An essential tool for identifying problems with espresso extraction is a bottomless portafilter. You are able to see the entire extraction process because the spouts have been taken out and the basket is now visible.
The Bottomless Portafilter, also known as a Naked Portafilter, has evolved into a necessary component of any quality-focused espresso shop’s barista equipment.
When you pull the trigger, everything appears to be working very well, however there is a slight discrepancy. Your shots can be a touch narrow.
How to Use of Bottomless Profilter
It’s time to pull out a bottomless portafilter when you believe everything is correct but yet a little is off.
Tiger stripping should come from evenly distributed spots throughout your filter basket and coalesce into a single stream that is centred at the bottom of the basket when everything is in order.
Things can get a little messy with spurts of under-extracted espresso when something is wrong owing to channelling. Start with a fresh filter basket every time. Spraying can also be caused by blocked holes.
Also indicative of variances in coffee density are places with great striping next to sections that are all blonde or have little to no flow. You can clearly see what’s happening in your filter basket thanks to bottomless portafilters.
You’ll be able to see where the extraction is not going well and modify your method for a more even extraction.
- Channeling
When the coffee puck is not spread out and tamped, channelling happens. Because espresso machines employ nine bars of pressure to brew, the pressurised water will more easily and swiftly discover the weaker regions of the coffee puck.
The espresso shot is harmed by this inconsistent extraction, which causes some coffee grounds to be overextracted and others to be underextracted.
Spurts of shooting through the basket make it simple to spot instances of channelling because of the bottomless portafilter. Simply spreading the grinds out more evenly and properly tamping them can solve the problem quickly.
These surges can also reveal the areas where channelling happens most frequently. So, if your spurting usually occurs around 3 o’clock, you should focus your tamping efforts there.
- Extraction
The bottomless portafilter lets you view the extraction process (and any flaws), much like channelling. A quick, large stream of light-colored crema, for instance, pouring through the basket at a high rate could indicate under-extraction.
On the other hand, if the crema is thick and dark and enters the basket at a rapid rate, over-extraction is probably the problem.
- Blonding
You can see the colour of the shot as the espresso brews. When the darker crema combines with the lighter crema in the espresso stream, the colour will change from dark brown to tiger striping.
Benefits of using bottomless portafilter
- Reliability
The consistency of coffee delivered in your espresso bar will improve dramatically with the ability to troubleshoot espresso shots immediately, providing you that crucial competitive advantage.
- Crema
A bottomless portafilter with fresh espresso beans and an expert barista will produce 50% or more crema. Why? So the solution is straightforward. Only the bottom of your portafilter basket will come into touch with your espresso shot. No spouts or bottoms for portafilters.
This preserves and protects the delicate Crema bubbles that we all want out in an ideal photograph.
Additionally, the absence of a spout gives the consumer additional cup clearance and, in most cases, enables espresso extraction directly into the cup for serving.
Of course, in the majority of circumstances, brew pots of some sort will still need to be utilised for go cups larger than 12 oz.
- Crema tastes better and has more flavour. Less metal surfaces (such as spouts and spout threads) mean less contamination from a dirty portafilter. We have all cleaned and soaked unclean portafilters.
- Additionally, it enables the user to thoroughly clean the portafilter basket’s bottom between each shot.
- The barista can determine right once whether adequate tamping technique has been used thanks to bottomless portafilters. If the extraction tilts to one side or the other, the tamping angle was off.
- If you notice irregular espresso streams coming from the bottom of the basket, your portafilter may have been levelled or dosed incorrectly.
- Training Naked Portafilters have developed into a useful instrument for espresso training for all the reasons mentioned above.
- Both experienced baristas and newcomers may now instantly and clearly see whether or not their grind, dosage, and/or technique is correct. Important cues
Conclusion
For experienced espresso drinkers trying to refine their technique, bottomless portafilters are useful tools. Bottomless portafilters can be messy if you don’t already have good tamping abilities, so we don’t advise them for total novices.
Once you begin to regularly produce decent coffee, upgrading to a bottomless portafilter can pay you since it allows you to see the extraction process more clearly.
Try using a bottomless portafilter if you’ve been drawing shots for a while yet feel like you’re in a rut. If you want to step up your espresso game and improve your capacity to diagnose problems, being able to see the filter basket during the brewing process is crucial.