I was given a shiny new Breville Die-cast programmable espresso machine for christmas (a lovely upgrade from my earlier Breville) and was delighted to find a single-wall basket included.

I've tried the single walled basket a couple times and the shots are terribly under-extracted. I don't have a good grinder yet (old burr grinder broke, using a blade grinder for drip/french press) so I'm getting my espresso from the local cafes already ground...and have even tried re-grinding the grounds in the blade grinder to get them finer - to combat the under extraction (I can't tamp any harder!)

I realize this isn't an ideal situation but while I save up for a good grinder I need to know...am I fooling myself thinking I can get good shots from the single-walled basket or should I keep the training wheels on (double-walled basket) until I get a grinder?

Thanks in advance!

You will be unable to achieve any consistency without a good grinder. You will be unable to achieve and good shots with preground coffee.

+1 for Mikekarr,

You won't get good results with pre-ground coffee or blade grinders.

If you can't spend for now and really like good espresso will suggest you to buy a hand grinder. I used one for months and if it takes some time and patience, the result is very pleasing.

It'll take 3 to 5 minutes to hand grind for a double, depending on grind size (I think, since I haven't used one for a long time).

Leonardo

The hand grinder recommendation is a sound one. I picked up a ceramic burr grinder while saving up for a good grinder and also for travel use. I figured I'd use it until I upgraded, but I now use it for espresso at work and use my Vario for my home grinding needs.

Sound advice indeed!
Thanks all, I'm on the hunt for a hand grinder now.

Not sure how it performs for espresso but one option would be the modified Kyocera by Orphan Espresso. There is a video on this thread.

You can also check ebay for vintage Peter Dienes (PeDe), Zassenhaus etc.

Thanks Dieter01 - I'm leaning towards a Hario Skerton so far, I can get it locally and it will work nice for hiking, travelling when I get a Baratza Virtuoso Preciso (once I save up a bit)

Some of those vintage grinders look great - but I need a solution sooner than later. I wasn't able to find one of those modified Kyoceras from the video at Orphan Espresso's site? Looks like a good idea since I'm not stoked about the amount of travel there is between the burrs during the rotation on the Skerton.