Tom sells the standard plastic group brush with a red plastic handle and fat red bristles. Maybe it's my cleaning style but I find these brushes to be incredibly indurable. The description for said brush on SM's website says they (SM) is now using "a more durable model" - so what is it and where can I get one? |
Slinkster wrote: <Snip> Red handle, fat PLASTIC bristles, black. Need more coffee, obviously. |
http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid‘346&catid3682&trx ST-0-CAT&trxp13682&trxp2‘346&trxp3=1&trxp4=0&btrx Y-PLST-0-CAT |
Leo Zick wrote: <Snip> Bahahahah! I'm actually using a denture brush right now - better angle of attack and stiffer bristles :D |
And costs less too. They work great, no need to spend the money on a marketed 'group head' brush.. |
Google "Pallo Coffee Tool". Excellent combination angled group brush (with replacable heads), back flush cleaner measuring spoon & steam tip hole clearer all-in-one. Kona Konnaisseur miKe mcKoffee URL to Rosto mods, FrankenFormer, some recipes etc:http://mdmint.home.comcast.net/coffee/Rosto_mod.htmUltimately the quest for Koffee Nirvana is a solitary path. To know I must first not know. And in knowing know I know not. Each Personal enlightenment found exploring the many divergent foot steps of Those who have gone before. Sweet Maria's List - Searchable Archiveshttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/ <Snip> |
I'll second mikes recommendation for the 'Pallo' tool. I keep thinking that someone will come up with the perfect group cleaning protocol and tool - I've tried everything that I've seen - nothing perfect. The 'Pallo' tool is the best I've found, so far. Mike (just plain) |
I, too was exasperated at always finding more grounds with a terry cloth cleaning rag. I got a few more grounds until the last wipe came out pure white. Then I decided to apply Technology! After the rag came out speckless and white once, I pulled out my old Oral B electric rechargeable toothbrush. I put on a new tip, wetted it and started Roto Rooting the gasket/ groove area. Wow! I thought the clean rag had been proof of a clean group gasket- 'Tain'= t so, McGee! I got all kinds of coffee residue out of the group. And I thought I had been keeping it Pristine and clean to save the gasket... New life for old electric toothbrush, at least 5 years old. I found a new replacement, nearly identical, for about the same price I paid at Cub Foods years ago. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'... Ray scraps nothing. Cheers -RayO, aka Opa! * Disclaimer:* *Statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the SCAA.* This free advice is worth every penny and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or ameliorate any coffee SNAFU. Always consult your professional cupper to see if it's right for you… Discontinue use and tel= l your Cupper if the coffee develops off-flavors. Side effects are usually mild… |
that's what i use. i clean the gasket with the small side and the group itself with the large side. slinkster wrote: <Snip> |
Also denture brush is good for cleaning burrs in the grinder |
That is so cool--what a great idea, thanks Ray! Now i am going to HAVE to = try that........... Also:I use the Pallo Tool and actually like it a W= HOLE LOT better than the "red brush with the hard bristles"~ for me, the Pa= llo Tool rocks! Convenient little measure on the other end for scooping ca= ffix/Joe Gloe, too... I use it every day------several times a day----and h= ave had it a few months and see no wear yet ---and it came with replacement= bristles, too..... I also keep a natural bristle vegetable cleaner thinge= e nearby and my usual regimen is: after every shot pulled i run a few secon= ds of water thru to rinse, give a quick brush with the "veggie brush", then= blank portafilter (also kept nearby) jiggle swish, then Pallo tool the edg= es inside.......sometimes add another jiggle swish with the blank portafilt= er and/or rinse a bit......a wipe with a sponge/cloth reveals no residue at= this point.....sounds like a lot but it goes quickly as it's routine now..= ...I am betting that when i DO try roto-rootering it with an electric brush= i will still get stuff out! BTW, i run a real backflush with JOeGLoe once a week..... ......and it is amazi= ng that what you think is clean is NOT! ----- Original Messag= e ---- From: "raymanowen" To: homeroas= t Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 1:52:40 PM Subje= ct: Re: +"a more durable model" group brush I, too was exasperated at = always finding more grounds with a terry cloth cleaning rag. I got a few mo= re grounds until the last wipe came out pure white. Then I decided to = apply Technology! After the rag came out speckless and white once, I pulled= out my old Oral B electric rechargeable toothbrush. I put on a new tip, we= tted it and started Roto Rooting the gasket/ groove area. Wow! I thou= ght the clean rag had been proof of a clean group gasket- 'Tain't so, McGee= ! I got all kinds of coffee residue out of the group. And I though= t I had been keeping it Pristine and clean to save the gasket... New = life for old electric toothbrush, at least 5 years old. I found a new repla= cement, nearly identical, for about the same price I paid at Cub Foods year= s ago. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'... Ray scraps nothing. C= heers -RayO, aka Opa! Disclaimer: Statements contained herein have not= been evaluated by the SCAA. This free advice is worth every penny and is n= ot intended to diagnose, treat, cure or ameliorate any coffee SNAFU. Always= consult your professional cupper to see if it's right for you… Discontin= ue use and tell your Cupper if the coffee develops off-flavors. Side effect= s are usually mild…= Now that's room service! Cho= ose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to f= ind your fit.http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 |
Brushing and scrubbing is nice, but why not try a high pressure wash. Use a blind filter basket and wriggle it in place while applying shot pressure. B= e careful when you do this; there's a real blast when you do it, but wrigglin= g the portafilter and switching the pump on and off can really steam clean th= e whole inside of the grouphead. I've had even better luck using a rubber backflush disk in the bottom of th= e portafilter without using a basket. That way the whole gasket is exposed an= d cleaning is even more efficient. On 3/17/07, Lisa J. Carton, LICSW wrote: <Snip> e <Snip> few <Snip> and <Snip> r <Snip> c <Snip> oe <Snip> I <Snip> ds <Snip> ell <Snip> 43909/http://mobile.yahoo.com/mail>and<Snip> ahoo.com/mail>to friends. <Snip> -- MichaelB |
This is a multipart message in MIME format. You think the 'gunk' you were removing was actually rubber? ----- Original Message ---- From: "raymanowen" To: homeroast Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 1:52:40 PM Subject: Re: +"a more durable model" group brush I, too was exasperated at always finding more grounds with a terry cloth cleaning rag. I got a few more grounds until the last wipe came out pure white. Then I decided to apply Technology! After the rag came out speckless and white once, I pulled out my old Oral B electric rechargeable toothbrush. I put on a new tip, wetted it and started Roto Rooting the gasket/ groove area. Wow! I thought the clean rag had been proof of a clean group gasket- 'Tain't so, McGee! I got all kinds of coffee residue out of the group. And I thought I had been keeping it Pristine and clean to save the gasket... New life for old electric toothbrush, at least 5 years old. I found a new replacement, nearly identical, for about the same price I paid at Cub Foods years ago. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'... Ray scraps nothing. Cheers -RayO, aka Opa! Disclaimer: Statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the SCAA. This free advice is worth every penny and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or ameliorate any coffee SNAFU. Always consult your professional cupper to see if it's right for you. Discontinue use and tell your Cupper if the coffee develops off-flavors. Side effects are usually mild. Don't be flakey. Get Yahoo! Mail for Mobile and always stay connected to friends. |
This is a multipart message in MIME format. I sometimes pf wiggle, but find a brush works better. Another trick is to put pf in place with blind basket as if you were backflushing, but after 3-4 seconds, loosen the pf. This will sort of reverse flush things. Also a good trick for loosening gasket. From: MichaelB [mailto:espressoperson] Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 3:25 PM To: homeroast Subject: Re: +"a more durable model" group brush Brushing and scrubbing is nice, but why not try a high pressure wash. Use a blind filter basket and wriggle it in place while applying shot pressure. Be careful when you do this; there's a real blast when you do it, but wriggling the portafilter and switching the pump on and off can really steam clean the whole inside of the grouphead. I've had even better luck using a rubber backflush disk in the bottom of the portafilter without using a basket. That way the whole gasket is exposed and cleaning is even more efficient. On 3/17/07, Lisa J. Carton, LICSW wrote: That is so cool--what a great idea, thanks Ray! Now i am going to HAVE to try that........... Also:I use the Pallo Tool and actually like it a WHOLE LOT better than the "red brush with the hard bristles"~ for me, the Pallo Tool rocks! Convenient little measure on the other end for scooping caffix/Joe Gloe, too... I use it every day------several times a day----and have had it a few months and see no wear yet ---and it came with replacement bristles, too..... I also keep a natural bristle vegetable cleaner thingee nearby and my usual regimen is: after every shot pulled i run a few seconds of water thru to rinse, give a quick brush with the "veggie brush", then blank portafilter (also kept nearby) jiggle swish, then Pallo tool the edges inside.......sometimes add another jiggle swish with the blank portafilter and/or rinse a bit......a wipe with a sponge/cloth reveals no residue at this point.....sounds like a lot but it goes quickly as it's routine now.....I am betting that when i DO try roto-rootering it with an electric brush i will still get stuff out! BTW, i run a real backflush with JOeGLoe once a week..... ......and it is amazing that what you think is clean is NOT! ----- Original Message ---- From: " raymanowen" To: homeroast Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 1:52:40 PM Subject: Re: +"a more durable model" group brush I, too was exasperated at always finding more grounds with a terry cloth cleaning rag. I got a few more grounds until the last wipe came out pure white. Then I decided to apply Technology! After the rag came out speckless and white once, I pulled out my old Oral B electric rechargeable toothbrush. I put on a new tip, wetted it and started Roto Rooting the gasket/ groove area. Wow! I thought the clean rag had been proof of a clean group gasket- 'Tain't so, McGee! I got all kinds of coffee residue out of the group. And I thought I had been keeping it Pristine and clean to save the gasket... New life for old electric toothbrush, at least 5 years old. I found a new replacement, nearly identical, for about the same price I paid at Cub Foods years ago. Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'... Ray scraps nothing. Cheers -RayO, aka Opa! Disclaimer: Statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the SCAA. This free advice is worth every penny and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or ameliorate any coffee SNAFU. Always consult your professional cupper to see if it's right for you. Discontinue use and tell your Cupper if the coffee develops off-flavors. Side effects are usually mild. Don't be flakey. Get Yahoo! Mail for Mobile and always stay connected to friends. -- MichaelB |
Looks like you could heat and bend an old toothbrush into that shape, trim the bristles and save yerself a couple of bucks... <Snip> |
Sure could. In fact that's exactly what I did and used for about a year before getting a Pallo. IMO Pallo bristles work better plus don't have to use a "kitchen" measuring spoon or guesstimate amount anymore for espresso machine detergent back flushing. Haven't needed to use the steam tip poker but nice to have just in case:-) Sometimes it's just nice to have and use the nice proper tool too. Kona Kurmudgeon miKe mcKoffee URL to Rosto mods, FrankenFormer, some recipes etc:http://mdmint.home.comcast.net/coffee/Rosto_mod.htmUltimately the quest for Koffee Nirvana is a solitary path. To know I must first not know. And in knowing know I know not. Each Personal enlightenment found exploring the many divergent foot steps of Those who have gone before. Sweet Maria's List - Searchable Archiveshttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/ <Snip> |
You showed your Pallo (I was going to say tool but thought the better of it. Although Pallo might cause problems also) and was impressed. I ordered one today and in keeping with paying "paradise tax" shipping was one more dollar than the cost of the item. |
A.- My espresso maker is a Capresso pretender (Classic), so I don't get any classic espresso brewing training. Actually, I'm paying attention to the things I should Not do. I see a problem with my convex surface tamper and rocking the tamper instead of just a steady force normal to the coffee puck= . B- My gasket seems to be made of some silicone compound, and odd sized at 52mm PF. I try to keep things speckless because I have no desire to tempt i= t to leak and have to replace it. If I ever need to replace the flat gasket- I hope not. I'd be clueless abou= t how to Find a new one, and how to tack it in place. A groove can be milled, maybe in the top ID of the PF handle and a Neoprene O-ring substituted. Non standard, but a Helluva lot better seal. I hope I can get a lever machine long before that so I can start learning for real. I know, you have to be smarter than the machine. Better late than never... Cheers -RayO, aka Opa! *Disclaimer:* *Statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the SCAA.* This free advice is worth every penny and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or ameliorate any coffee SNAFU. Always consult your professional cupper to see if it's right for you… Discontinue use and tel= l your Cupper if the coffee develops off-flavors. Side effects are usually mild and include revulsion for most coffee shop bilge water... |