Why dry the portafilter

This results in the formation of a film on the filter basket and portafilter. Shot after shot, this film will build-up to the point it clogs the holes of the portafilter basket and leaves residue inside the portafilter spout. Luckily for all of us coffee lovers, these deposits can be easy to remove as long as you opt for regular cleaning. We recommend cleaning the portafilter every 10 shots. For convenience, consider cleaning the portafilter right after pulling your shot and before drinking your coffee — just get it out of your way.

Flush the group head immediately after the shot while knocking the used up grounds out. Keep this up until the water runs clear. Take out the portafilter and break it down. This means removing the spouts and disassembling any additional cover the spouts include.

Flush the group old style after a shot, then wipe it. The towel or sponge will be covered in brewed coffee remains. Now, if you make a shot right away, these remains are still fresh, and taste acceptable, but imagine what happens after they've been baking on the group for an hour The basket is always dry wiped before every reload. I frequently take the basket out of the holder not a naked one to clean the basket's underside and the innards of the portafilter bell.

Not doing this will dull the taste of the coffee. Like Beezer, I would flush the grouphead into the portafilter and frequently brush the screen. Given time-distance between shots, temperature would not be an issue. In series, I would just wipe. Regards Peter. I'm not sure where our blind portafilter basket even lives at work and I think that would be a hard sell to get everyone on board for each time. Your post gave me a good laugh this morning. It constantly amazes me how people in the office forget those common courtesies they would never forgo at home.

Must be something in the air. In my office, we have a similar set of instructions over our coffee maker, for this very reason lol.

Might have to share this with the office. By joejoetheclown Bad Rabby Designs Follow. More by the author:. Mmm, mmm, mmm. The afternoon doldrums have hit, and now it's time for a tasty espresso! Now you get a choice!

Did you make this project? Share it with us! Coffee Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people interested in all aspects of producing and consuming coffee. It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. When I'm making lots of individual drinks I tend to clean the portafilter basket thoroughly and then dry it before filling it again etc.

I've watched baristas and they tend to just knock the old coffee out and immediately refil the portafilter without cleaning. I'd have thought that this would create bitter coffee as the grounds will already have been through one extraction. There's a trade-off here. If you're working in a fast-paced coffee shop, you're likely to favour the faster option knock out the coffee over cleaning.

Usually the portafilter won't even have time to dry out, so the coffee won't dry on and clog up the portafilter. If you're making multiple coffees one after another, reusing the portafilter is probably acceptable.

However if you're leaving the coffee machine alone, it's best to at least rinse out the portafilter before you or the next person comes to use it. The portafilter should be rinsed with the espresso machines line water after every pull.