What is Espresso Machine BAR Pressure? 

Always enjoy watching you Gail... 👍

Perfect explanation. Thanks for sharing this video

Great video, Gail! But 15 bar pump is not really needed to get 9 bars at the brew head. You could easily get away with less. But the ULKA vibratory pump is such a simple and cheap design it just makes sense to put it in the machine - and based on the design it just happens to produce 15 bars. It was not created for espresso machines. Espresso machines just adopted the existing pump because it it small, cheap, simple and powerfull enough. Then you add the OPV to tame it down to about 10bar preasure which results in those 9 bars at the brew head. And because the OPV is extra cost for the manufacturer you hear claims (from the cheapest machines) that higher preasure (12-15bars) is better - they just don´t use the OPV and try to convince the mass market, that higher preasure is better.

Year after year watching Gail and perfecting my skills. Thank you guys!

Whats better a 15 bar or 19 bar machine?

A much better informative video than most information out there. There are even articles in websites dedicated to everything coffee, claiming that 9 bars is the industry standard (true) but that some say that 15 bars is better extraction (a whole lot of wrongs in this statement). There is a serious lack of knowledge out there from people who are baristas. Most do not even know what pressure profiling is, they might claim that 15 bars in device specs means a better device (quite a vague statement), that anything other than 9 bars means bad espresso etc. I myself, before becoming a barista for a short time, was under the impression that 15 bars is the specification for extraction. It took professional experience and research to understand some things that most people dont even bother to double check and verify. It pisses me off when trade professional misrepresent their craft and perpetuate the confusion most end-users have. This goes for any profession. So once again, thanks for the video!

Thank you, Mrs. Gail! Love that precious information you gave. Cheers from Brazil!!!

I'm happy I'd found this way of teaching.

Awesome! This is something I wanted to know and what I call fun facts. It also tells me what I need to know relative to the required pressure when I purchase my next machine.

Actually the resistance provided by the coffee grounds creates the 9 bars of pressure down from 15 bars provided by pump. When you flush the machine the force of hot water coming out is about 14-15 bars. Put in a portafilter with coffee grinds, that will slow the flow of water and decrease pressure. This is why the convention is that if your get 2 ounces of espresso within 25 seconds or so, you have generated 9 bars of pressure.

For those of you who aren't American, 1 bar is 1 bar.

I like this lady she knows what she talk about !

Thanks from Morocco

Good education. Thank you so much!

Thanks Gail. I like the variety of topics of you videos!

Great job👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻you simplified a very confusing technique 😵‍💫😃

Thanks Gail. Much appreciated.

Great video! Super informative!

Very helpful, thanks!!

Thanks for this. Gail really knows her stuff!

Excellent lesson. Well done!

Dig these older videos! Thanks guys!!

Thank you for explaining. Your new glasses look great by the way

Gail. I have learned SO much from you. Thank you.

Well done,Gail! The years are going by....you are the same...those videos are a treamendous treasure! I have an issue understanding...15 bars by /near the pump and at the pressure head reduced pressure 9-10 bars, including all the way down through the pipes, opv, different barrieres and of course the medium coffee and its cohesion!...but, i altered my opv to nearly 10 bars at the opv - and meassured at the portafilter -gauge Without basket (Without medium of coffee) and i am now slightly convinced that it is better to unleash the beast at the opv to its full bar-possibilities, because the coffee and tamping will do its job!?...what do you think?...greetings from Croatia

Thank you! This is very helpful!

What affects the steam wand and frothing process?? The pump bar or the machine power wattage?

pounds per square inch IS PSI, 1 Bar is 1 atmosphere of pressure at sea level. Although they measure the same thing - pressure - they do it using a different metric. Like kilometres and miles to measure distance.

Hi, what should the pressure bar be when the espresso machine is IDLE?

Great explanation and presentation 😊👍

What level did this man take it to? IMUSA has a coffee maker at 5 bars.

How about the OPV that to modify the nouva simonelli oscar ii to 9 bar is it necessary?

Super cool stuff 👍🏽

good episode gail

Just bought a bes920 and smart grinder pro. I've got the grind, tamp, temperature (94c) and timing (about 25-27 secs) all to the recommended ranges, my pressure is in 9bar range too but the espresso can sometimes be really bitter and in need of sweetener, is it just my palate or am I doing something wrong?

1 bar is 14.5 psi & 1 psi is 100 Kbps right??? So basically what is the ideal pressure good for expresso brewing...???

So, my machine only has boiler pressure, 1-1.5 bar says green. 15 bar? What does that mean to me?

I can't decide between 15 bar and 20 bar! Please help me 😥

Is there a huge diference between 5 bar and 15 bar espresso machine? My concern is because I'm undecided between a Bella Personal Espresso (5 bar) and a DeLonghi EC155 (15 bar).

Are there systems around that have reduced or refined system pressure losses so that they don't need a 15bar pump to get 9bar at the head?

I'm new but I saw some commercial machines have 2.5 bar gauge . What's it means ? How does it differ from standard 9-15 bar ?

213 likes,0 dislikes -Pro...

i'm here for the chitty chatty.

I never see a woman who is so professional....

👍🏻🇮🇳

much ado bout nil just put them beans in a sock crunch em up with a rock and boil thesock

Why did manufacturers choose to use bars instead of psi if bars are less accurate?

BAR is not PSI.... BAR is, well, BAR.... 100 kPa (Pascals) to be precise (or a multiple of Newton per Square Meter), why all of you always use the imperial system??, why converting BAR to PSI??, If Americans don´t know what a Newton or a Meter is, just use the Atmospheric pressure reference (1 BAR is approx 1 Atmosphere); The imperial system it is outdated, very outdated; why Americans can't just use normal units, like literally the rest of the entire world???? Aside of that, good video.

bar pressure = when a strong woman(80kg) hit somebody with a bar(standard: a snickers chocolate bar), means the pressure. 30 bar hitting usually make people fall lifeless. Then, to recover, need the woman's kiss. But bad breath kill you again.