Dose into a warmed or cold basket and portafilter? - Page 2

#11: Post by **TomC** » June 30th, 2023, 8:35 pm

another_jim wrote:The Decent responds very quickly to temeprature and pressure disturbances, whereas most other machines don't. So for most machines, variable PF/basket temperatures may still change the shot.

That said, there's a good 5 to 10 seconds before the puck soaks and gets up to temperature. A few seconds more or less, based on te intial temps of basket and PF, may not matter much to the taste, even if it shows up clearly in Scace measurements

But the point was that the mass of the basket is so minute, that it has no effect. And the portafilter has a minimal contact surface with the group and it's touching rubber or silicone which are very poor conductors of heat anyway. That's true for any machine.

#12: Post by **another_jim** » June 30th, 2023, 10:00 pm

TomC wrote: But the point was that the mass of the basket is so minute, that it has no effect. And the portafilter has a minimal contact surface with the group and it's touching rubber or silicone which are very poor conductors of heat anyway. That's true for any machine.

You're right about the basket's low mass, and the PF not having much thermal contact to the grouphead. But on home lever machines with unstable group temperatures, like the Pavoni or Elektra, using hot or cold PFs, or extra heavy thermal inserts with PF mounts, is a common practice.

#13: Post by **Fitz454** » June 30th, 2023, 10:35 pm

TomC wrote: But the point was that the mass of the basket is so minute, that it has no effect. And the portafilter has a minimal contact surface with the group and it's touching rubber or silicone which are very poor conductors of heat anyway. That's true for any machine.

My Micra portafilter gets up to temperature pretty quickly when installed. I suspect the ears must provide adequate heat transfer for this to happen. But the Micra portafilters lower mass is designed to accomplish this. YMMV with other machines.

July 1st, 2023, 8:47 am

OTE: It is important to leave the portafilter locked in the espresso machine when not in use. The portafilter must remain heated for the brewing process to function correctly

The whole LM marketing that the plastic single or double cup distributor for the naked portafilter is there to help the machine heat up feels like prime marketing BS to me.

For interest, I timed the heat up of my Micra (cold to ready) and the portafilter in or out
made absolutely no difference. It is just quick!

I don't care, as I don't use the plastic bits and just run naked, but sometimes you have to laugh at marketing brochure BS.

#15: Post by **michael** » July 1st, 2023, 9:41 am

I generally keep my machines on when I'm around w/o the pf locked in so when I prep, the pf and the basket are cold; used to be concerned about losing temp with the cold pf and basket but seem to have settled into good temps that take into account whatever temp loss I may get from the cold pf and basket

Agree consistently is important