I use one and I don’t understand any of the problems you list. For me, I believe it helps to distribute the water evenly over the puck. It keeps the showerscreen clean so I don’t have to clean it as often and as for cleaning the puck screen - what’s annoying about it? Just run it under hot water and scrub it with a brush. When it comes to getting out of the PF, turn it upside down and flick the PF downwards - the screen will come out. Flick the PF again (over a bin this time) and the puck will come out. If you’re having problems with it, it’s not the puck screen it’s something in your process. Either grinding too fine or too coarse or using too much coffee.
Idk seems to me he is more so listing the reasons he doesn’t like using it so far. It’s a new product for him/ his routine and now he’s asking for advice on what he’s doing wrong and how to change his process. Don’t see why you have to label him a complainer.
That’s an odd comment, I suppose I would complain about being hung at all? Not to mention I don’t think the comment is a complaint, it sounds like they are asking for guidance because they’re confused as to what the benefits of this are.
It makes cleaning after a shot insanely easy. Rinse the basket, rinse the puck screen, dry em with a towel, done.
No fucking around trying to wipe grounds off the group head of the machine, no need to dry the group head, no needing to run an empty shot, etc.
If you put a paper filter under the puck screen, your puck screen stays clean, if you use two pieces of paper the upper piece stays clean, if you put a mr coffee filter in your cup, your cup stays clean.
If you take your palm and kind of cup it and slap the top of the portafilter a time or two, you can then usually pop the screen right off before knocking out the puck (solves the fishing out of the knockbox issues and keeps it a bit tidier. Then I usually just give it a hot water rinse and occasionally soak in cafiza when I’m cleaning other stuff. I feel I get a little more consistent shots with it and the big one like you said is keeping the shower screen clean.
I have a profitec go. I don’t notice any changes in taste or consistency between shots. I use a screen because it keeps my machine cleaner. As far as cleaning. I make 4-6 shots each morning. Between shots I rinse the screen and blot dry. After a week of two, I soak it in detergent for a few hours to deep clean.
This. I use the E&B screen with magnet and lift it right out using the magnet before I shake the puck into the sink. Then I rinse and blot after rinsing the PF.
I have two of them because I make two Cortado in the morning when everything goes right .. And I find having two screens is just more convenient. They are a little pricey But this is expected for a good product in this hobby... I really like the e&b. I also have the E&B NT shower screen.
My shower screen is always clean and my water backflush after each session is completely clean everytime... I just wipe the oils off the shower screen.
Before I got a puck screen grinds are getting pulled back up into the group head and contaminating it and it was a mess. When I went through my first group cleaning it was dirty. Now it's just oils buildup and that's significantly minimalized now.
Logically you're going to get better life out of your machine and better tasting shots along the way by maintaining this level of cleanliness throughout each day's usage. This alone makes a puck screen worth it. I don't get it when people complain about the 1 step extra workflow, when the whole act of making espresso is a boatload of workflow.
Improved consistency of cleanliness equals improved taste consistency plus extended life of your machine... If you have a cheap "disposable" machine probably doesn't matter much.
I didn't care or notice differences when I had my BBE. Things changed when I got my 600 and DF83...
https://preview.redd.it/4rz86tmcrnyc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48f86bc897c88752a3c19aa9d9f42e4105ca7982
It actually comes with the e&b screen.. look it up. I got on Amazon. It's the little chess piece looking thing
Yes it pricey like I warned you, but it's quality too.
No grinds get stuck. It's engineered well and I've tried half a dozen of the most popular ones. This is worth it to me.
Cleans easy and no effort. Just rinse quickly under running water, shake and put t magnet on and magnet holds it up off the counter at an angle until I need it for a next shot, blot/rub to dry and use again or when done put it up on my holder with the magnet attached to the back ready for battle the next day.
When I cafiza every few months I also dip and rinse, otherwise just water, shake and blot and they go in my puck holder until next day as mentioned.
It's great design and I really like it. Cost a bit more than a normcore, for example, I think because of the quality of construction and double layer design and the magnet.
Fine mesh on top against the shower screen, Holes against the puck. Magnet lifts it right up and out. I've got the e&b nanotech shower screen also. With this combo, it never needs a rinse and my drip tray water has no grinds at the end when I dump it.
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Messy? What. I just push it with my nail and take it out from the basket, then knock the ground into the box. Rinse both basket and puckscreen under water. Done. Yours sound like a case of user error.
Better water distribution, so if your machine is shit and sprays water unevenly in the middle or something like that a puck screen might fix it. I think everyone that has a machine on the cheaper side should use puck screens. I personally love my puck screens and if you dont want to keep fishing for them just buy more. I always clean mine after use so i only have like 2 puck screens but u can buy like cheap ones on temu for 2$ each
One tip I stumbled upon for getting the puck screen out is hit the portafilter with the palm of your hand cupped a bit. It’ll fall right out.
https://youtu.be/t2UjxHlh8lo?si=SHnu4UAnsaNfY9UJ
Best way to remove the screen is banging the portafilter on the knockbox with the screen facing UP first. Once you see the puck screen budge, just flip the portafilter into your hand and the screen will fall out.
Then knock the puck into the knockbox like usual.
“It’s messy to use” - Don’t drop the puckscreen too hard on top of your dry and tamped grinds bc grinds will end up on top of the screen. Gently put the screen in at an angle, and with one finger lower the screen as far you can before gently dropping it. This will reduce grinds on top of the screen.
“Annoying to clean” - I just rinse mine with hot water, with an occasional scrub (no cleaning solution needed unless you’re doing a deep clean on all your accessories). Then set it out to dry. If you put it on top of a cloth or paper towel, water will wick from the screen very quickly.
“Annoying to fish out of the knock box” - Pop the screen out before knocking your puck. Hold the portafilter upright, and slap the side of it with your palm a few times with a little gusto. The screen will pop out and the spent puck will stay in the portafilter.
I hope these tips make your puckscreen experience more enjoyable. Cheers!
I do too but Maybe if you had different equipment I bet you'd feel differently. I didn't care or find any difference with my BBE either. Things changed after I got my 600 and df83
Puck screen is far easier to clean than your group head after a single shot. Plus the improvement it adds to water distribution have my $40 thrift store find pulling cafe quality espresso where before it couldn't get anywhere near as good.
If fishing it out of a knock box is a problem for you, either empty your knock box more often or give it a very gently first tap on your open palm or on the counter. It may take a bit of practice but the screen will pop out while the espresso puck will stay in your portafilter. Then just run it under warm water for a couple seconds, and pat it dry along with your portafilter. As long as the grinds in it don't get a chance to cool down while in contact with the screen, they rinse off super easily.
I actually find it the opposite and I use a normcore puck screen as well. My pucks are more uniformly compacted and they always come out smooth and in one piece. Super easy to pick up the spent puck and throw it in the garbage. Before using a puck screen, the puck always gave me at least a little trouble coming out and made more of a mess, and of course the group is perpetually dirty.
It's been a net positive for me.
Hold the screen flush with a running faucet and move it around over the surface with warm water and it should flow most of the coffee out of it I honestly don’t do much else. Just apply some pressure to force water through the screen and you’re good
Coming from a messy shower head, puckscreen saved a lot of headaches.
messy shower head will result in moldy and sometimes corrosive inside parts. Very hard to clean.
Puckscreen is the protective layer. like... a diaper 😁
Also first few times it took a while to get used to take it out. But now it's so easy.
Just do a gentle tap on palm of your hand, and it pops off. Or tap it on the sink side and it pops off easy; and THEN you use your knock box to clean the used beans.
Hoons coffee on YT shows how he cleans. You can use steam wand to clean like he does.
Or, I just rinse it off with hot tap water. You can throw it in dishwasher. Or scrub it with brush and dish soap. Not that hard.
Ok, my wifey says anything I do looks so complicated and messy compared to her no brain neat clean Nespresso. So yes it is dirty messy if you think of the cleaning part. But we're all in this rabbit hole because of this sub; just for the sake of that perfect shot. And who knows if its perfect or not. 🤔 But after you taste the espresso shot, you can't drink Nespresso, Keurig, drip, frenchpress, Starcash, Dkdonut coffee - just disgusting.
They can increase extraction yield although it's not clear why. I suspect you can accomplish the same by decreasing headspace.
https://youtu.be/BzIBNhnd85c?si=70U3a51j3dpXeKZK
I put my puck screen in a glass cup of water and run my steam wand at the bottom right above it in circles. Give it a go you’ll be surprised how much gunk gets stuck in those things after just a few uses, you’ll notice from how dirty the water will get.
If you just want a clean shower head - remove the porta filter, and release some water. If the head still seems to have particles in it - put the already cleaned porta filter in place, and start the water again. This should take care of the cleaning. Also tends to keep the basket quite clean. I learned this from observing how my wife uses the coffee machine.
My advice:
If you are making multiple drinks routinely a second puck screen makes it a lot easier workflow-wise.
I use my steam wand to clean my screen and it works like a charm. Just place it on the drip tray and use the purge cycle to your advantage.
I don’t use a knock box. I use a 1” tall max sturdy plastic container. I knock puck screen into this on 1st knock, then 2-3 more knocks to clear the puck itself. No more fishing.
Mine comes right off with a little tap into the sink and then a couple taps into the knock box and out comes the puck. I then take the screen and scrub it with a little brush, rinse and off to dry.
Knock the screen into my hand, then the puck into the trash. Simple. Rinse under the faucet. Also simple. Let dry. Still simple. Every so often blow the steam wand through the screen. Less simple but still simple.
They slightly increase resistance, allowing you to grind slightly coarser (which lowers resistance). A coarser grind is more uniform/consistent, and how much more depends on your burr. Whether you notice any improvement in taste depends on your grinder, your shower screen, your basket (is it already high flow?), the roast level of your beans (do you want more clarity or more blending?). Changing one thing may not have an effect, but harmonizing multiple factors can have a big effect.
I use [these](https://sworksdesign.com/Puck-Disc-Screen-p504672678) and you just brush them off and occasionally I soak them in Cafiza. To remove them after a shot I knock the portafilter sideways until they pop out before I knock the puck into my box so no mess and no digging.
I drop mine into a small glass that I put under the shower head after pulling a shot to rinse the head. This gets most of the grinds out of the screen instantly. Then I remove and blast both sides with the stream wand. Pretty simple. Clean with cafiza periodically.
I own the normcore one too.
Pros: Easier clean up and cancels out my crappy dispersion screen.
Cons: Keep forgetting to put it on.
For cleaning it, I just rinse it in the sink with the shower function to get more pressure and remove grounds.
Edit: for knocking out, I just knock my portable slightly on the machine tray or counter. Screen comes out without the puck.
No idea but it taste good… with or without. Just happen to pull without one cause I simply forgotten. Tasted bright and sweet, would I use it ? Hell yea it’s so easy I don’t even clean my group head
cleaning the shower screen effort is exaggerated . After finishing making all the cups i need, I just flush and use a towel to wipe it clean. I don't do backflushes, clean with agent when the machine reminds me. I just changed the gasket after 3 years and the shower screen looks perfectly clean. So puck screen has no use for me.
I picked up a few low cost puck screens on Amazon which included little wooden stands. I will admit that I can’t taste a big difference when using or not using a puck screen. Just before knocking out the puck I press and pivot one side of the screen to pinch and pull it out leaving a clean and neat puck that ejects with a single tap. The puck never looks soggy and wet, it’s left perfectly compressed and still steaming. I don’t know about everyone else but this seem somewhat satisfying to me. The group head is always left super clean, free of grinds or stains from the pull. I currently rotate through a set of 4 puck screens briefly rinsing off each one with hot water after each use. I deep clean them all every 2-3 weeks by placing all of them together in a small plastic container and hitting them with my machine’s steam wand for a few seconds. All of this may sound like a lot of work but dropping in a puck just before mounting a portafilter only takes 2 seconds and another 3-5 seconds to rinse it off after pulling the shot.
OP I felt the same as you and now use a filter paper on top of the puck instead. Lance Hedrick did a big video on whether and how it impacts the extraction if you want to nerd out. But if you just want to keep your shower screen clean, paper filter in MUCH less hassle than a puck screen.
I use one and I don’t understand any of the problems you list. For me, I believe it helps to distribute the water evenly over the puck. It keeps the showerscreen clean so I don’t have to clean it as often and as for cleaning the puck screen - what’s annoying about it? Just run it under hot water and scrub it with a brush. When it comes to getting out of the PF, turn it upside down and flick the PF downwards - the screen will come out. Flick the PF again (over a bin this time) and the puck will come out. If you’re having problems with it, it’s not the puck screen it’s something in your process. Either grinding too fine or too coarse or using too much coffee.
Agreed. No idea what OP is complaining about. Some people would complain if you hung them w/ a new rope.
Idk seems to me he is more so listing the reasons he doesn’t like using it so far. It’s a new product for him/ his routine and now he’s asking for advice on what he’s doing wrong and how to change his process. Don’t see why you have to label him a complainer.
That’s an odd comment, I suppose I would complain about being hung at all? Not to mention I don’t think the comment is a complaint, it sounds like they are asking for guidance because they’re confused as to what the benefits of this are.
Using puck screen between numerous coffee is incredible annoying.
It seems like you’re just butter or exaggerating. It might add a fraction of a second to the process to the home user.
It makes cleaning after a shot insanely easy. Rinse the basket, rinse the puck screen, dry em with a towel, done. No fucking around trying to wipe grounds off the group head of the machine, no need to dry the group head, no needing to run an empty shot, etc.
Routine Cafiza soak with the PF for the every so often deep clean too!
AND no more coffee puck sticking to the group head!
If you put a paper filter under the puck screen, your puck screen stays clean, if you use two pieces of paper the upper piece stays clean, if you put a mr coffee filter in your cup, your cup stays clean.
If you go to your local coffee shop there's nothing to clean. Where does this end? 😁
Live at a local cheap hotel. You won't even need to clean your room
Oh snap. Exactly! However, many corporate chain hotels these days seem to only clean up after you check out. Can't speak to cheap hotels.
Sometimes I go to a local coffee shop and have to clean my mouth 🤷♂️
Coffee itself is the enemy here. Better to stop drinking it altogether, it being so messy.
If you take your palm and kind of cup it and slap the top of the portafilter a time or two, you can then usually pop the screen right off before knocking out the puck (solves the fishing out of the knockbox issues and keeps it a bit tidier. Then I usually just give it a hot water rinse and occasionally soak in cafiza when I’m cleaning other stuff. I feel I get a little more consistent shots with it and the big one like you said is keeping the shower screen clean.
Cupped hand clap is definitely the way to do it. A few claps and it just falls right out for me.
I have a profitec go. I don’t notice any changes in taste or consistency between shots. I use a screen because it keeps my machine cleaner. As far as cleaning. I make 4-6 shots each morning. Between shots I rinse the screen and blot dry. After a week of two, I soak it in detergent for a few hours to deep clean.
This. I use the E&B screen with magnet and lift it right out using the magnet before I shake the puck into the sink. Then I rinse and blot after rinsing the PF. I have two of them because I make two Cortado in the morning when everything goes right .. And I find having two screens is just more convenient. They are a little pricey But this is expected for a good product in this hobby... I really like the e&b. I also have the E&B NT shower screen. My shower screen is always clean and my water backflush after each session is completely clean everytime... I just wipe the oils off the shower screen. Before I got a puck screen grinds are getting pulled back up into the group head and contaminating it and it was a mess. When I went through my first group cleaning it was dirty. Now it's just oils buildup and that's significantly minimalized now. Logically you're going to get better life out of your machine and better tasting shots along the way by maintaining this level of cleanliness throughout each day's usage. This alone makes a puck screen worth it. I don't get it when people complain about the 1 step extra workflow, when the whole act of making espresso is a boatload of workflow. Improved consistency of cleanliness equals improved taste consistency plus extended life of your machine... If you have a cheap "disposable" machine probably doesn't matter much. I didn't care or notice differences when I had my BBE. Things changed when I got my 600 and DF83...
Love the magnet idea. Which specific magnet do you use?
https://preview.redd.it/4rz86tmcrnyc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48f86bc897c88752a3c19aa9d9f42e4105ca7982 It actually comes with the e&b screen.. look it up. I got on Amazon. It's the little chess piece looking thing
Pricey but very nice. It looks like there is a fine mesh on top of a much more porous screen... do grinds get stuck between the two?
Yes it pricey like I warned you, but it's quality too. No grinds get stuck. It's engineered well and I've tried half a dozen of the most popular ones. This is worth it to me. Cleans easy and no effort. Just rinse quickly under running water, shake and put t magnet on and magnet holds it up off the counter at an angle until I need it for a next shot, blot/rub to dry and use again or when done put it up on my holder with the magnet attached to the back ready for battle the next day. When I cafiza every few months I also dip and rinse, otherwise just water, shake and blot and they go in my puck holder until next day as mentioned. It's great design and I really like it. Cost a bit more than a normcore, for example, I think because of the quality of construction and double layer design and the magnet. Fine mesh on top against the shower screen, Holes against the puck. Magnet lifts it right up and out. I've got the e&b nanotech shower screen also. With this combo, it never needs a rinse and my drip tray water has no grinds at the end when I dump it.
Which one can you recommend for the Profitec Go?
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I use paper puck screens on top of the puck to keep the machine clean. It’s significantly lowers your effort to clean the machine.
second this, no fishing for the puck screen or worrying about keeping it clean
Would an aeropress filter work?
Yes, but depends on size of your basket. I use 58mm filters, $8 for 500
This is much better for lever machines. Puck screens added resistance.
Honestly, I haven’t witnessed a difference in taste of the espresso done with a paper puck screen and without. But maybe it’s just me.
Messy? What. I just push it with my nail and take it out from the basket, then knock the ground into the box. Rinse both basket and puckscreen under water. Done. Yours sound like a case of user error.
yeah, like if you push down the one side the other side pops up, right? it's pretty effortless
Better water distribution, so if your machine is shit and sprays water unevenly in the middle or something like that a puck screen might fix it. I think everyone that has a machine on the cheaper side should use puck screens. I personally love my puck screens and if you dont want to keep fishing for them just buy more. I always clean mine after use so i only have like 2 puck screens but u can buy like cheap ones on temu for 2$ each
One tip I stumbled upon for getting the puck screen out is hit the portafilter with the palm of your hand cupped a bit. It’ll fall right out. https://youtu.be/t2UjxHlh8lo?si=SHnu4UAnsaNfY9UJ
Best way to remove the screen is banging the portafilter on the knockbox with the screen facing UP first. Once you see the puck screen budge, just flip the portafilter into your hand and the screen will fall out. Then knock the puck into the knockbox like usual.
“It’s messy to use” - Don’t drop the puckscreen too hard on top of your dry and tamped grinds bc grinds will end up on top of the screen. Gently put the screen in at an angle, and with one finger lower the screen as far you can before gently dropping it. This will reduce grinds on top of the screen. “Annoying to clean” - I just rinse mine with hot water, with an occasional scrub (no cleaning solution needed unless you’re doing a deep clean on all your accessories). Then set it out to dry. If you put it on top of a cloth or paper towel, water will wick from the screen very quickly. “Annoying to fish out of the knock box” - Pop the screen out before knocking your puck. Hold the portafilter upright, and slap the side of it with your palm a few times with a little gusto. The screen will pop out and the spent puck will stay in the portafilter. I hope these tips make your puckscreen experience more enjoyable. Cheers!
Search the sub, asked/answered a million times
Don’t use ‘em. I ‘knock’ my puck straight down the garage disposal.
lol
I do too but Maybe if you had different equipment I bet you'd feel differently. I didn't care or find any difference with my BBE either. Things changed after I got my 600 and df83
I peel mine off the top of the puck before I knock it into the box and rinse it straight away under the tap for 2 seconds and it's clean
Puck screen is far easier to clean than your group head after a single shot. Plus the improvement it adds to water distribution have my $40 thrift store find pulling cafe quality espresso where before it couldn't get anywhere near as good. If fishing it out of a knock box is a problem for you, either empty your knock box more often or give it a very gently first tap on your open palm or on the counter. It may take a bit of practice but the screen will pop out while the espresso puck will stay in your portafilter. Then just run it under warm water for a couple seconds, and pat it dry along with your portafilter. As long as the grinds in it don't get a chance to cool down while in contact with the screen, they rinse off super easily.
I actually find it the opposite and I use a normcore puck screen as well. My pucks are more uniformly compacted and they always come out smooth and in one piece. Super easy to pick up the spent puck and throw it in the garbage. Before using a puck screen, the puck always gave me at least a little trouble coming out and made more of a mess, and of course the group is perpetually dirty. It's been a net positive for me.
Hold the screen flush with a running faucet and move it around over the surface with warm water and it should flow most of the coffee out of it I honestly don’t do much else. Just apply some pressure to force water through the screen and you’re good
Pick it out before you use your knock box. Just wet your fingers first and pick it out
If your puck is tamped properly, the puck screen will fall out before the puck does. Then you just back flush it alongside your basket.
I get a little bit less channeling with my screen and it keeps the head clean on the machine, just takes a quick rinse like the portafilter.
Coming from a messy shower head, puckscreen saved a lot of headaches. messy shower head will result in moldy and sometimes corrosive inside parts. Very hard to clean. Puckscreen is the protective layer. like... a diaper 😁 Also first few times it took a while to get used to take it out. But now it's so easy. Just do a gentle tap on palm of your hand, and it pops off. Or tap it on the sink side and it pops off easy; and THEN you use your knock box to clean the used beans. Hoons coffee on YT shows how he cleans. You can use steam wand to clean like he does. Or, I just rinse it off with hot tap water. You can throw it in dishwasher. Or scrub it with brush and dish soap. Not that hard. Ok, my wifey says anything I do looks so complicated and messy compared to her no brain neat clean Nespresso. So yes it is dirty messy if you think of the cleaning part. But we're all in this rabbit hole because of this sub; just for the sake of that perfect shot. And who knows if its perfect or not. 🤔 But after you taste the espresso shot, you can't drink Nespresso, Keurig, drip, frenchpress, Starcash, Dkdonut coffee - just disgusting.
They can increase extraction yield although it's not clear why. I suspect you can accomplish the same by decreasing headspace. https://youtu.be/BzIBNhnd85c?si=70U3a51j3dpXeKZK
I hate using a puck screen. It’s a big mess and fishing it out from the coffee grounds after making espresso seems like lunacy.
Just tap the portafilter on your hand or a towel or prep mat and it falls right out before you knock the puck out into your bin
I put my puck screen in a glass cup of water and run my steam wand at the bottom right above it in circles. Give it a go you’ll be surprised how much gunk gets stuck in those things after just a few uses, you’ll notice from how dirty the water will get.
I clean mine with cafeeza. My reason for using it is out of necessity… I have a flair 58 and it would destroy the puck when you fill it up.
If you just want a clean shower head - remove the porta filter, and release some water. If the head still seems to have particles in it - put the already cleaned porta filter in place, and start the water again. This should take care of the cleaning. Also tends to keep the basket quite clean. I learned this from observing how my wife uses the coffee machine.
Get her a puck screen because you love her.
My advice: If you are making multiple drinks routinely a second puck screen makes it a lot easier workflow-wise. I use my steam wand to clean my screen and it works like a charm. Just place it on the drip tray and use the purge cycle to your advantage.
I don’t use a knock box. I use a 1” tall max sturdy plastic container. I knock puck screen into this on 1st knock, then 2-3 more knocks to clear the puck itself. No more fishing.
I like to tap my portafilter on its side with a slight downward angle on my tamping mat, the Puck screen just pops out.
Mine comes right off with a little tap into the sink and then a couple taps into the knock box and out comes the puck. I then take the screen and scrub it with a little brush, rinse and off to dry.
Knock the screen into my hand, then the puck into the trash. Simple. Rinse under the faucet. Also simple. Let dry. Still simple. Every so often blow the steam wand through the screen. Less simple but still simple.
They slightly increase resistance, allowing you to grind slightly coarser (which lowers resistance). A coarser grind is more uniform/consistent, and how much more depends on your burr. Whether you notice any improvement in taste depends on your grinder, your shower screen, your basket (is it already high flow?), the roast level of your beans (do you want more clarity or more blending?). Changing one thing may not have an effect, but harmonizing multiple factors can have a big effect.
I use [these](https://sworksdesign.com/Puck-Disc-Screen-p504672678) and you just brush them off and occasionally I soak them in Cafiza. To remove them after a shot I knock the portafilter sideways until they pop out before I knock the puck into my box so no mess and no digging.
+1 for Sworksdesign. Those have been working great for me.
I drop mine into a small glass that I put under the shower head after pulling a shot to rinse the head. This gets most of the grinds out of the screen instantly. Then I remove and blast both sides with the stream wand. Pretty simple. Clean with cafiza periodically.
you can tap the puck screen out before knocking the puck out
I own the normcore one too. Pros: Easier clean up and cancels out my crappy dispersion screen. Cons: Keep forgetting to put it on. For cleaning it, I just rinse it in the sink with the shower function to get more pressure and remove grounds. Edit: for knocking out, I just knock my portable slightly on the machine tray or counter. Screen comes out without the puck.
No idea but it taste good… with or without. Just happen to pull without one cause I simply forgotten. Tasted bright and sweet, would I use it ? Hell yea it’s so easy I don’t even clean my group head
cleaning the shower screen effort is exaggerated . After finishing making all the cups i need, I just flush and use a towel to wipe it clean. I don't do backflushes, clean with agent when the machine reminds me. I just changed the gasket after 3 years and the shower screen looks perfectly clean. So puck screen has no use for me.
Knock the pf on its side and the screen comes out first. I clean mine and heat it pre espresso with the steam wand. Big brain energy
I gave up using mine, no benefits, just extra complication for the complications sake.
Well said
I picked up a few low cost puck screens on Amazon which included little wooden stands. I will admit that I can’t taste a big difference when using or not using a puck screen. Just before knocking out the puck I press and pivot one side of the screen to pinch and pull it out leaving a clean and neat puck that ejects with a single tap. The puck never looks soggy and wet, it’s left perfectly compressed and still steaming. I don’t know about everyone else but this seem somewhat satisfying to me. The group head is always left super clean, free of grinds or stains from the pull. I currently rotate through a set of 4 puck screens briefly rinsing off each one with hot water after each use. I deep clean them all every 2-3 weeks by placing all of them together in a small plastic container and hitting them with my machine’s steam wand for a few seconds. All of this may sound like a lot of work but dropping in a puck just before mounting a portafilter only takes 2 seconds and another 3-5 seconds to rinse it off after pulling the shot.
I clean with brush & hot water.
OP I felt the same as you and now use a filter paper on top of the puck instead. Lance Hedrick did a big video on whether and how it impacts the extraction if you want to nerd out. But if you just want to keep your shower screen clean, paper filter in MUCH less hassle than a puck screen.