Arrarex Caravel ( tips and techniques )

Beanz

Ol Grumpy I had trouble understanding what you were on about initially then I figued it out Unbelievable !!

Ol_Grumpy

Sorry, my last post was extremely obtuse... Let me just say... Allow me to introduce our very own, "Crocodile-Rick"... [applause]... http://vimeo.com/75200730 EDIT: Bwahahahaha.... I couldn't help myself.... In my 'minds eye' Nike comes lunging up the beach... And Rick turns to run and slaps straight into that standing tap.... Bwahahaha... I should seek medical help....

derrilex

Pelting that poor mud gecko with fish ! 😃

mycuppa

I am more concerned about his choice of colors for his "boardies"........ Perhaps that is why Nike2 won't lunge.....

Brett_H

I am more concerned about the lovely tea party happening while Nike 1 demolishes entree: http://vimeo.com/3523038

UNM

How do others clean the portafilter and handle/holder Been rinsing thoroughly after each use.

Beanz

From your comment I am wondering if your basket seperates from the handle ? Mine were locked solid when I got them but they will seperate with patience and lots of fiddling. Once separated the parts are very easy to wash. My original baskets have two elevated pips one on each side. It seems there is one position where they come in and out easily and the other 359 degrees is locked solid not sure whether that was a design objective or simply wear at one point.

UNM

Currently they do not separate. They are obviously made separately, but tightly stuck together. I have no desire to break something, hence my question. Lots of fiddling? Yep, can do that. Patience? Hmm, that might be a challenge.

Beanz

It took several attempts over a few evenings but persistance paid off. I was lucky on the earlier model the handle screwed off leaving only metal parts which I put in a pot and boiled with some Caffetto and left it to soak to try and break up any accumulated coffee residue that was glueing it together. On a later model I could not do that as the handle is overmoulded so I simply dipped it in and out of a similar solution. In the end I did need to seperate them by inserting an old knife edge between the basket and the handle. Using an old vegetable peeling knife that was really well worn I very gently worked around the edge of the basket, very slowly it worked it's way up. Only use a very blunt edged knife to avoid accidents. Other safer objects I had did not have a thin enough edge to work into the small gap. Maximise the area of contact between the blade and the handle / basket to avoid any damage to the edges. Once it was up a few mm but still tight I used a thicker blade If you get impatient put it down and come back to it. Aim for a very gentle coaxing process rather than brute force. The first one was a nightmare as I was not even sure at that stage whether they were meant to come apart, the second one was much easier as I was confident I was on the right track Good luck

galumay

The way beans describes it pretty well sums it up UNM, I have had all the baskets out of my portafilters so yours has definitely been apart. They don't seem to accumulate much crud anyway, maybe the lower temps? A good rinse is all I do with mine, once a year or so you can soak in some descaler and hot water if you want.

UNM

Been using the Caravel as my espresso machine of choice for a while now and it is becoming part of my morning routine. Fast warm up is a big plus. The fiddly little filter basket is still an irritation. I need a funnel. Easy temperature adjustment is good, but I really want to add a PID, partly because I can, partly because I like a temperature display. I find I am naturally compensating for variations in extraction rate by adjusting pressure on the lever, don't know if other lever users do this, but it definitely reduces incidence of sink shots. Probably also reduces number of God shots, but I enjoy the coffee so don't mind.

Janlab

galumay wrote:

added a PID Kettle controller to my main one.

Also joined the Caravel Club with a "never used" cream colored beauty. As such the basket came out easily. @G, where do I source the kettle PID? Jan

SniffCoffee

Janlab wrote:

Also joined the Caravel Club with a "never used" cream colored beauty. As such the basket came out easily. @G, where do I source the kettle PID? Jan

From the US - I actually have one that I purchased but then decided against going down the Caravel path - so it's unused - PM me if you're interested Sniff

UNM

Either grab one from sniff, or make your own. It isn't hard. PID, SSR, case, socket, plug, wire, time. Job done.

Janlab

Thanks UNM, you have a plan/diagram? (I'm a bit electronically challenged, hehe) Hopefully will get Snif's... J

Naki_chap

Janlab wrote:

Also joined the Caravel Club with a "never used" cream colored beauty. As such the basket came out easily. @G, where do I source the kettle PID? Jan

You can get a digital thermometer with thermocouple from evil Bay for a $5 delivered from China, that will at least let you know the water temp in the boiler and you'll be able adjust the thermostat to suit, I have drilled a tiny hole in the rear of the lid on mine to push the thermocouple through so I can keep the lid shut, not expensive and works well.

Naki_chap

I get the best results from mine by filling the basket to the top once tamped,and grinding fine enough the I really have to apply ALOT of pressure on the lever to get a fast drip from the group handle, I load the handle then pull down until I get a few drips coming out then I slowly lift to refill the chamber and push down to finish the shot, with the grind fine enough that I really have to push down hard gives me a sweet thick bodied shot with lots of crema, If I grind a bit coarser so as I don't need to apply so much pressure , I find the shots are a bit thin and lacking the sweetness, but that's just me.

galumay

I am back in the routine of pulling daily shots on a Caravel, our first stop in our 'gap year' is the summer at a mates bach in Piha, on the west coast of Auckland. I sold him a Caravel & Lido grinder a couple of years ago and now i get to use it on a daily basis! I brought a bag of my beans with me, will have to source some good local ones soon. The Caravels really do pull a sublime shot.