Rip off Vs knock off 😂 Thanks for the video

For years, I’ve been using a small, glass cup for shaking. I recently bought a Weber shaker, thinking that it might improve workflow or distribution. It made both worse. My method is to toss like sautéing in a pan, definitely not to violently shake. We want to homogenize, and not to cause clumps. Next, I pour it into the portafilter with a magnetic funnel. I shake to flatten it, do a surface level rake with a WDT tool, one firm tap on the counter, and tamp. So, why is the shaker worse? First, it has three pieces to handle, and they all get dirty. Next, why doesn’t the body have magnets? I can’t shake the portafilter with the shaker on top. So now I need the funnel too. Also, because I can’t see inside the shaker, I can’t get the grounds roughly distributed before removing the lid. I could shake it side to side with the lid off, but the plug isn’t magnetic, so I risk it falling apart and making a mess. With my little glass bowl, a magnetic funnel, and just a little skill, I get a better, faster result. Who cares about the extraction of the Weber, when the workflow is so dumb. Had they added magnets and maybe a glass lid, it might have been another story.

I used to do WDT but found it lacking in consistency, possibly just operator error. I tried the knockoff shaker and found I still needed to use a funnel to stop coffee spilling and avoid burning my hand touching the hot portafilter. I still tap the sides to get the top flat. I use a side to side shake not just up and down, I also rotate 180 degrees in the middle to ensure all the coffee is mixing. I prefer the shaker but I tap the top with the wooden handle of the tamp before removing the shaker lid. I use a dry paper towel to clean the shaker and found coffee accumulation to be greatly reduced for the next two or three uses.

I spent about a month doing some accurate testing of shaking, it took that long to figure out the mode of action, but it does work to boost EY in some cases, specifically if you're on the clogged side of the grind size to EY curve (did a vid on it). It works by basically homogenizing the critical bottom layer that contacts the basket (as grinders can produce grind size inconsistencies during start up). It's the size distribution of the grind particles in this layer that impacts evenness of flow, in fact it governs flow I'd say... Lance, phrased he's video unfortunately, as he pitted shaking "VS" WDT whereas I found both are somewhat important for light roasts and the newer precision baskets. The other thing i found was that you can just shake in the dosing basket with a cover, pour into the espresso basket, then some WDT and that produced EY's as good as the blind shaker (non-weber) with WDT, i.e., it's really the shaking process that matters, not the blind shaker per say, in my opinion... have fun testing, it's a fascinating subject :)

@TechDregs

22 күн бұрын

Interesting, I'll check the video out. How did you measure the grind distribution by layer? I actually already tested using a dosing cup for shaking, and came to the conclusion that it didn't increase extraction yield vs just WDT (neither did the knockoff blind shaker). In every test I've ran so far, there's no statistical difference and plain WDT has higher yield in raw data. However, it could be grind dependent, and my grind settings are in a region where it doesn't matter.

@JLeverEspresso

22 күн бұрын

@@TechDregs No, shaking won't make a difference unless you're near the fine grind size limit. See if you grind really fine, you'll start to see dark spots on the puck, indicating that some sections of the puck don't have proper flow. If your grind size is near this limit, shaking will distribute the fines among the boulders and prevent the air-locking issues to some degree (you'll notice less dark spots). You'll also see a small increase in extraction yield (EY) in a shaken vs. unshaken comparison, but the shaken EYs will never go above the peak in the EY curve. Shaking just recovers some EY if your grind is too fine.

The magnet is for grinders like fellow ode

So what exactly is the shaker meant to do?

@TechDregs

21 күн бұрын

Might be helpful to see the context; this is the third video I've done on shaking. kzread.info/dash/bejne/f2SF17WHgrLfZrA.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/Z6KFydFpcqu9mbQ.html

Luckily I found a much cheaper alternative to coffee: Ritalin

@TechDregs

22 күн бұрын

Probably cheaper, too.

Man I can't seem to find one of those but for 54mm.

@gordanskunca9896

20 күн бұрын

Craig Lyn espresso shaker funnel II

@KrazyShark

20 күн бұрын

@@gordanskunca9896 Krikey that's expensive. I found another similar "universal" one from Neouza but meh, I don't know how it will be like for 54mm. I just want something that is made for it, not a universal one.

Try to compare force tamper with mhw 3bomber constant tamper.

@TechDregs

21 күн бұрын

I can already give you the summary: no tamper is worth $200. Get a spring loaded tamper, and use a bathroom scale to test and make sure it's giving you >30lbs of force before it bottoms out on the basket. The spring mechanism will keep it repeatable for a given coffee/dose/grind. Just my opinion.

@maxonanton

15 күн бұрын

@@TechDregs I received my 3bomber constant tamper not too long ago and man this click is satisfying. The spring ain't good without clicking☝

The magnet is so that the shaker "locks" to Weber's eg-1 grinder.

@TechDregs

21 күн бұрын

Thanks! I knew it wasn't random, but just couldn't figure out why.

@markbeaulieu5292

21 күн бұрын

It also locks perfectly onto the Acaia Orbit grinder too.

@JonFairhurst

21 күн бұрын

But they didn’t add magnets to secure it to the portafilter basket, so I can’t give it a shake without it falling apart. It’s a dumb device. I bought it, and I can’t believe what a bad workflow it delivers.

I think you should get a spiral WDT and call it a day. I have one and I think it tops blind shakers by far. I got a Gusucin brand on Amazon for $35. MHW3-Bomber has a nice one. I was surprised to see you try again after the first time. 😳

@TechDregs

22 күн бұрын

I'm doing it for other people, not myself. I made my own WDT, and it works well.