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Naked portafilter?

Anyone using a naked portafilter at home?

I have a single spout portafilter that came with my beloved ECM Botticelli eight years ago and I have come to realize that I never use it because it is so much more easy to tamp the the double spout.

Currently I'm living in Namibia and find it very very difficult to get good fresh roasted beans. So I'm having to play around with grind/tamping variations to an alarming degree. I'm thinking a little homemade espresso porn might help the situation.

Does anyone have any experience with one of these babies (is it harder to get a good tamp), or better, has anyone made one from a regular portafilter?
 
I have not used a naked portafilter...but I was really thinking about it to use with my Silvia. From what i've read, it really does not make a 'better' espresso, but it allows you to see the extraction and help figure out how well you prepared the shot (tamping, grind, ect). There are several how to's on making your own naked out of your existing portafilter. I'm not logged in on my home computer to give you some links I had saved on the process. But, if you do a google search, you will find many links to message board posts about it and how to's.
 
Thanks Jeff.

You're right that it does not affect the shot at all, as far as I have been able to determine. But I have been suffering from the pulls blonding out after 10 -12 seconds. I can't tell whether I'm suffering from channeling, bad grind or just bad beans.

I've found a few sites that describe with photos how to drill & cut out a normal portafilter. I'm not sure my drill and dremel are up to the task.

Do you think it would be harder to tamp a bottomless pfilter with the same force as a normal one?
 
I have one, but honestly I think it is a total waste of money. Most people use way too much espresso which leads to channeling in the puck and a severe dependence on tamp strength and technique. If you cut down on the amount of coffee in the basket, the puck will wet easily and naturally seal itself. Once I went from 20+ grams for a double to about 14 grams almost all my extractions are effortless and taste fantastic. Give it a try, but of course YMMV.
 
Scott, depending on your machine, I'd agree. If your machine "pre-infuses" the water, yes, certainly. However, if the puck gets blasted from the start, it doesn't get time to swell and seal itself and ends up being a disaster.

DISCLAIMER:

My experiences only!!!
 
I use one on my Gaggia Espresso.

I made it myself by 'sacrificing' my portafilter and cutting it out with a hole saw.

Does it help? The early threads on this on most boards said the main benefit was in analyzing problems and learing a better technique. I have acheived this with my machine, which is an eBay score for $100, plus a Craig's list Rancilio Rocky grinder... I added a PID to my machine to better control the Gaggia's exuberant temperature curve.

All the tech plus the grind plus the portafilter has greatly improved the espresso I can produce. Plus, it looks SOOO cool....

Barry
 
My machine doesn't pre-infuse and the pucks tend to look properly damp after a pull.

I've taken to tamping half way through dosing (I fill by hand and break up any clumps before dosing) and then again a number of light tamps after filling the portafilter. I read about a study that suggested there was no difference between a 30lbs tamp vs a 300lbs tamp and that tapping the portafilter to distribute the fines properly and multiple tamps of varying angle had a much larger affect than total pressure.

Looking at the spent puck I can see no obvious signs of channeling.

Since I've never had problems getting great pulls anywhere else, I'm guessing it is simply a matter of stale beans. I only have access to store beans here and they come either from S. Africa or from Europe (via S.Africa). Since getting a small package couriered here from Europe costs several hundred US$ and still takes 2-3 weeks, I would assume that the beans are well beyond acceptable age by the time I get my shaky hands on them.

Is this assumption half baked? Completely baked?

As far as the bottomless pfilter, I must confess I was kind of looking for an excuse since they do look so darn cool! But it sounds like it isn't worth the effort, for me anyway. :frown:


...Pdu, check out www.coffeegeek.com, www.coffeesnobs.com and www.home-barista.com. Just don't blame us for how much time you end up spending reading on those sites.:tongue:

Too late! Home Barista has already started sucking in my free time like some kind of crema coloured black hole. :eek:

Thanks all, for the links and the input.
 
My machine (Silvia) doesn't pre-infuse, but reducing the amount of coffee has a dramatic effect. Try it and see.
 
Dammit! Back to Espresso perfection! Ignorance and a decent shot were bliss for a few years.....

{And he's off: finding gram scale....readjusting MD40 grinder proportions....searching for naked Gaggia portafilter.... } :blush:
 
My machine (Silvia) doesn't pre-infuse, but reducing the amount of coffee has a dramatic effect. Try it and see.

Miss Silvia is definitely a fine machine (or so I've read many places), but I've never had the pleasure of getting my hands on her. Is it PID'ed?

I have tried dosing less, but end up with a soupy mess. I find with the best shots from the MDF and Classic pairing I have end up with a print of the screen and a dry puck. I find the MDF moody though. What grinder do you use?
 
Miss Silvia is definitely a fine machine (or so I've read many places), but I've never had the pleasure of getting my hands on her. Is it PID'ed?

I have tried dosing less, but end up with a soupy mess. I find with the best shots from the MDF and Classic pairing I have end up with a print of the screen and a dry puck. I find the MDF moody though. What grinder do you use?

No PID, just temp surfing. I have a Mazzer Mini grinder :001_wub:
 
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