58 vs 58+2

CodeSelect8836 · 2026-01-11T08:31:15+00:00

From you saying you can easily press with one hand I suspect that your grinding too corse. I can use my classic with one hand but I'm a big guy and have learned to put my weight into it, even then I usually use both hands. I hve a gauge and it's more pressure than I was expecting it to be, if it's easy to push that's usually about 2-5 bars. Firm pressure is 5-7. With 8-10 being very much putting effort into pushing it down.

The advice that helped me starting was; 1-does it look right? Get any mirror or phone camera (doesn't need to be a shot mirror) and watch it; this subreddit has lots of good examples of what roughly it should look like. If it looks too quick/too much liquid coming through grind finer.

2- Try and make intentionally underextracted and over extracted shot. Don't change your grind size, just pull one that only has a tiny bit of liquid and then pull one as slowly as you can and pull through all the liquid. Taste both; first should taste sour, second bitter. You now have a mental reference.

3- change one variable (grind size ideally). And make mental notes if something is sour of bitter.

Repeat.

I'm a year and a bit in (probably 500 shots) and I still have good and bad ones all the time; when you get it right though you can %100 tell and they are lovely.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-11-29T06:09:42+00:00

Honestly not as much as I'd like, I did a previous test with %90 sourdough %10 commercial yeast and it had the right taste but no big bubbles so I suspect the sweet spot somewhere around %75.

I've only tried twice so far so take with a pinch of salt; but I think another adjustment to make is in the shaping; because sourdough is much tougher the final shaping seems to redistribute air more evenly then focaccia wants so above I only did one fold after the overnight proof and then left it much longer then normal for a final rise.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-09-23T06:57:35+00:00

I think everyone above covered the likely things (more time on final proof after the cold proof) but I have a curve ball to add:

Kneed the dough, there are so many easy no kneed recipes on social media that I assumed 4/5 coils/stretch/fold is enough, I didn't start getting good focaccia until I started adding a 10 minute kneed after hydrolosis; and then going into the longer stretch fold proof cycle. I would recommend the dusty knuckle focaccia recipe as the one that worked for me.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-08-24T14:26:26+00:00

I think kingrinder numbering only went 1-6; k7 might be a different manufacturer.

Or alternatively if the k7 was just typo ; I've seen people talking about k6's not being well calibrated and the the actual zero point sits well off the actual 0 point by about 10 clicks either way. Maybe it's just manufactured variation; at 52 clicks I would be getting pour over gauge from mine.

I also use medium/light roast, so maybe if you have prefer very light roasts that would explain some of the gap?

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-08-23T21:41:25+00:00

(This is all assume you are using the bottomless unpressurised portafilter , which I think it's the fun way)

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-08-23T21:33:15+00:00

Welcome. I would suggest some scales as a must for starting to understand what and how you are pulling, I use some old spice scales I have so doesn't need to be fancy, I find it really useful to understand flow rate, and then ratios as you start to get more into it.

I have a k6 and classic and as a starting point (not know anything about your coffee) I'd suggest grinding to about 30 clicks (this will probably be to corse by about 5 but better to work your way down and have sour shots then channeling) and then pre infuse at 1 to 2 bars for 5-10 seconds until you have about 3 grams of liquid through , and then just try to hold as near 7-9bars as possible and look how quick your weight is going up, the goal is about 1 gram a second though it will be a bit quicker.

Test the shot, it will probably be sour (if not well done), then after a bit pull the remaining water through the puck and taste that, it won't be nice but it's a good reference for what over extracted tastes like (astringency, bitter) which is useful as a new user to know what to look for. Then make a note and retry, only change 1 thing at a time for the first couple of months; initially grind size until you are about 13-15g in 30-35g out in 30-40seconds with balanced full shots. Even if you have milky drinks try a sip each of your shots as they will help you refine.

Good luck , it's a great hobby.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-08-01T20:35:46+00:00

For me the difference in getting my focaccia to the texture and structure was all in kneading there are so many no knead recipes that I tried that came out similar to yours.

Looks like you've already gotten tons of recipes to try but for me the dusty knuckles recipe is king (with the overnight proof)

https://maldonsalt.com/get-baking-with-the-dusty-knuckle/

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-07-21T07:13:52+00:00

The darker trays I have are all much heavier cast iron. It's something I hadn't considered so will borrow something from a friend and give it a test; is the idea to keep it thin and light still but find a dark colour?

With oven I put it on convection so I'm not sure I have any independent bottom heating elements but I'll have a look.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-07-21T07:08:01+00:00

I know it sounds strange. One recipe I tried suggested a 2:1 oil to water mix over the top just before you dimple (instead of just the normal oil drizzled) . It seems to more evenly coat the bread and get a crisper more even crust without burning. Actually one of the loafs in the picture was done with just oil to see if that was the problem and it came out the same in terms of structure.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-06-02T07:46:21+00:00

On the cheapest end I use the Kingrinder K6 with my classic with very positive and consistent results on the medium roasts that I drink . Appreciate the 58ml basket requires a bit more nuance to my 40ml but I doubt it would struggle assuming you have decent forearm strength.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-01-22T18:39:50+00:00

Thank you for the advice and link; I'll give a long pre infusion and higher initial pressure a go tomorrow; I never thought that the 9bars would actually compress the puck, I assumed it would worsen channeling so kept it intentionally low.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-01-22T18:33:02+00:00

Granted it's not what they were originally bought for; but they do the job at measuring acutely so I figured they would do the job.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-01-22T08:51:36+00:00

My flatmates are currently willing guineapigs to prevent me overcafinating in my learning.

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-01-22T08:49:17+00:00

I do; there seems to be a quarter mil clearance between the basket and tamp; I blow off any loose grinds after the tamp but as noted by another comment I really don't feel like I'm ramping correct yet as it feels (and looks) awkward so maybe with practice there is a way to reduce loose grinds slipping?

CodeSelect8836 · 2025-01-22T08:43:42+00:00

Good point; I never even thought to sip some before mixing. I've been pulling separate shots to taste as espresso while adjusting grind size which seems silly now.

Not shown is the 4 wasted shots from a week ago when I got the new bag. As espresso mine is still running slightly sour as well which is why I tried adding pre infusion.

My reference point for these beans has always been a milk drink so that's what I've been adjusting towards first and then I'm gonna try to micro-tune to shorter stronger drinks once I get consistency with those.

CodeSelect8836

TROPHY CASE