# portafilter cleaning before or after the shot



## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

Hi all,

I just wanted to ask, what is your portafilter routine after making coffee?

At home, I usually knock the puck out right after making the shot, flush the group, and clean the basket.

The portafiler then sits in the grouphead with empty and clean basket, ready for next shot.

In the café, the portafilters are cleaned before new shot, so they are left untouched after making the shot. This makes sense in the commercial environment of course, and the manual for Linea mentions that it should be left in there. Actually, also the manual for Rancilio Silvia says that pucks should be knocked-out only before making a new shot. Does this help with thermal stability of the grouphead?

How do you do it with your machine?


----------



## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

Personally knock them out and clean them after each use, back loosely into the groups ready for the next shot.

If the thermal stability of a linea relies on 15 to 20g of spent grounds in a basket with a saturated group and commercial boiler then surely there is something seriously wrong as all this can really lead to is a build up of spent stale coffee oils / flavours to then permeate the showerscreen / basket / seals etc that a quick wipe with a cloth or brush is not going to clear. Could this be a hangover from the days of super dark oily bitter espresso's?

Whether you clean straight after the shot or just before the next one makes very little, if any, time difference as far as can tell and definitely cleaner to do it as soon after as possible after drink served especially if there is a gap between customers. if doing back to back shots in a busy environment you probably are doing it this way anyway without realising it.

Just my tuppence.

John


----------



## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

I knock puck out straight after shot, quick pf clean under the tap, quick flush to clean the shower screen and then back in place loosely


----------



## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

thanks for your input!

this is from page 11 of the Linea's manual:

GENERAL NOTIONS FOR PREPARING COFFEE

"When the machine has reached its operating pressure,1.5 bar which may be checked by looking at the upper scale in the pressure gauge (part 3 Fig. 1 or 2), and itsoperating temperature at the same time, with the body/group already at infusion temperature, the filterholder and filter must be heated more since they are at the lowest position of the group itself, and they are partially isolated from the same due to the rubber gasket between them"

.

.

.

"It is important to remember that coffee left over in the filters must be removed only when you need to prepare another cup, and only at that time should you place a new dose of ground coffee in the filter." - no reasoning provided for this instruction

I really don't like this method but my boss says we stick to the manual


----------



## 7493 (May 29, 2014)

Knock puck out after steaming milk and adding to shot. Rinse PF with boiling water from kettle, quick flush and brush to clear shower screen, portafilter back in place, grind for next shot and repeat. (Assuming I'm doing two or three drinks in a row.)


----------



## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

Stanic said:


> thanks for your input!
> 
> this is from page 11 of the Linea's manual:
> 
> ...


Maybe the Linea suggestion is because then the ejected puck leaves a nice dry filter each time, prior to refilling. I empty mine and rinse under the g/h (then clean thoroughly each evening) but if I go back for a second cuppa say 15 minutes later the basket is still damp and necessities drying it thoroughly again. Just a thought!


----------



## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

MildredM said:


> Maybe the Linea suggestion is because then the ejected puck leaves a nice dry filter each time, prior to refilling. I empty mine and rinse under the g/h (then clean thoroughly each evening) but if I go back for a second cuppa say 15 minutes later the basket is still damp and necessities drying it thoroughly again. Just a thought!


Thanks, the pucks are coming out ok, actually with prolonged pause, they are sort of almost baked to the baskets :-( I hate to think how does their bottom part look like


----------



## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

1.5 bar ??!! Could result in the brew being too acidic / scorched.


----------



## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

espressotechno said:


> 1.5 bar ??!! Could result in the brew being too acidic / scorched.


Well that is a quote from the operational manual, but anyway I fail to see how the pressure in steam boiler can affect brewing, as Linea is a DB


----------



## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

Once I've pulled a (double) shot, I remove pf, do a manual 2-3 second purge of water through the group head then give it a thorough wipe with a j-cloth including around the group head seal.

Remove basket, wash that plus inside of pf at the sink, dry both then re-insert basket ready for the next shot.

But then I'm not making hundreds of back-to-back shots...


----------



## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

I clean it before and after. Before, because I like to dry it out after flushing some water out (water seems to be trapped between the basket and spout. And after because I don't want stale coffee sitting in the basket.


----------



## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

That's the main reason I remove the basket as water seems to sit below it inside the pf as Rhys rightly says.


----------

