Is this filter design "normal"?

[tabasco]

Hi,

Just bought an Espresso machine and the filter design looks a bit strange but I don't know if this design is normal? On the top its looks "normal" but in the bottom there is only one hole for the espresso to go through.

Have you seen this before?


Top:


Bottom:

[HB]

Have you seen this before?

No, but I'll bet it's a pressurized portafilter basket.

[another_jim]

This is a pressurized basket with a two level bottom, a screen and a pinhole. It doesn't look like the Solis basket, but many 53 mm home machine baskets are interchangeable. The Saeco basket is regular (their pinhole is in the PF) and holds the most coffee.

The pinhole design can get a fake crema from stale coffee, and a proper extraction time from too coarsely ground coffee; however, it creates a thinner bodied and weaker flavored shot than a regular basket when the coffee is fresh and ground correctly.

[Michael Salk]

Mine has a pressurized basket too. It's the worst idea ever, because it always clogs when the grind is fine enough to produce a proper extraction time - amongst all of the other issues that come with Krups machines or others of their ilk. If you grind the coffee coarse enough to allow it not to jam every other time, the machine produces an entirely blonde 1.25 oz double in 14 seconds. If the grind is fine enough to extract properly, it jams either at the beginning of the shot, or during the next shot, and it takes a minute or two to unclog. The best method is a rather awkward form of CPR, whereby you suck at the bottom hole until the particle of espresso comes loose, and then blow down through the top to force water through. A few thumps with a finger helps too.

I've contemplated trying to buy a non-pressurized basket, but considering the machine won't ever maintain a proper temperature anyway, I doubt it would fix the real problem, which is that the espresso (no matter how good otherwise) is universally sour.

Good luck trying to get yours to work. If you need any advice, email me; I've been fussing with one for months.