# Naked Portafilter Fail



## Randleog (Jul 6, 2014)

I decided to take things to the next level: refurbed and overhauled one of my Gaggia Classics, set the OPV to 9 Bar with a portafilter guage, purchased a classy 'naked portafilter' so that I could watch the delicious rich crema curl into the the shot cup, ground my beans to the finest setting on my Cuisinart (cheap) burr grinder and it produced a fine grind that had the consistency of salt.

Despite all this, the coffee sprayed everywhere. The shot worked it's way through in about 10 seconds with very little crema. It was so poor, I'm going back to the pressurised basket and crema pin until I can work out what's going on.

Any suggestions?


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

You need to get a good grinder.


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## Jony (Sep 8, 2017)

Will second that.


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

You need a grinder 3th time


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## KingoftheHeath (Nov 22, 2019)

I reckon getting a good grinder is the key


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

You need a good grinder, the key for making espresso. You can have the best machine in the world. If the coffee is not ground right.... forget it.

so, for the 5th time, 😉 you need a good grinder. 👍


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

Randleog said:


> .......a fine grind that had the consistency of *salt*......


 Rock salt? Road salt?

See above re grinder - you might be able to mod/fix/tune yours but..... well swap one of your classics for an SJ or something


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## Saltydog (Jan 27, 2019)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 😀


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

At the risk of overstating the point, I concur with my esteemed colleagues, you need a decent grinder.


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## mmmatron (Jun 28, 2014)

You might want to upgrade your grinder. Sorry couldn't resist


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

BREAKING NEWS:

First piece of unanimous advice on CFUK issued.


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## KingoftheHeath (Nov 22, 2019)

Rob1 said:


> BREAKING NEWS:
> First piece of unanimous advice on CFUK issued.


But which grinder?


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

Rob1 said:


> BREAKING NEWS:
> 
> First piece of unanimous advice on CFUK issued.


 Amazing! Let's lock the thread, archive it and it can ascend into CFUK folklore.

Decades from now I'll be able to say to my grandchildren, 'I was there'....


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## Jasetaylor (Jul 31, 2020)

Drewster said:


> Rock salt? Road salt?
> 
> See above re grinder - you might be able to mod/fix/tune yours but..... well swap one of your classics for an SJ or something


 Why so Salty? 😄


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## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

In answer to the OP's dilemma;

Using unpressurized baskets is a whole different ball game than using pressurised baskets.

You would do well to read up about the difference between the two.


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## Randleog (Jul 6, 2014)

'Using pressurised baskets is a whole different ball game than using pressurised baskets.' Yep, I'd already begun to realise that Blue_Cafe. I'm still getting up to speed on the some of the issues, such as grinder quality, and suspected as much when I wrote the original post and realised the likely culprit was my 'cheap' grinder. I wanted someone to confirm it. Meanwhile I have been watching reviews!

To that end, I'm looking at the Sage (Breville) Smart Grinder Pro which seems to be the minimum quality level that will allow me to set the grind size to hit the 20-30 second shot time. The other one I'm thinking of is the Rancilio Rocky.

Thanks to all for the helpful comments. Any ideas on this folks?


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Randleog said:


> 'Using pressurised baskets is a whole different ball game than using pressurised baskets.' Yep, I'd already begun to realise that Blue_Cafe. I'm still getting up to speed on the some of the issues, such as grinder quality, and suspected as much when I wrote the original post and realised the likely culprit was my 'cheap' grinder. I wanted someone to confirm it. Meanwhile I have been watching reviews!
> 
> To that end, I'm looking at the Sage (Breville) Smart Grinder Pro which seems to be the minimum quality level that will allow me to set the grind size to hit the 20-30 second shot time. The other one I'm thinking of is the Rancilio Rocky.
> 
> Thanks to all for the helpful comments. Any ideas on this folks?


 Rancilio Rocky was a grinder considered good 15 years ago. Not sure about the Sgp, but I'd rather stick to more reliable things like... Eureka Mignon as an entry point grinder. If you get one second hand, you can't go wrong with the Gaggia Classic.


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Randleog said:


> To that end, I'm looking at the Sage (Breville) Smart Grinder Pro which seems to be the minimum quality level that will allow me to set the grind size to hit the 20-30 second shot time. The other one I'm thinking of is the Rancilio Rocky.


 Both bad choices. As above a Eureka Mignon is the minimum for good coffee. I always recommend a second hand ex-commercial as starter as they aren't going to lose a lot of value and will deliver a better grind than anything else for the money. I might be wrong in thinking the Sage smart grinder is similar to the Iberital MC2 in grind quality (but with a better adjustment mechanism) but a lot of people struggle with it. Slowing the shot down isn't the only concern, it's grinding consistently without lots of fines.

If you've got the space there's a Mazzer Royal in the for sale section for a £350 asking price.


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## Randleog (Jul 6, 2014)

Thanks all for all the advice. I've decided on a Eureka Mignon Speicialita, having binned the alternative of a Baritza Sette 270 which appears to have reliability issues.

Is there anything else I should be thinking about at this point?


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