It is also important not to under fill the basket either. Air compresses whereas
water does not, if you have a large void full of air the lever press will feel a bit
spongy and not give you good feedback on the pressure you are extracting.
Extraction.
Carefully move the PF to the
machine and lock it in place. To do so you
will have to lift the lever arms to raise the
piston. The arms must be raised all the way
to the top in order to correctly lock the PF in.
The PF should be inserted on the left side.
Lift the portafilter up and then move it all the
way to the right as far as it will go.
You will struggle to insert the portafilter if you
try and lock it in to the right BEFORE you have lifted it up first. Likewise you
will struggle to insert it if the arms are not fully up.
Now slowly lower the arms and you will feel some resistance as the water
meets the coffee. This initial meeting of the coffee and water is called pre-
infusion, it is when water permeates through the coffee and causes it to swell.
Pre-infusion is usually done at a much lower pressure then during full
extraction.
Press the lever arms down firmly and in one motion.
Do not attempt to pump
the arms up and down, as this will just disturb the puck, the screen and the
water. It will result in a big mess and make very poor coffee.
In fact even
letting go of the levers for a tiny amount will ruin a shot. So it is best to keep a
firm even pressure on the levers at all times. A tailing-off pressure is fine, but
no sudden start-stops. Experimentation is the key.
Extraction time. As you are starting out I
would say you need at least 5 seconds from
when the levers descend and you see coffee
appear on the bottom of the basket, and a
minimum of 15 seconds of actual coffee
flowing from the basket when you are pushing
the levers down.
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