Best Espresso Machine Hack: How To Perform The Dimmer Mod
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- I know, I know. This video is extremely niche. Even for me.
BUT! If you make espresso at home, I promise it is for you! If anything, skip ahead to see the example shot post modification. I think it will convince you to try your hand at a simple mod to improve your home experience.
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TOOLS-
14-16 sized spades
14AWG wire
Something to crimp and strip
Single Pole Dimmer-- GE Single Pole Dimmer Knobs, Rotate On/Off, White and Light Almond
Needle Nose Pliers
Whatever tools you need to take off the casing to access the pump
*use electrical tape to wrap the bare connecting areas to prevent shock
*unplug your machine
*Note- I do not represent Breville nor any other home espresso machine. Any tampering with your machine will likely void your warranty. I am not an electrician. Any modification is performed at the risk of the consumer.
TIME CUES:
0:00- The Dimmer Mod
12:22- Demonstrating the Mod
Important Videos to Watch:
All About Espresso Profiling and Pressure:
• THE TRUTH ABOUT ESPRES...
Turbo Shots:
• IS THIS THE FUTURE OF ...
Sprovers:
• SPRO-OVERS: THE CRAZY,...
GCP Modification Video (Dimmer Mod):
• TURNING A $450 MACHINE...
Interesting mod, BUT since you are tapping into a 120 volt line to the pump, that means that there is 120 volts on those bare connectors you have just sitting around inside and outside your machine. It would be a good idea to at least wrap those bare connectors, separately, in electrical tape to prevent shock hazard to your machine of yourself. Another option would be to use better quality connectors that are already insulated.
Agreed. Love the mod, but those are live exposed wires. Needs some heat shrink tube or electrical tape at the very least.
WAGO connectors are superb for something like that. Easy and fool proof
Yes. This is important to mention. On my machines I've done this on, I have wrapped them. I'll add to the caption
@@LanceHedrick Thanks, Lance
OSHA doesn't go to Arkansas
Great presentation.
Someone in the UK made the same mod 4 years ago on a duo temp pro ( and added a pressure gauge to monitor the changes).
I hope Breville is watching as more and more people are interested in flow control and this couls easily be added at the design/manufacturing stage, given them a distinct advantage vs competition.
Thanks again for your vid. Clear as always.
Keep them coming
That post is brilliant. Love how he tweaked his DTP. And breville does pump dimmering for the preinfusion in their machines afaik
You should wire it to a n old sewing machine pedal, so you can rev'er up with a genuine gas pedal while pulling a shot lol. I may mod my machine similar to this.
You actually gave me an idea to connect it to a sustain pedal…
Oh dang. That's a sweet idea! I need to see it
You could even do an expression pedal too!
There are soo many reasons why this is the best coffee channel for home baristas ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for this Lance! If anyone is interested in doing this to the Bambino (non plus), it is VERY easy. $12 for me. Included a couple of feet of 18-2 lamp cord; GE dimmer from Walmart; and small plastic case. It took 30 - 60 minutes. The Bambino requires NO drilling of case, so if you ever want to remove is easy. You run the lamp cord through the bottom where the power cord goes (lots of room- I’ve also got a Bambino plus and it appears tighter - but I believe 18-2 has the room-note did not mod the plus). Zip tie the cord to the power cord inside for strain relief…and zipped it in another spot to keep cord under control. I just have my plastic box with control on top (not enough counter room with all my equipment, otherwise would be easy to ‘stick’ to side of case with double sided tape. Found a very nice ‘dial’ face someone shared for the Sweet Maria’s Popper. This provides some calibration. Now does it make better coffee? Heck if I know imho, but easy and fun. Lance…you’re impacting my bottom line. Just ordered one of Urbanic grinders based on last video…you’ve got to stop it man ;-)
I’ve now done the same to my Bambino plus. No case mod needed. 18-2 lamp fits in with power cord.
This is a great comment! Thank you for sharing!
Hi, Have you experienced any change in terms of espresso quality after modding Bambino Plus? Thanks.
@@Bvlogtr It is very easy to do, but it isn’t as helpful for breville as it is for my Rancilio to be honest. With the electronics in the Breville you can’t use the dimmer to stop flow completely like you can on a Silvia or gaggia for a longer pre infusion. Even slowing flow will cause issues, since the Breville will time out. So short answer, if looking for a project and comfortable making change go for it (it is relatively easy to do), but didn’t find a huge benefit.
You can also adjust the brewing time or do it manually with the sage Bambino (keeping the brew button pressed for a while, then you will have to press it again to stop the brewing)
The bambino is a very interesting one to mod now that I think about it. Due to it not having a boiler it would make changing out and experimenting with water quick and easy, it's cheap, small and compact and hears up in seconds. Sounds like a pretty awesome machine once modded
and no yield limits! breville's PID thermocoils/thermojets have amazing temp stability afaik
I do the same magic with water debit playing with the steam valve. Many suggest it for infusion only, but it works greatly for main flow
Thanks, using your two videos and the two from Sam Bouchard, I did this for my GCP using the Westek dimmer mounted to a small plastic electric project box. Works great! Thanks
Big excitement when i see my espresso machine featured in one of your videos!
Oh, i'm so excited. I always wanted to try a turbo shot.
Great video! With all the great information and creators for espresso that are popping up I feel like I could have saved myself a lot of time and money if I started out now haha.
It really feels like a good time to get into the hobby.
As I see it would be a good supplement to a pump pressure gauge installation. You would be able to keep the brewing process at desired pressure to get different kind of extractions.
Yes. 100%. Been meaning to make that video.
@@LanceHedrick that would be fantastic!
No promises on when lol. I have a huge queue of videos in the making
Modern dimmer switches use PWM to limit power IIRC - so theoretically this mod could be done with a simple microcontroller and some cheap parts and you'd have full programmatic control over the flow. Could even integrate with a Bluetooth scale at that point and cook up some automatic profiling. Hmm... I think I found my next project.
any updates?
I would also be interested in a update
Updates please
You cannot use PWM based dimmer to control inductive load. I tried it accidentally; The cheapest dimmer I found turned out to use MOSFET + rectifier. Ulka Pump won't budge this way.
Great vid man, had a little fun on my cheap DeLonghe machine with the same mod last night and I'm able to to have more control of the water outflows now..thanks
Please use shielded connectors at the very least, that is mains voltage you're working with there.
Yes. I usually do it I use black electrical tape. I forget people don't know these things and have pinned a note thorough comment about this and added it to the caption. Easier to see what is going on with non shielded connectors
Yay! On the Bambino! You wrote a message on the Discord and I’m so glad you made a video for it.
Use wiring that is rated to take the heat an espresso machine can produce.
If the wires contact the chasis or frame of your machine PLEASE make that sure you sheathe the wires to separate and protect them where the wires might contact the machine. ESPECIALLY if your machine's chasis is metal like the Silvia or the Gaggia Pro.
The thickness of wire shielding varies a lot, and generally the cheaper the wires the more easily that shielding can be breached. (Plastics expand and contract quiet a bit in an espresso machine. )
Also, it might be silly to say but make sure that the dimmer will tolerate the voltage fed into the pump.
Better safe than sorry.
Yep! I pinned a comment above covering some it this. And have a disclaimer in the caption. 🤙🏼
When you slowed the pump the water essentially boiled out of the grouphead, meaning the PID didn't seem to adjust to the change in flow rate. Not sure what elevation you are at, but are we not worried about that messing with the puck and extraction?? Does this also happen when in manual brewing mode, aka holding the shot buttons down for preinfusion?
It doesnt matter if the pump operates at higher pressure. That’s what everyone is trying to control by controlling power.
Thanks!! That was awesome, love the mods, keep them coming!
This is super helpful - even though you had literally talked me through it before I had trouble envisioning it. Problem solved!
You're doing the lord's work, young man. This video is TH-cam at its best.
Wow! Thank you so much. That means a lot! Appreciate the kind words and support
Isn’t the pump pre thermo jet? Won’t you be causing the water to overheat by slowing the flow through the heater? I know there’s a PID, but not sure at what point in the chain it is.
Great video. I’m thinking about doing that to my breville 800ES. I have a question though: this machine has a 15 bar pump. I would like to also lower the pressure. Will that be enough? Or should I also look into other modifications? Maybe I can replace the pump or something…
I was going to ask you if I could put a dimmer switch on my BBE, so now I know, looking at slowing down the flow at the end of the shot :)
What if one installs a WiFi controlled dimmer? You could write an app to get data from a smart scale and loop it into the dimmer! The latency of such a feedback loop might be questionable, but I guess it’s gonna mostly depend on the latency of the smart scale.
The only problem is, if protocols of the smart scale and WiFi dimmer are open and can be used in the 3rd party applications.
„Turn 300$ espresso machine into Decent DE1+“
Or wiring it to arduino
This is a genius idea !
you are a God of coffee!!
lol man the 2 leads are almost touching at 12:30, this is not exactly safe, also those dimmers are designed to work with resistive loads, not a motor which is an inductive load, maybe a fan speed controller would be better suited.
If someone still wants to perform this, please ground it and put it inside an enclosure...
I bought my modded Gaggia with a mounted pressure gauge, PID, and dimmer switch for $450 about 3 years ago from a bid. I thought I overpaid but honestly think others were being very stingy now after having used it for over 3 years (and learning the cost of the PID). Plus it came with a bottomless portafilter!
A modded Gaggia Classic is at another level. You got a bargain.
My modded Gaggia, cut OPV Spring, Pressure Gauge, PID, Dimmer, th-cam.com/video/val-K-Z_YCM/w-d-xo.html
Not gonna lie I'm kind of disappointed we didn't get a tasting of that THICC/thin shot you pulled lol
You MUST have tried it off camera 😂
Thanks for this. I'll be fitting a rheostat to my GCP soon.
Without the mod, is there an max duration for the waterflow on the Bambino plus? And secondly is there a max duration programmable on the buttons like the double shot?
Hey, awesome video. One question, what if we use bluetooth dimmer, that can be controlled from, says, a phone?
As far as can be seen, it is not necessary to connect the ground, but I suppose it is necessary, really. Where would you put it?
Sorry if it's not very clear, I use an online translator. Thank you.
Hi there! I don’t know much about coffee machines, but I am reasonably good with my hands.
Is it possible to add a 3 way solenoid to the bambino? I haven’t found anybody who has done it yet. Cheers. Love your vids
Definitely could. The plus has them stock
@ thanks for the quick reply. Appreciate you Lance
Can u pull 30s blooming before i pull a shot or will the solonoid detect no flow and just ruin the shot?
Or at least pull a really long low flow shot for lightroasts that how plenty of hot saturated water to extend the extraction?
I finally added a dimmer to my Bambino Plus. I love being able to control the flow but bummed about how much the water temperature is affected by slowing it down. Seems the Bambino temp control is not able to compensate for the unexpected flow rate through the thermocoil.
It's not as much as you think tbh
@@LanceHedrick Appreciate the response. I measured 11 degrees difference in a styrofoam cup. I will say so far I am liking the espresso results. Also have to remember to reset the dimmer to max each time. Especially when steaming milk the pump has to pulse at full flow. Need a spring-loaded dimmer that always returns to max!
@rpaUkes i wouldn't rely on that temp measurement. I've done readings from the group head using a modified scace and a TPD sensor from Pesado. It isn't that big so no worries, especially if you arent finding issues in the cup
How to install a brew pressure gauge mod? Dio temp pro?
is there any mod to reduce noise of pump?
very nice.... I'm going to do this at my breville infuser .. there's another video in youtube showing something similar... I'm sure this is reliable/secure
Where do yo recommend attaching for the ground? To the little ground wire that is attached to the casing? Is there any easier/better way you’d recommend outside of just cutting the wire and splicing into it using a wire nut?
say whaaaaaaat??! Awesome mod ma duuuuuuude
This is so cool, would have loved to buy the bambino because I have a very low budget but it’s not available in my country :((
nice! whee does one source the right dimmer? is i a leading edge? or trailing edge? I have tried several that did not work, apparently it needs to be an older one without much electronics and NOT for LED
I think you need also to increase the flow pressure by adjusting the OPV. then you will have wider range of pressure for the dimmer.
You should call that first shot you pulled with it the ADHD shot 😂
I recognize that by making this modification I would be turning my automatic into a variable speed manual...but would I still have the use of my programable shots, assuming that the dimmer is flipped on and fully open? I love the idea of my little bambino having this upgrade, but I'm not the only one using it...
Great! Helpful to see it done. Thank you.
Where is the OPV on this machine? while doing this mod I thought to adjust that as well.
Did you ever explain why flowrate matters?
How to install a brew preasure gauge?
This is awesome Lance. Thanks for this!!!
The Decent is a modified Bambino in a box😳
Nice to see how easily the mod is done!
Do you know how it affects the watertemperature on the Bambino plus? I'm thinking that the thermojet might heat the water more at a lower flowrate. Perhaps this is what is happening at 12.47 when the machine starts steaming again?
@@IBCo. the Bambino Plus actually has a PID built in!
Correct, Gabriel!
The Bambino has temperature sensors at the inlet and outlet of the thermoblock and uses a closed loop controller to regulate the temperature.
@@IBCo. what has this got to do with the mod? The Bambino already tends to boil water stock occasionally, btw
@@IBCo. Yeah, he needs to do a video on water temperature checking.
does the dimmer need a particularly specification? i live in a 220v country
Mate it is just fantastic, I also watched your other video with the Gaggia classic turned into a 3000 euro machine and it seems that it also extra cute :)
One important remark: I had a discussion with my local Lelit representative and chief technician and he confirmed that the dimmer mod works but with one critical thing to consider: the Ulka vibratory pump has a minimum trigger pressure of 4 bars. In other words, there is a voltage threshold below which the pump does not operate and above which it starts at 4 bar. Maybe there are pumps with lower initial pressure values though. I would love to know your thoughts on this.
I'm not positive about 4 bar specifically but yes! You find this out quickly when modded. If you go low enough, the pump will disengage.
@@LanceHedrick thanks mate. I also consider it important yet minor since nonetheless you get to have the full control of the flow throughout the entire brew, which is fantastic.
@@LanceHedrick @Leonardo251 seems a little bit strange, pressure is an output, ulkas afaik don't measure pressure or react to it in any particular way. If anything, I think that there could be a minimum flow rate, but I'd argue that said minimum is more than enough to pull most styles of shots out there
Hello , is there a hack to increase or change brew temperature on bambino ?
I have a Bezzera BZ13. and i’m thinking about the idea of installing a knob on the side of the machine . great video!!!!!!
I just tried to do it on my BZ09 tonight and it doesnt work :/ i dont know why
This morning i figured out why , i putted a light indicator on the dimmer ( thinking it would look cool ) and this is what was causing the malfonction . It work flawlessly , very very happy of the mod
It's awesome! I'm so glad you did it and figured out the issue. Have fun with flow profiling
@@LanceHedrick i putted the dimmer in a project box with a wire to the pump so it look like an old school remote control . Its clean tho and very nice even on a higher end machine
@@The_Coffee_Rabbit_Hole great thanks for sharing. I wounded where we could by a nice looking diner to match the machine ?
I did it to my Bambino Plus, and for some reason it malfunctioned, and now the pump is constantly on when plugged in. I wonder if it happened to anyone else... In addition I was thinking of maybe using a LED dimmer instead of regular one, because it uses a smaller W-range(3w-100w) therefore might have better control. But not sure if I'd just make a greater mess. Any thoughts?
where to get a dinner that looks good such as stainless so that to matches the machine ?
Sadly, anything nice won't work. All the ones being made nowadays that are of substantive material are either 3 way or they are compatible with LED, which wont work here
Nice vid as always Lance 👍, am gonna see if i can pick a used machine from ebay and mod it out. Great as always thanks.
Hi! I've just added a dimmer mod to my saeco se50. This mashine also has got an ulka pump. The problem is the dimmer decreased the flow rate to 7gr/sec in set max open. If a dimmer stand in minimum open, the flow is not constant but waves. Could you put some more detailed info about dimmer you used?
Nice mod!
Will it work on ec685 delonghi?
Due to the fact it works with 15bar it would be a nice way to reduce pressure...
Immediately SUBSCRIBED !!
hi. quick question. what bottomless portafilter and single wall basket is that u are using w the breville in the video? thx!
Mate! Should make a video making am Expresso shoot with that machine and the mod to actually see the improvement.
Lots of videos out there on flow profiling! I've got a few, just not with this specific machine. Same thing, tho!
Nice video! Where do you get that amazing portafilter?
I made it with a company! Check out artpresso.com
Or go to My community page to find the post with a link!
Great video. Probably going to try this mod on my Bambino regular (not plus). Would love more videos applicable to that machine. Like how to clean the grouphead thoroughly
Which bottomless portafilter is that? Looking to buy one that's acceptable quality
I modified my bambino (not the plus) and it works great! thanks so much! I tried pulling a spro over, but the shot automatically cut out at 1 minute. do you have any advice how to pull a ful 90 second spro over on the bambino?
You'll have to modify the recipe to 60s. Not a big deal because the basket is smaller and can't do as much. Anyway. So just do a smaller dose and faster extraction. The pump in the bambino does only 60s cycles
@@LanceHedrick got it. thanks! by faster extraction do you mean coarser grind so the water will run through it faster? or grind finer and use a higher water debit/pressure?
Also, for the spro over, what do i do about the pre infusion? should i have the dimmer fully open at the start for the pre infusion and then lower it to the lower pressure? or should i leave the dimmer at the lower pressure the whole time including during the pre infusion?
Surely if you do this on a thermoblock machine, you’ll have higher brew temperatures because the machine is designed to heat water at a fixed flow rate? If you reduce the flow rate, you’ll heat each gram of water for longer giving you a hotter brew?
No because there is a pid controller, so it's essentially a fixed loop
@@LanceHedrick Do all the Breville machines have a PID controller? I would be interested in doing this mod on the BBE.
Lance will the opv be affected?
@Lance Question looking to buy a bambino plus, the dimmer has a on/off switch dialed to the lowest do you know how the bambino will react if turned off to do a blooming phase?
I have been doing this with my lelit and works flawlessly, but just now if the bambino would go crazy
Great video, Lance. I have a Breville Dual Boiler: is there any difference in controlling flow with variable pump power vs Slayer mod?
Lance, I Love the channel. What do you recommend as a great starter setup? I'm thinking breville bambino plus 1zpresso jmax to get my feet wet. Then I can upgrade the bambino down the line, and the grinder further down the line. Would that be a decent starting point?
I have a table top lamp dimmer, the kind where you plug the lamp directly into the dimmer and then the dimmer is plugged into a wall outlet. question is ...... can you plug the espresso machine into the table top dimmer ??????????
Makes you wonder if it’s just a matter of adding a $5 controller to the existing pump circuit why aren’t there more flow control machine options at lower price points .. nvmd it just hit me.
Does the bambino have the opv and can it be hacked?
FYI on those modding the breville barista pro specifically- at least on my unit it will only run 63 seconds of pump on total. Strange amount of time, but I have had that hit a few times trying out sprovers. Mod is still worth it IMO for getting tastier espresso shots, but you may be limited for doing to really long pulls.
Yeah. It is due to the Ulka pump. There are limits with those smaller ones. BUT you can get a great cup with 63sec!
@@LanceHedrick totally agree! just a good note for others that may try this.
For sure! I appreciate you mentioning it, absolutely
When you modified your breville barista pro did you insert the dimmer on the yellow or white wire? Yellow seems right to me as it looks to be the input (at least that’s how I am seeing it )
Edit - nvm either should work. Yellow seems easier!
Please give me your recommendation on brew baskets and a grinder to pair with my Breville
dual boiler.
I was hoping to get an electric grinder to do espresso and filter (was looking at eureka Classico or compak k3). Or should I just get a breville smart grinder? Or smart grinder for espresso + timore hand grinder for filter?
I love your coffee hacks. :D Whats the best cheap espresso machine that you can mod to make good?
Hey Lance! Awesome video! How does this change when you have a machine with rotative pump?
Genius! Thanks.
Been watching all of your espresso modding videos lately and loving them. However, I have one little critique of your editing style. I've noticed several times where you've pointed to something and said something like: "Look at this here" and you still have the front camera angle showing, so we can't really see what it is you're referring to. I can guess what you're talking about in most cases, but it's always nice to know for sure
Not something Lance can fix easily. His camera guy edits the videos, and from my understanding from Lance he does so in a hurry
Tried this mod on a Calphalon TempIQ (non-grider). The dimmer works but I can't seem to keep the bottomless portafilter from spewing the shot all over the counter. I'll continue to try grind size and shot length to see if I can get control.
Did you run into any issues or additional steps compared to the breville? I have the tempIQ as well and am thinking about doing this. The standard pressure seems very high
Would you do it on 1000€ HX/dual boiler with vibro pump? 😬
Hey lance! I enjoyed your video, I will definitely be giving it a try! What is the shot glass you used in the video? (The grey marbled of ones)
That is a ceramic from Magnolia Mountain out of Sidney, AUS!
@@LanceHedrickNice! is there a place I can buy them online?
Google Magnolia mountain. They don't ever have anything in stock, but work off of a drops system.
@@LanceHedrick Darn they look really nice!
Absolutely! I actually did a collaboration with them a months or so ago. The people who ordered the cups will have them in January
Great mod that I am thinking to do to my Epoca St1 too
One question
Will you see a difference on brew pressure when you dial?
I would like to make a profile based to pressure
It's becouse, in order to build pressure, you must have enough water flowing to fill the headspace and then, once it is completely filled, more water arriving at the coffee basket than the amount of water leaving it. Once that happens, then the pump will try to put more water in there than it can fit, creating the pressure. Pressure is a force exerted over water, trying to move it. If the water can be moved with little force (it, when the flow of water is very low, and it can drip through the coffee puck), no pressure is created
@@9abe9 thank you for you time
My final question is, will I be able to maintain for example, 3-4 bar for preinfusion?
I have a predicament.
I modded my barista express successfully but my friend’s bambino plus simply doesn’t want to work with the mod. We checked voltages, voltages we’re dropped about 10 volts when connecting the switch to the circuit. Any ideas?
Can i do it for the pro?
Can i use this for la marzocco linea mini?
No, that uses a rotary pump not a vibratory pump. The only way I know of you could flow profile with that is install a needle valve in it
Hi @lance hedrick and what abou the OPV mod on this machine ? I own BBE should be the same internals?
This is supper cool!
Thanks for the mod video, I never expected to see it on a Bambino!
The Bambino has a programmed in preinfusion phase (where you see the steam) and then the full pressure phase.
I'm guessing since this is just controlling electrical flow to the pump, it also has programmed in time limits, so how are you going about getting a long shot? Did you modify the preprogrammed buttons to the maximum length of time? Or are you working with the factory defaults?
I have programmed the buttons to the maximum! I never program my buttons on machines because I'm always doing different profiles
@@LanceHedrick Thanks for that! Yeah I always pull manual on my bambino as well, and use weight rather than time as the deciding factor.
@@chrischarlton3598 I thought the Bambino was volumetric not time based
@@NoZenith Out of the box it is preprogrammed to run a certain length of time to get a supposed volume, yes!
The Bambino has no volumetric measurement capabilities. It just has a timer to run the pump depending on how long you program it for. It's up to the user to determine how much volume that time results in (depending on grind size, all that jazz)
@@chrischarlton3598 thank you.
does this mean you're also controlling the pressure with the knob
In a way, yes. Absolutely. Controlling flow is partly controlling pressure. Input flow times resistance creates pressure. So, when you increase flow, as long as there is adequate resistance (fineness of grounds), pressure will rise. Etc.
50k subscribers soon. Let’s gooooo…
Great videos Lance. When brewing a turbo shot, do you start the timer including the infusion or just the pressure time?
Start the timer when you hit the button!
The virgin dimmer mod vs the chad Flair
I've got the Barista Pro and defo looking forward to this mod. Do you know if the regular functions (preinfusion, volumetric shots) on the regular buttons work as usual (assuming the knob is full open)? Also you mentioned you did this on the Barista Pro - would be cool if you could share that too! I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat so that'd help me a lot!
I've done this on a different volumetric machine. Works fine, as the volumetric sensor is reading flow regardless of the flow rate. It's basically a little paddle wheel, and the sensor is counting the rotations to calculate the volume delivered. Flow rate doesn't really affect it in practice
Man, does it work if I add a dimmer to the Cord itself? between power plug and the machine?
No, that would affect the heater as well as the internal controller too. You need it just on pump output
6:26 take it, squeeze it, pull it, strip it, bop it, twist it, smash it, push it, toss it, pass it. lol reminded me of the bop it toy.
🤣🤣🤣
Hi lance. I have a question about dialing in a shot now that I have variable flow rate. Since I now how two variables (flow and grind size) how do I dial in a shot for time? Am I limited to strictly going by taste now? I know you recommend that, however, it’s nice to get a ballpark by time first before fine tuning with taste. Is there a recommended “free” flow rate/portafilter diameter you can recommend? Ie, how much water should flow out of the group head without a basket? (Would change for different basket diameters I would assume).
Did you ever get an answer for this? or did you find out how to dial in a shot? im having trouble getting a well balanced shot on my GCP