Ask the Experts
Q. Why can't I use pre-ground coffee in my Rancilio Silvia?
A. While we're regularly, suspiciously questioned about the need for a grinder, we swear this isn't just an upsell opportunity! If you have a machine that does not have a pressurized portafilter or filter basket, your ability to get good, consistent shots from your machine using pre-ground coffee is limited. As the coffee ages, it dries out and the shots don't pull as richly as they did when the coffee was first ground.
The Rancilio Silvia gets the rap of being 'temperamental', but we often find that folks who feel this way are trying to pull consistent shots using pre-ground coffee. When it doesn't work out, they blame the equipment, not the coffee, when it's really the other way around.
To demonstrate once and for all the adverse impact aging pre-ground coffee has on shot quality, we ground some up and then tested it out over a week -- filming along the way, of course! Watch Gail tasting shots to judge quality.
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