99% of the reason why I still use a naked is that it is easier to clean (i.e. rinse under hot water from both sides). Obviously I pull it apart and give it a proper clean in cafetto every now and then. But yeh, I guess, you discover pretty quickly if your technique has slipped.
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Getting naked.
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How about cutting a current handle? Would I have to get it re-chromed? (as in, should I just buy a naked?
And given what I have, with a SB EM6910 and SB EM0480, would I be wasting my time trying for 'god shot' and spending for a bottomless or should I leave such aspirations until I upgrade?
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The underlying metal is brass. nothing to worry about.
Distributing/tamping technique is something that you will take with you from one grinder/machine to the next. Might as well start practising now.
I like decent coffee. I love awesome coffee. I won't drink bad coffee (in fact it took me 23 years of life before I realised that coffee wasn't undrinkable; bad coffee is undrinkable).
Given this, it's worth it to me to try and get my shots consistently decent (or better), which means killing variables.
Coffee - sorted with fresh, quality beans.
Dose - sorted with a scale
Grind - sorted with a Preciso, a scale and a stopwatch
Temp - sorted with a PID
Pressure - sorted with a gauge
Tamp weight - sorted with a bathroom scale
Now all that's left is distribution and tamp technique/evenness (visible with a naked PF. Everything else is consistent and in the ballpark of good/great and once I start getting coffees that taste pretty much the same each time, then I can start tweaking from consistently "decent" to consistently "great".
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++1 to Barry and Dragunov have said.
I like to use my naked 95% of the time for a few reasons,
* ensures dose, distribution, tamp are good otherwise you get mud and or brown spray everywhere but the cup
* looks cool when it is done properly, can see the signs of blonding very easily
* It may be a placebo effect but I think it tastes cleaner
* very easy to clean, just run hot water over it and wipe both sides of the basket
I'd sacrificed one of my old group handles to make a naked, a bit of exposed brass is nothing to worry about
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I always used the naked at work and they still do. I loved the naked portafilter for the instant feedback I'd get on if I'd done my process right or wrong. I don't know if there is any proof either but I agree with fg1972 that the shot has a "cleaner" taste.
You don't have to sacrifice a PF you already have. You should be able to purchase one that is already naked!
I guess it just depends on whether you can find a correct size naked PF for your machine. Or some one with a lathe that will cut it for you!
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Unfortunately I have a Sunbeam EM6910 (the model is NOT the unfortunate bit
) - I was told on another thread I can't just pick up another 58mm PF, that I have to use an SB one. Not sure why and there aren't a lot of coffee sellers in Bendigo where I can wander in and check mine against others.
I'll have to check my hole saws and see if I have one the right size. Basically I would be cutting the bottom right out so it is a straight-through flow with no lip in the PF? It isn't just cutting out the section with the thread for the spouts?
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Thanks for the info. (and pics)
One last question - if I drilled out a smaller hole would it defeat the purpose to have a slight lip around the base? I'm wondering if it would reduce the 'spurt and spray' when I got things wrong...?
What I am thinking is to drill out rather than cut off the base, and only drill out to where the holes on the filter come to. If you look at the 2nd of fg1972's pics you will see what I mean. There's the edge of the handle hole, then a gap, then another mm(?) before the holes begin.
That would leave several mm's ledge around the edge, a bit below the level of the filter, so any accidents would have less of an arc to spray me/bench/kitchen/nearby fridge.
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It depends how much clearance you had between the bottom of the basket and the PF.
A single basket would be no problem. A double, possibly not (since it forms a cone rather than just dribbling from the center.
You may also find that if you had an uneven tamp/dist, you'd end up with it *all* pouring onto the rim of the cutout and causing a mess, rather than just facing an off-centre pour that might at least be drinkable. See below.
The last bit is that you preferably want to see *all* of the holes in the basket, so you'd compromise the point of the naked PF.
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Re: Getting naked.
I did it on my breville BES820. http://coffeesnobs.com.au/showthread.php?t=21273
Picked up a cheap PF from a lower end model, which was aluminium, and went at it with a 51mm holesaw.
I think the holeaw cost me more than the PF :what:
I've found a don't get a lot of spurting now, unless I underdose. I do know that I've got a problem with flow through the centre of the puck though.
For me, its worth it just for the theatre it adds.
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