERING! - To ensure the best experience, we recommend that you measure your coffee filter by following our tamper sizing guide to size your tamper perfectly. We are so confident that you will love our espresso tamper set that we are offering all customers a lifetime satisfaction guarantee. If at any point you decide you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, just drop us an email and we will refund 100% of the money.
I have had the same setup for about 10 months. Depending on the beans you get, you will experience clumping. Look up the WDT method for clumping.
This tamper works perfectly.
https://www.amazon.com/LuxHaus-53mm-Calibrated-Espresso-Tamper/dp/B01MUXN53U
This distribution tool made my shots improve.
https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Distributor-Espresso-Distribution-Leveler/dp/B07CPRBS8C
If I could only give you one tip for that machine, it would be to never descale it. The solenoid valves in Breville's machines for whatever reason, after being descaled start rattling, chattering, buzzing. Basically they start to go bad.
A decent spring-loaded tamp.
amazon link:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MUXN53U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use this calibrated tamper and am happy with it.
It sounds like you're entirely starting new, so I can give you some pointers I hope will be helpful. I also run a Breville Infuser, but I have a Ceado E6P.
When was the last time the grinder was cleaned? When was the last time the machine was descaled and back flushed? Consider this to be like brushing your teeth: you do it regularly so you don't get cavities and dental disease. You do not want to wait until things get funky. I clean my stuff about once a month. I also descale once a month because I have hard water; but I used to live somewhere where I only needed to descale once every 6 months.
On cleaning your grinder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVVsTAUzVzM
Grindz tablets: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014J7FUY
Descale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq1TiwoJbWA
Our machines do not have a descale mode, but that doesn't matter, you can follow the steps anyway. Also, just buy citric acid, you don't need Breville's stuff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GNBHPAS/ I always backflush after I descale, so I stop following this guide at roughly the 2 minute mark.
Backflush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1N8HLoW6ew
Cafiza: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004L8RTEM/
You need fresh beans. There's no two ways around this. You can play with this if you like. Old beans are monumentally difficult to dial in, and often it's impossible. I find beans last nearly a month after the roast date, but there's a noticeable drop off after the second week. There's a lot of room for experimenting here, I recommend you do. Also note, that some beans cannot be dialed in. I don't understand the roasting and processing factors, but there is a lot of variation here.
Our machine can be programmed such that it will dispense a fairly precise volume of water with the press of a single button. My 1 cup button is programmed to purge the group head, and my 2 cup button is programmed for a regular pull.
I want you to know that this a really a good approximation, but Breville has a "smart" feature where it will try to "save" the shot if it thinks the pressure is too high. This has ruined a few cups for me, so I only have this programmed for those bad mornings, but otherwise I don't use it.Edit: I'm an idiot. If your pressure gauge is "bouncing" or fluctuating during a shot, most likely your pump is going bad. You can try to service it or replace it, I bought one of these off amazon and it is working: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NMNA138/. I got this because it arrived the same day. This is the actual pump: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077ZRP3GD.
I only use the 2 shot single walled basket, and I have also modified my portafilter to be bottomless. I generally find a good shot is just after the second screw in the pressure gauge, but that gauge is not very helpful.
I bought a few toys to help me out. These are not necessary, and in fact some people will tell you that you don't need them at all. Those people are probably right, but I like my toys anyway.
A funnel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N693YSS/ A cut yogurt cup can work. It doesn't need to be fancy, I just wanted something fancy.
A pick: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003E48EWA/ A toothpick or anything pointy can totally suffice. Again, just wanted to be fancy.
A leveling tool. I have a 51mm because that's what I could find cheaply at the time, but it looks like 53mm are also available now. 51mm: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BTN1S2C/ 53mm: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S4Q179B/
A tamp: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MUXN53U/ This tamp has a spring inside it. I only bought this because I had a nasty habit of over tamping.
I found this video that I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMldWhQVMQA I would not tap the filter after the distribution (where he's stirring the grounds), and I tamp gently. I don't twist or turn the tamp.
Dialing in is a trial and error type deal. In general, you want ~16 grams in the portafilter, and want to pull ~32 grams of espresso in ~30 seconds. These aren't hard and fast rules, and there's a lot of wiggle room here.
Find a coin like a nickel or penny and clean it. After you've tamped your portafilter, place the coin directly on top of the grounds, then lock the portafilter in the machine. Remove the portafilter and then carefully remove the coin from the grounds. (Do not pull a shot with the coin in there)
Is there an indentation in the grounds? If so, then you have overfilled the portafilter. If not, you might be good, or the portafilter might be underfilled. A scale will really help here.
To pull a shot, I have my portafilter locked in, and place my mug on top of my scale underneath the portafilter. I will hold down the 2 shot button (doesn't matter, you can hold down the 1 shot button), and keep it depressed for roughly 10 seconds. This is the preinfusion stage. Low pressure water is being introduced to the grounds. I chose 10 seconds because this is when I first start to see espresso appear at the bottom of my basket. You can experiment here. I then release the button to allow the full extraction. I press the button again at ~30 grams to stop the extraction.
I want to emphasize that these are rough guidelines. You may find something entirely different that works. I apologize if I came off as rude or condescending, I'm a bit of a turd by nature. Please ask if you have any questions.