Does that Breville have a built in grinder that you're using? If so, search for how to adjust Breville grinder as they can often be adjusted finer.

Does a Breville Express Pro not want to see a pressurized portafilter?

If the grind is good, you don't need a pressurized portafilter, they are usually needed for pre-ground, old coffee or incapable grinders.

I wonder if you can get a shim kit like you can for the older Smart Grinder Pro. That was my first grinder, and I had to shim it in order to grind fine enough.

ifeghali wrote: hello everyone,

I decided to go with a naked portafilter but I can't get it to work properly. I get a few secondary tiny jet streams to the sides that makes a mess everywhere. Machine is a Breville Express Pro. I guess it must be something with distribution and/or tamping, but is it supposed to be that hard to get 100% right ? Have been tried for days now and couldn't get one beautiful centered flow not a single time.

thanks for any tips

I have a Breville Bambino with a naked portafilter and was having that exact same problem for quite a while. I had those squirting streams emanating from the portafilter. Not pretty! I can tell you how I fixed it for me and I'm pretty sure it could work for you too. For each shot you pull, add a 1.75" circular coffee filter paper at the bottom of the portafilter basket. Load your coffee on top of the paper. You may want to reduce the weight of the shot slightly but it shouldn't be too much different. Using filter paper totally solved the problem for me. My portafiter is 54mm which I think is the same on your Express Pro. I purchased a 1.75" punch on Amazon (search for "EK Tools Circle Punch, 1.75-Inch") and just cut them out of Melitta coffee filters and they work great. If you do WDT with the filter paper be careful not to go too deep. If you hit the paper with the WDT tool the paper may become dislodged and you will have to do it all over again. So just do the WDT to about half way down.

ifeghali wrote:
2. yes it is really fast. less than 20 seconds I guess. but grinder is already at lowest setting don't know what else to do. using 18g on genuine basket, double shot single wall. went up to 20g but didn't help much.

Unfortunately, it's well-known that the BBE grinder is the biggest limiting factor of the machine because it doesn't allow for a lot of fine-tuning and can struggle grinding fine enough, particularly for light roasts.

Have you tried adjusting the internal adjustment ring?

What does the pressure gauge read? I found that when I had the Breville Barista Express, around 1-2 o'clock was ideal on the gauge. Since you are getting fast shot times, I suspect your gauge will be before 12 o'clock? As other have stated, the grinder is a weak point of the Brevilles. However, if you weren't previously aware of the 'hidden' adjustments you can make to go finer, the manual should explain it. That may possibly help.

Now, the above may explain the faster shot time, however, it doesn't quite explain the spritzing you're getting. You may just need to work on your puck prep a bit more. When I had the Breville, I used a funnel, WDT and a couple of taps of the portafilter to settle the grinds, then tamp. Spritzing was a very occasional thing.

luckydragon wrote:Have you tried adjusting the internal adjustment ring?

ira wrote:Does that Breville have a built in grinder that you're using? If so, search for how to adjust Breville grinder as they can often be adjusted finer.

Had already checked that but as it seems my machine doesn't have an internal adjustment ring. according to youtube this is how it should be adjusted:



Mine lacks the numbers and there doesn't seem to be any kind of adjustment. But I have a manual grinder. Will try that.

Using a single shot basket makes the pressure goes up to 3/4 of espresso range and a slower extraction. But things are still messy so I believe a finer grind wouldn't help much. Will try anyway.

thanks for the tips

tinroofrusted wrote:For each shot you pull, add a 1.75" circular coffee filter paper at the bottom of the portafilter basket. Load your coffee on top of the paper.

thanks will try that. there is a 3d printable filter cutter somewhere in this forum. will search for it.

macal425 wrote:What does the pressure gauge read?

with a double shot basket, 18g, lowest grinder setting, pressure gauge doesn't even reach espresso range (9 or 10 o'clock).

with a single shot basket, 9g, lowest grinder setting, pressure gauge goes up to 12 o'clock or maybe a little more.

will keep working on my prep skills. thanks.