dutchy101 With my Bambino Plus I would do a 19g dose in a 54mm basket and there was no way near as much headspace in the basket as there is now.

With a 54mm portafilter you would expect less headspace, especially with 19g.

Even when grinding very fine, the puck may be more wet, even with a small pool of water on top but you should be able to knock it out, although there will be some wet grinds left behind.

I had a Sage Barista Pro previously and the pucks were very dry as you said, so it could be a matter of adjusting expectations as I had to? Would be interesting to see how wet your pucks are though.

    You aren’t making pucks, you’re making coffee. Don’t change anything for the sake of a dry puck or one that doesn’t stick to the shower screen. Only make changes if you want to change the coffee.

    Yes it’s only a minor annoyance more than anything else to be honest. I typically need to clean the basket in water to get wet clumps of grinds left behind after I knock out the puck. Could be because I’m trying to do it too soon after pulling the shot

      dutchy101 I typically need to clean the basket in water to get wet clumps of grinds left behind after I knock out the puck.

      That’s normal. You can use a paintbrush with stiff bristles to brush it out into a knock box. It’s dries up pretty quickly. Ridgeless basket will help too. Otherwise use water from the group which helps to clean the shower screen and basket.

        Ridgeless IMS competition basket ordered

        So I loosened the gring a bit this morning and used the new Nomcore tamper. Puck was definitely dryer but still not a great knock out

        That looks normal to me. Can you see most of the coffee left behind is stuck underneath the ridge? That will improve with a ridgeless basket, although you will still have coffee left behind depending on the bean, roast level, how fine you grind etc.

        I have had the same thoughts as you don’t worry 😄

        Haha well IMS ridgeless basket and puck screens are en route. Just hoping my wife isn’t in when they arrive as she’s not impressed with all the accessories I’m buying at the minute lol

        Edit: Just had a notification that the puck screen should be here by 1pm, so will be giving that a whirl on my next coffee (and it has slipped in under the radar - result lol)

          dutchy101 Which Basket did you go for? Would be interested to know how well the Normcore tamper fits it. I seem to be getting very (ignorantly) hung up on whether a tamper needs to be 0.1mm narrower in diameter!

          P.S. having the same issue on the accessories front. Might be getting them sent to work!

            @dutchy101 pucks screens give you a firm/dry puck as long as you don’t mind using one each time.

            That IMS basket is on the large side…not sure what dose you intend to use but 18g will leave more headspace than what you see with stock or an 18g VST for example.

            An 18g VST is £28 delivered at square mile.

              Don’t tell me I’ve gone and ordered the wrong one now - lol! There’s so many out there. Right, I’ve just ordered an 18g VST from Square Mile too. I’ll probably just keep hold of both.

                dutchy101 HVL87 This thread has gone WAY off topic. I’ll see if there is a ‘baskets’ thread and if not I’ll start one later.

                It is an absolute minefield, which is why I’ve not bought one or a tamper yet. Mind boggles.

                      dutchy101 funny thing is I bought the same IMS basket as you, ended up keeping it for larger cups, bought an 18g VST and that’s all I’ve used since.

                      BB are quite good with returns, you just have to pay return postage.

                      PortafilterProcrastinator

                      You’re right it is off topic! At least the original question was answered.

                      IMS have so many baskets it can be confusing.

                      A 58.5mm bravo tamper fits the 18 VST basket perfectly fine so I’m guessing the normcore will be fine too.

                          Yeah, I’m just going to keep hold of both - if I do decide to up my doses to 19 / 20g at least I’ll have it and not need to buy another one.

                          While waiting for my Niche (Major sold on Ebay) I am currently using my Mazzer Mini. I started to use a bottomless portafilter at the same time. Now nearly every time the Puck sticks to the shower screen, whereas before it never happened. As I have changed 2 variables I am unsure which is causing it, but as the coffee tastes fine I must admit I am not massively motivated to find out!