Puck Screens & Top Filters: The Best Combo 

See Part Two, Boilers, etc: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zEvGbvrkDvo.html

Great videos as always! I skimmed through the comments and didn’t see anyone mention it but if you want to remove the puck screen easily you can just tap with your palm Over the filter basket, It will create a small vacuum dislodge the puck screen. Cheers!

I had the same idea some time ago without seeing your video. And I had the same conclusion. I would suggest pre infusion for this combo. This shoot were mostly consistent. For removing the puckscreen I suggest to wait a bit. The humidity between the screen, the paper and the puck should be soaked completely by the coffeepuck. A soft tap on an towel and the screen pops out clean and ready to use. Attention! The puck screen ist very hot. And the last suggestion is to use a rigedless portafilter. It’s a cleaner option.

Love your content and delivery. I always feel like I learn a good bit watching these. This just makes me extra happy I have a Cafelat Robot though lol.

I love your insight on an economic and practical perspective. Keep it up, cheers!

I'm so glad I discovered your channel ! This is now my go to, no bullshit Coffee channel on RU-vid

Always fun, I always look forward to your superbly done videos, cool tunes also.

thanks so much 🙏 waiting for part 2

Excellent 😎👍🏻☕️

Can't wait for all these following videos!

Great video and looking forward to the follow up ones thank you.

Thank you for this information. I was using paper filters on top for cleanliness, as the puck tends to stick to the upper mesh of the grup, but maybe 1 out of 6 shots I got was a really good shot. I tried again today without the paper filter on top of the puck and it ran long but after readjusting the grind I finally got a good shot. Will not be using paper filters anymore. Thanks again

If you cup your hand slightly and slap it on top of your portafilter you'll have a much easier time removing the (Profitek) thick metal screen.

Smack the open face of portafilter with an open palm to easily pop out the screen, zero tools needed. Love your videos!

When using a metal puck screen you can easily get it out by giving the Porta filter a little pop with the palm of your hand. It’ll defeat the suction and you can easily tip it out into your hand.

Apparently a magnetic pickup tool is the best way of removing the metal screen.

Hi Thomas. I would like to add that using aeropress+screen, you don’t need to cut the paper if you wet it with tap water and stick it (since it’s wet) to the metal screen so that it is center. Then you can push it into the basket with the screen, and it folds up on the edges, filling even more space.

That cafiza is powerful stuff. Even using a small amount, if it do more than a single pull, my lever gets stiff. Thank goodness it gets loose after a few pulls of water alone. I use it rarely now. Maybe I'll be able to gift my mostly full bottle to someone in the future.

there is one trick I learned from another espresso RU-vidr to get the puck screen out. You give the top of the portafilter a hard tap to force some air into the puck. That helps with the separation and most of the time I only need to tap the filter lightly on a plate to get the screen out.

Very interesting experiments. It does strike me that a TDS check would be more than helpful in understanding any changed dynamics of water flow. The hypothesis that the paper filter alone may affect water flow might be initially checked with TDS. The dynamics of water flow out of the shower screen seems to be something of an unknown in so many tests one sees. Just being absolutely clear about the gap and how much of the gap the paper/mesh closes would also be very helpful. This is perhaps less important for the main game - cleanliness - but there is considerable overlap with shot quality happening here, so everything is useful.

my method of choice to remove my puck screen is to use the removable bar in the knock box and hit the side of the portafilter 2-3 times, comes right out and usually a nice little puck as well. Hoping you make a video on your thoughts about putting a paper filter first before the grinds. @The Wired Gourmet

To loosen a metal puck screen easily tap firmly with your hand on top of the group handle. It pops off the puck.

If it’s hard to get the metal Profitec one out, just use a magnet.

I was pulling shots today using a Cafelat paper fiter alone and getting to only around 3.5 bar! Grinding finer was not helping and I think you may have found my problem. I will try tomorrow with the Cafelat metal filter on top of the paper and let you know how I go.

To get the metal screens out, how about a small magnet on a string? Or a piece of string with a magnet on each end. One end is attached to the espresso machine's body so you don't lose it. The other end is for playing magnet fishing with the screen.

I used to do the same exact combo but now I use an IKAPE style puck screen with a mesh puck screen on top. No more paper filters.

The mesh filter disk also needs some regular cleaning, if used alone. But I haven't tried it with a paper combined underneath.

Great experiment. The only point for escaping back flush is not having a clean group, while the solenoid valve and pips remain messy.

Thanks for the video! The flavour difference, I expect, is due to oils and fines being trapped by the paper filter which would otherwise add flavour depth, and body/texture to the espresso. Might not be a deal breaker for some, however. By the way, I cut filters from post-consumer, locally-made and recycled paper towel for my Aeropress without any discernible difference in the cup - to me anyway - which I then compost separately to my spent grounds... I might try your suggestions with my espresso machine, but I don't have a Cafelat filter... yet! Cheers 😀

Thank you for the video. Have you seen any difference between 1.7mm and 2.0mm metal screen?

I wonder if we've reached justification for the refractometer, now that we don't know whether those fast shots are high bypass? 😜 Thanks for the vid(s).

Love the content! I have been waiting for this machine cleaning series for a while now. I have few questions, let me know if you have already covered these :) Do you still recommend chemicals for soaking portafilters, baskets, and shower screens when removed from the grouphead/machine or is there an alternative to cleaning these? I read some people do solely water backflushes (though frequently) even in commercial machines/settings. I also read "hot water cannot easily remove dried oils but oils can remove oils" so pulling a "sink shot" then a hot water backflush is the way to start. Any thoughts on that? Lastly, 6 bar or 9 bar espresso? Any personal preferences, should there be reason to go one way or the other depending on grinder or basket choice?

Hitting the rim of the portafilter are handle will help the screen pop to the top and make it easier to remove

If you're still working on your next video, I'd appreciate your thoughts on Pavlis water. I have bad tasting tap water. I was using a low mineral content bottled water, but cost increased. I researched making espresso water and picked Pavlis water because of the claim it does NOT scale the machine. I now use a filter to take my tap water to zero TDS reading and adding Potassium Bicarbonate. I was told Pavlis water would taste sub-optimal, but to my taste, it's great in espresso and drinking straight even compared to my favorite bottled lower mineral content water. The only downside is replacing the filter when TDS reading increases. Thank you!

Interesting. Paper filters (Chemex) don't change shot times with my Gaggia.

Although I totally agree with you that it is better to prevent the buildup, rather than trying to clean everything with chemicals and hope for the best, I still think that you should rinse the whole thing with Cafiza from time to time. There's still might be a small thin layer of oils that rinsing with water and cleaning with the towel/cotton swabs will not remove.

Man, trying to take out the mesh filter with your fingers definitely looks like an infomercial 😂.

As far as using the Profitec thick screen on its own, place a paper towel on the counter and a light tap on that will pop out the screen. Turn it over and rub it against the towel and the grounds on it are removed. I have yet to use paper filters in any manner without noticing the taste of the paper and a slight reduction in the coffee flavor. I am very sensitive to taste and smell, so others may not notice this. Any time I use a thin screen, be it metal or paper towel, I notice an increase in flow rate and, as said in this video, I am not sure that grinding finer is a good solution to this effect. I also have noticed that when I use a thin fine metal screen, the puck looks different around the edge, with a sunken centre. One clip in this video shows this. I also notice an increased tendency for the puck to crack when this happens.

I use a bare thick screen and find it works well to keep the group head clean To remove the screen… I tap out the puck on to a smallish plastic cutting board Now the screen is on the bottom I move the puck to the edge of the cutting board Then flip the puck… now screen on top Remove th3 screen and rinse I have notice no accumulation of anything on the screen

To test the assumption you make about the paper filter deflecting the water to the edges it should be simple : Put it instead at the bottom of the puck (or a combination with one at the bottom and one at the top if you prefer) and pull a shot with a naked portafilter ,then you should be able to see if there are anydifferences with the flow .

Did the metal screen with the paper filter do anything to channeling?

If using a paper filter on top of the puck, spray some water to moisturize the paper filter first. Dry paper filters tend to have a certain degree of water-repellent ability.

I love being challenged to think differently about coffee. I'd seen this filters as a stopgap for pressure profiling or to assist with particularly aggressive water debit from the head. As a quick note on descaling, but while needing to do my boiler (which hadn't -ever- been descaled and was second hand), I wanted to utilise corrosion resistance. Google Researching papers for corrosion inhibition led me to a research paper on commercial boilers (which I'm sure is on my computer somewhere) but the tl;dr was that hexylamine was utilised as a corrosion inhibitor. It was quite economical, and I was able to obtain pure solid HA from a camping supplies store. It's soluble enough that it suited for my needs- approx 14-20g for a 6l boiler (and the solubility is ~10-20g/L). The reason that HA works is because it complexes to the metal more favourably than oxidation.

after a while what do you think? is it worth to use paper filer? if yes, top or bottom?

Hello, I curious about that, when we use puck screen and paper filter, does important how good is the shower screen? is it worth to buy an IMS shower screen for beginner espresso machine? What do you think?

I had been wondering about the use of filter papers and screens on top of my puck. Thanks for testing them. I've now concluded that any benefit to their use is more than offset by the hit to my routine, both in puck prep and cleanup for the next shot. Noted that you didn't test the impact of a metal shower screen to water temperature in the puck. Did you pre-heat the screen?

With the top paper filter I have the suspicion, that the shots pull faster depending on the dose and how much I fill the basket. When I pull a shot with 17g of a medium dark roast, shot times are almost identical. When I use 17g of a dark roast, which is less dense, my shots are twice as fast, like what you've said. I don't know if that is true, but it's pretty consistent. Maybe it's worth checking out

I still don't see the point of paper AND metal screen. Just a bit messier on the screen but the paper added seems like too much of a hassle. I love the metal puck screens. Makes everything more even and keeps the head clean(er). a tiny knock of the portafilter on my counter and the screen (ony) falls out and the puck goes into the knockbox. A quick rinse of PF and screen and ready to go. I have 3 puck screens (the cheapest kind) so it can dry even if I make a second shot right after. But very interesting what the paper alone does. Good. No need to try that myself then.

Can you tell us where did you get that angked u screwdriver? Looks really easy to take off the shower screen

2nd! Great content! Luv to the algorithm!

I just bought a robot. Given its unique design, is there anything we should do to protect those machines? I only ask here because I’ve seen your robot videos here on your channel too.

How is possible that you aren't getting a million views per video?? Seriously, I am angered by clowns and parasites like Hoffman and Hedrik et al, but people who truly understand coffee equipment and culture like you and Thom at Sweet Maria's are just not given any where enough focus by the RU-vid algorithms . . . bravo again on another brilliant masterpiece Sir.

What is your final conclusion on the question of top paper? The end suggest you will render a verdict in the future. What's the verdict?

Aliexpress mhw 3bomber screen all recomendations!

Has anyone noticed a shot time difference between using the puck screen an not using one?

You said it (grinding finer) could have an effect (make shot pull better or worse) around 6:40. Did you test or just leave it to theory?

A magnet makes it easy to remove the screen.

Very bad advice unfortunately. I kept my Lelit Mara X “clean” like this for a month but apparently something got clogged somewhere that is not accessible from the outside for cleaning as suggested. All the cleaning by hand and water backflushes did not help. The machine was unable to detect wether it reached correct temperature or not. A proper backflush cycle with detergent solved the issue instantly.

That’s odd. I don’t see any increase in flow, or at least discernible beyond my normal shot variance. Only with the paper below the puck do I see a significant increase-Some rudimentary test (coffeeadastra, I expect you’ve seen) posited a small region of reduced hydraulic resistance. Not sure the value of it, and I like the oily textures, which a bottom placement thins out too much. I use large Chemex squares with a round, 2.25 hole punch. It’s not perfectly clean, but there’s no channeling and no puck screen maintenance. Thanks for the great videos!

I did some similar tests and settled on puck screen only, no paper. Too much fuzz and waste for me. I still do some backflush using the tablets but much less often (like every 2 months). I soak my puck screen in Cafiza about once per week. I will not recommend not using descaling because the ideal water still has minerals in it. After descale I use old beans and make 1 double shot to remove the last residual of cleaning solution.

Good video and content. But I didn’t get the point what is wrong with chemical cleaners like Cafiza?

Whoever fingers are on this video, please find out what caused ridges on your nails, try to ring dr Berg videos on this topic

why do you have a soundclip of trump in your intro?

the paper changes the taste a little bit so i dont recomend it...

Puck screens are like panty liners. They are not sexy.