Normcore 58.5 mm Puck Strainer, Filter, Espresso Filter Holder Lower Shower Strainer, Contact Strainer, 316 Stainless Steel

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If you read our guide on how to make espresso, we mention a few espresso accessories there, but we deem the accessories optional. However, this article is an advanced technique, for the home barista who want to pull the perfect espresso shot. A Bit of History No matter how well you did your tampering, if the coffee basket is damaged (which happens due to excessive usage or when not following the best practices the manufacturers recommend). As a result, the water finds the easiest way to run through the coffee grounds and (as you might have guessed it) this leads to espresso channelling. You can use paper instead of a screen. Use scissors to cut baking paper in the shape of the coffee basket and once you’re done with tamping you can put it above the coffee grounds.

Best of all, paper filters can be thrown away with your ground coffee, so they don’t add any maintenance. One approach is to use a calibrated tamper, which allows you to apply a consistent amount of pressure. Another technique is to use a distribution tool, which helps to evenly distribute the coffee grounds before tamping. WDT It’s useful to have them both IMO, but this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to break the bank and buy the most expensive ones. Go ahead and read about how to clean an espresso filter basket easily. Coffee grounds BasketsA steam wand spray removes finer particles from the filter’s surface. You can just steam it in a milk pitcher with your espresso machine. Adding a paper filter underneath the coffee grounds is an easy way to make brighter, sweeter shots. That brighter flavor may work against you if you prefer richer, more full-bodied shots or like making milk-heavy drinks like lattes. Distributors are equally important and will help you spread the coffee grounds more evenly and enjoy better coffee. Theoretically, I can see how it should disperse the water more evenly. However, it’s difficult to predict how the water actually flows inside the basket when it’s under pressure. We see this time and time again the coffee industry ‘steals’ ideas and concepts from the wine industry. So, similar to wine-tasting glasses, there are tasting cups for coffee, ideal to taste coffee and identify unique features of different coffee beans.

Some people think they are less efficient at dispersing the water stream than the mesh filters and more prone to channeling. A good way to detect any issues with your coffee extraction and whether it’s channelling or not is to use a naked portafilter.

Advanced Techniques in Puck Preparation

The ability to increase extraction with a paper filter is an interesting find and worth exploring for home baristas. The third change with a paper filter is cleanliness. I have less spraying on my bottomless portafilter using a paper filter. I love bottomless filters to see the flow and easier cleaning, but the spraying is constant issues. Many consumer espresso machines, like Breville, are set to high pressure, which inevitably causes spraying. The more even flow of a paper filter greatly reduces this spraying. The pre-infusion will mostly solve this problem by dumping a small amount of water at a low pressure on the coffee bed, before the extraction. However, the water will still pour in streams from the shower head, and there are still a lot of chances to get channeling.