The S1 Cafe - Helping Your Espresso Dreams Become Reality

I thought I would mention a discussion I just had with Mary from Chris Coffee Service. I have a Mini Vivaldi and recently noticed, as I would prepare the portafilter for a shot, a smell coming from the basket. I should mention that I keep both pieces clean and I did not notice this smell if the basket was not in the bottomless portafilter.

Mary said she was told by LaSpaziale, that if the basket is overheated it can emit a metallic smell. So its best to pull warming shots (if you do that) with the basket removed to avoid overheating the basket. She advised to remove the basket if the machine will be on, but idle for an extended period of time. Maybe other know this, but it was news to me.

Anyone care to comment or share any other points of view?

I've always left my basket in and never noticed a smell. But, I seldom keep the machine on all day. Usually it's on 7 am till 4 pm.

LDT wrote:Mary said she was told by LaSpaziale, that if the basket is overheated it can emit a metallic smell. So its best to pull warming shots (if you do that) with the basket removed to avoid overheating the basket.

WTF!? Are you kidding me? Overheated smelly baskets?? La Spaziale said that???

Smelly metal? That's a first.

Maybe it was made out of the recycled metal from that fish boat scrapyard in India?

What was the smell like? I've never noticed a metallic smell before after my Mini has been on all day. Perhaps that's just my sniffer or I got the basket made from steel straight from the steel mill.

Well I had not planned to continue this topic, but since you asked I can tell you what it did not smell like. Not a coffee smell, not spoiled food smell. When I mentioned it to CC, Mary said a La Spaziale Rep. showed her there was a metallic smell when the basket had been in a heated machine for an extended period. Metallic is the best word to describe what I noticed. It's not a big deal because it does not seem to affect the taste of the coffee.

Since the S1 is a "cold nose" machine, a PF and basket that has been left in a machine for an extended period of time is still only going to be around 85C. When it comes to steel, I would say there is no way for that to be considered an overheated state no matter how long the machine is left on and unused. I suppose it's possible that something like the rubber gasket might give off a smell in that environment and get some of the smell onto the basket, but I find it hard to believe that the basket itself is causing the odor.

The rubber gasket may be the source. I also remember that I took the gasket out after about a month of ownership. I wated to see how easy it was to get out and I coated it with some food grade lubricant to insure easy future removal. I suppose the lubricant could be source??

I totally agree with that, the rubber gasket is most likely to blame.