Crema de la Crema: an espresso blog

You know you’re a Coffee Geek when …

You think of performing mods to your coffee grinder that you just laid your hands on.

Which was what I, with KS’s help, did this morning. We modded both the new grinder on the block, the Compak K6 and the Gaggia MDF. We performed the Sweep mod on the K6 and removed the finger guard on the MDF. I first read about the sweep mod from Teme’s blog, Espresso Passione when he modded his Compak K10 grinder.
 
K6 Sweep Mod

The Sweep mod is easily reversible. Disassembling the K6’s dosing chamber also gave it a much needed cleaning. The fabric tape was IMO too thick, I should’ve bought electrical tape instead. I also left out the dosing sector when I reassembled the doser to facilitate easy clean-ups.

The difference was huge. I will post pictures soon. The dosing chamber of the K6 is divided into 6 sectors. By the 6th pull of the doser, the chamber was almost clean of grounds, only leaving behind grounds stuck to the top of the dosing star knob, which can be easily amended by the “inverted cup mod“. 

Gaggia MDF Finger Guard removal

This mod was entirely performed by KS, as I was busy with the taping, and had no prior experience disassembling the MDF. The 2 rubber caps covering the screws on the hopper were first removed. Then, the rest was basically working on slicing off the finger guard with a soldering iron. And then, the edges were smoothed with a file, and the MDF is reassembled.

(Unfortunately, we were busy modding the grinders, so no pictures were taken.)

The finger guard removal is just the first phase.

The next mod project will be the inverted cup mod on the K6 and the Sweep mod on the MDF.

This is a must-have mod if you have an exposed E-61 grouphead on your mid to low-end espresso machine. High-end machines would normally have PIDs to measure and control the brew water temperature

This device is “to facilitate the measurement of brew water temperature about 1.25″ away from the puck during a real brew cycle.” In an email, Eric also added that “while it is true that the devices (either thermocouple or digital thermometer) measure the temperature of the brew water 1.25″ upstream of the puck, an EQUALLY important function is to provide the user with a “number” that is VERY REPRESENTATIVE of grouphead temperature.” This thermocouple adapter replaces the allen head screw on your exposed E-61 grouphead.  A shortened digital thermometer (also available from Eric) is then inserted into this adapter. While a thermocouple and temperature meter combo would be more accurate and gives faster readings, the digital thermometer kit is a better option if you (like me)

    a)  have limited workspace, and don’t wish to have wires in a mess

    b)  are not too handy with electronics
 
    c)  want a simple digital display you can read the temperature from

Full details of this device are found here

To place an order, download this word document, Pricing_Inventory_ordering.doc

Discussion and reviews on Eric’s Thermocouple Adapter can be found here on Home-Barista.com. Or do a search on “eric thermocouple”.

The digital thermometer kit with a stainless steel adapter can be had for under S$100 if you buy now when the US$ is at an all-time low against the S$ (US$1:S$1.499). Incidentally, the adapter heading my way in a month’s time will be Eric’s first sale to Singapore.

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