Cleaning the portafilter between shots - Page 3

#21: Post by **JohnB.** » June 8th, 2010, 11:27 am

Between shots I rinse the bottomless p/f & basket under the hot water wand, run the pump & give the screen/gasket a light scrub with the nylon brush, pop out the basket/lock empty p/f back in, wipe the basket dry/dose/reinstall basket/pull next shot.

#22: Post by **CafSuperCharged** » June 8th, 2010, 1:35 pm

Peppersass wrote:But I still subscribe to the old motto: "Save water, shower with a friend" (at least that's what I tell my wife )

So you shower with your friend and your wife showers with her friend - or do you mean your wife is your friend? [/smilies tbd]

Regards
Peter

#23: Post by **CafSuperCharged** » June 8th, 2010, 1:37 pm

Take filter out of porta frequently to clean filter underside and porta inside.

Regards
Peter

#24: Post by **JonR10** » June 8th, 2010, 2:54 pm

Peppersass wrote:I guess you didn't like my ugly chopped cooling rack

No - I just didn't get around to shopping for a nice cooling rack to chop (too lazy).

Peppersass wrote:I'm thinking a sliver or two of Dynamat might do it.

That's what I used...two layers thick under the front edge of the grate, and then I also hid 2 soft adhesive bumpers under the backsplash that set gently down on top of the backside of the grate to keep it lowered and firm (I found that just raising the front allowed the back to "float" a bit and occasionally vibrate, and the soft bumpers seem to prevent that completely)

#25: Post by **Peppersass** » June 8th, 2010, 4:20 pm

CafSuperCharged wrote:So you shower with your friend and your wife showers with her friend - or do you mean your wife is your friend? [/smilies tbd]

Regards
Peter

I'll leave that to your imagination...

#26: Post by **Peppersass** » June 8th, 2010, 4:28 pm

JonR10 wrote:That's what I used...two layers thick under the front edge of the grate, and then I also hid 2 soft adhesive bumpers under the backsplash that set gently down on top of the backside of the grate to keep it lowered and firm (I found that just raising the front allowed the back to "float" a bit and occasionally vibrate, and the soft bumpers seem to prevent that completely)

This morning I tried two strips of Dynamat under the front edge, but didn't add bumpers at the rear. A fair amount of water still collected on top of the grate. Seems like it needs to be raised more to encourage the water to flow off. I'll have to see if I can duplicate the bumpers. Perhaps a very thin coat of food-grade silicone lube will encourage the water to roll off.

Even if that works, I think water will still hit the wide, flat metal strips at high velocity, bounce up in the air, and splash on the counter. The water always goes straight through the cooling rack because the crossbars are so thin. Wish it wasn't so ugly...

#27: Post by **JonR10** » June 8th, 2010, 4:56 pm

Peppersass wrote:This morning I tried two strips of Dynamat under the front edge, but didn't add bumpers at the rear. A fair amount of water still collected on top of the grate.

Yes, my little "fix" does not stop water from pooling on top of the grate. All it does is promote flow towards the back rather than off the front or sides.

Peppersass wrote:Even if that works, I think water will still hit the wide, flat metal strips at high velocity, bounce up in the air, and splash on the counter.

To work around this issue I just prevent heavy flow from hitting the grate. I do not open the water spout onto the grate and I am careful about dumping water from cups (slowly).

Sorry - it's not a real fix - it helps me just enough that I don't go through daily fits abbout water runoff.

#28: Post by **tekomino** » June 8th, 2010, 6:54 pm

Sorry - it's not a real fix - it helps me just enough that I don't go through daily fits abbout water runoff.

I resorted to simply using another vessel for big waters flushes so it does not get onto the stupid grate

#29: Post by **BradyButler** » June 9th, 2010, 9:44 am

another_jim wrote:Ditto, wipe. Especially if you are not making a follow on shot.

The 2nd shot phenomenon, i.e. that the 2nd shot in a row was better than the first, had amateurs stumped. Most of us thought it was a problem with getting the brew path to a steady temperature. But even with the best of the new crop of double boilers or the fanciest of flushing regimes, the 2nd shot phenomenon persisted. It was a real mystery

Ian Eales cracked it last year; turns out it wasn't temperature, but coffee oils. The old SOP was to flush the group with a portafilter wriggle after making a shot. He recommended doing a backflush using a little ground coffee to dissolve the oils before starting a series of shots. I find wiping the group afterwards is more convenient and as effective.

In any case, this one is very easy to confirm for yourself. 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 ...

OK... I'm a little confused about the recommendation here and in the other (Ian Eales) thread. Are you suggesting that a flush and rinse are a good idea or not? I find that discussion intriguing, but can't quite figure out what the recommendation is.

On bar, I do a microfiber cloth wipe of the basket after every shot. I flush the group with 2oz of water as I'm cleaning the PF. If not immediately brewing another shot, I'll locking the PF in to the group to catch the last half an ounce of now-clear flush water. Several times during shift, I'll scrub the gasket and screen with a Pallo tool and wipe with microfiber cloth. Clear water backflush after every shift, detergent backflush nightly.

#30: Post by **another_jim** » June 9th, 2010, 3:23 pm

I always use a bottomless, and a removed basket that is cleaned and dried before I dose, so neither of these affected the taste of subsequent shots. Nor is the issue dirt or a sanitary regime commensurate with espresso OCD. The issue I was mentioning, and which Ian discovered, concerns water insoluble coffee oils in the group.

These do not rinse off in a flush (water insoluble), but do get dissolved by follow on shots. If you make the shots in quick succession, getting some oils in cup B that were brewed for cup A are not a big deal. If you wait a half and hour, so the coffee oils get a good bake, you are adding a small dose of that lovely gas station, 3 days in the silex, coffee taste. The effect was enough to make the first shot after an idle period distinctly worse tasting than the follow ons.

The effect is virtually eliminated if you use a cloth or sponge to scrub off the group screen before idling the group.