Puck Screens

Doram

[unknown] That is the million dollar (or 35 dollar, or £5.5, or £2.8, depending on where you buy it) question. ;-)

Seems that the jury is out on this question. Some people say they see less channelling, more even extraction, better tasting shots. Others (myself included) am not sure yet. A minority said it even made their shots worse.

Common sense is that as it sandwiches the puck, it might help keep it together. This could translate to less chaneeling and more even extractions, and maybe it does - I just don’t know.

Puzzling things are also happening: people said it makes the shots run faster, and to me this is counter intuitive and a bit confusing (I haven’t paid much attention to that, so don’t have an opinion, but I don’t think it makes the shot slower, which is what my logic thinks should have happened).

I certainly haven’t noticed a negative effect on the shots, and the cleanliness benefit is definitely there for me, so I use it, at least for now.

Doram

[unknown] I’ve been on filter coffee for 2 weeks

Why? 🙃

CafeNoir

I thought I’d posted my 2 cents-worth but oh well, technology….

I’ve been trying the puck screen thing since reading about it and frankly if the only benefit were the clean sparkling group head and shower screen, that’d be enough on its own.

I’ve been getting into single dosing experimenting with LM 7gm baskets and the cleanup used to be a very…organic thing… with the puck screen, its just wonderfully simple and puck stays firm and dry, no more getting grounds off everything.

Shots are pretty good, can’t say if there’s anything much in it myself.

Placing the screen without damaging the tamp can be an issue, some users are placing a spent aeropress filter between tamper and puck screen - but to me, that’s just a bit too much faffing about, just be careful.

Eyedee

Forgive my ignorance maybe I was sleeping but what the hell is a puck screen.

Ian

Doram

Eyedee It’s a metal screen you lay over the coffee puck in the portafilter, which is supposed to help reduce channelling and get more even extractions, and it also keeps the group cleaner:

JahLaza

Right, I’ve some aeropress filters down here still I’ll try some this morning and find out for myself!

LMSC

I’m one of the victims of this needless farce; there are some here and many else where.

In summary, it may help improve the EY on light roasts; anything other than this, it won’t be of any use except keeping the shower screen cleaner.

The screen any way remains cleaner on the Evo even after a week of use pulling 6 cups a day. Dropping the screen is very quick as we have the GU10 clips.

We have pulled a few shots on medium, medium and dark roasts. The shots without the screen were fantastic; with the screen, everything being the same, we got very sour shots on the Evo. We believe the screen pushes the extraction to two extremes, depending on the roast. The shots were too sour to drink.

My good friend @SL01 can share his beautiful experiences (🤣) with the BPlus.

My mind says try it on the light roast, but the heart says don’t! Mind is a devil. So, it’s gathering dust, I’m afraid.

Moral of the story, please don’t fall for it. 😊

MediumRoastSteam

[unknown] I very much like the format of this forum.

I don’t know how exactly the tags work. But, if the tag creation remains within the control of a few people, and those few people categorise the content and curate it, it will become a very powerful organised library. Few people = moderators and admins.

Posters need to simply pick the best tag available for their post. If there isn’t a suitable one, pick a broader one, and then the mods can create the relevant tags and categorise the post.

DavecUK

MediumRoastSteam The Tagging is good, because a post simply needs to be retagged…

In classifieds for example, a user should create a post with a classified, sold tag, that post will show up in the classifies main area and the sold subsection. A little confusion but logical if you think about it.

Fixed thread best I could

SL01

The BPlus was highly touted by some folks, and since I was in the build-phase of my “non-plus-ultra” setup around the Evo, it was worth a try. $70 later - 50% of which was postage - I am pretty sure it was an unnecessary distraction if it was to be used on the Evo.

The screen was created by enthusiasts of manual lever machines like LaPavoni and others that really cannot produce anywhere near 9 bar to properly extract espresso. This became clear after I pulled a few shots with it on my Evo. The structure of the screen is less important than the fact its thickness and structure physically displaces water volume in the group head during the brew cycle. Less water means more pressure, and that’s exactly what it does.

As a result, the manual machines with small boilers get the help they need, to bring the brew pressure closer to 9 bars.

However, if the screen is used with the Evo which already easily produces 11 bar, the effect on the drink is quite detrimental - more bitterness with flavors polarized, flavors of burnt are introduced and even very slight sourness from beans that I tasted sourness from before. A clean screen an basket may be nice, but I bought my Evo to make the best espresso, not prove a point.

So - as emphatically voiced by my good friend @“Like-Medium-Strong-Coffee”, “this dog don’t hunt” if you own an Evo. And that $70 should have been spent buying my darling wife a nice lunch.

CafeNoir

Interesting, it’s good to understand your reasoning about what’s happening inside the group and it makes a lot of sense.

Perhaps the Mara with it’s slow ramp up isn’t quite so strongly affected, but it’s giving me something to have a play with….

Possibly I’ll try dropping the grind back a little and see how that plays….thanks for the insight

Lefteye

I’ve decided to dive down the screen route with the londinium. Was expecting a slow to start shot but weirdly it seems to reduce preinfusion ( wonder if that’s due to reduced headspace) so quick pouring for the first 5 secs followed by an age to get to 36g from 18g. Any one got experience or advice??

DavecUK

Lefteye What pressure are you preinfusing at?

Lefteye

Good point. Don’t think I’ve played around with it in a while. Do you reckon a considerably lower bar. 3.4 on the read out on the digital screen

DavecUK

Lefteye Good point. Don’t think I’ve played around with it in a while. Do you reckon a considerably lower bar. 3.4 on the read out on the digital screen

I think that the puck screens probably moderate the pressure hitting the puck and this would tend to speed up preinfusion. It’s like on a Vesuvius pressure profiling machine or a Bianca, the more gently you use preinfusion, the finer you can grind….Then if you hit the puck with pressure too fast, it goes a bid solid and slows down.

The problem is, if you loosen the grind, preinfusion will be even faster, but the shot time under pressure will come down.

I guess you could try much less pressure for preinfusion + coarser grind
Keep things the same, but be gentle and progressive releasing the lever.

Lefteye

Tomorrow I’ll try standard grind and pressure. Then coarser and lower pressure and see what happens. Today went coarser but same pressure

Lefteye

Tried 2 shots. Being a lightweight I can take to many. 1st lower to 3bar pressure at normal grind for the bean (origin Christmas blend) slow but lovely shot. Time to get 1:2 is nearer 45 secs but tastes good. 2nd same pressure but coarser. Same slow shot again really good. Have upped the pressure to 3.3 to see if increases flow speed. So far feel the shots are more balanced with the screen than normal, which is likely due to move even extraction. The screen seems to level out my poor technique.

Petre

I also love to use it. There is an improvement in extraction evenness and taste, but I also enjoy how clean is the basket, puck and the screen after extraction. It made a difference from the first shot.

nopapercup

I started using initially an aeropress paper and then this screen https://coffee-sensor.com/product/second-coffee-puck-lower-shower-screen-or-contact-screen-for-la-pavoni-pre-mill/ from coffee sensor on my Pavoni. I’m not convinced it’s made any difference to my shots but certainly is a lot cleaner. I stopped using the screen a week ago as it seemed a bit daft that I have an IMS shower screen and basket yet who knows what the holes are like in the screen. I may go back to the screen or the paper but glad I didn’t fork out for the postage on the BPlus one.