Teflon Coated Portafilters

I'd seen Teflon coated portafilters before. So I wasn't coming up with any ground breakingly new product. Customers had asked me about them so I made some enquiries. After falling off my chair id call my customer back and tell them the price then they would fall off their chair.

To pay that much for something that may or may not work, or not sure how long it will last was a lot to ask for. As one customer put it 'If it lasted for 10 years then id pay that, but there's no guarantee'.

As I asked around and spoke to experienced baristas who had come across them and used them there were several points that came to light.

1. The whole portafilter head had been coated. This was causing portafiters to slowly unwind from the group head when brewing.
   
2. The top of the portafilter was getting scratched. Due to the basket being taken out and then placed back in the portafilter the friction was causing the Teflon to scratch at the top.
3. I cant see if its working. Because most Teflon (think pots and pans) is black or dark grey this had been used to coat the portafilters. The problem here was coffee oils are dark and get darker still the longer you leave them.
4. Spouts were left uncoated. Also the abyss, my term, was uncoated. The abyss is the area between the hole in the centre of the portafilter and where the coffee exits onto the open spouts. Have you ever seen in there? You would need a medical device to see what goes in there! Could be a whole family down there??!
   
5. Cost. Ouch!

So the fun began.

Once I knew how the Teflon portafilter could be improved I set about finding a specialised company that would coat several portatfilters for me in different grades of Teflon. Teflon can be more non-stick, but less hard wearing through to less non-stick to more hard wearing. After months after searching we found our company that would do it for us. Great!

So we set about 'fixing' the problems that I listed above.

1. We would leave the outside of the head clean, uncoated. Only coating the inside of the portafilter.
   
2. We would leave the 5mm above the grove for the spring uncoated. This is where the basket was rubbing against the head. We would even go as far as leaving the ridge uncoated in case the customer removed the spring the potential for the metal spring to scratch the Teflon when the customer placed the spring back was too great.
   
3. I decided on a colour that was, at a quick glance, easy to see if the Teflon was clean. Even if it was just to reassure yourself that the Teflon was working. No holding the portafilter up to the light, moving it around to get a reflection. We also wanted a colour that was 'food-safe'. That is if for any reason it chipped and went into a customers drink either you would see it or your customers would. So green it was, Kryptonite Green as i like to call it! The colour allows you to see if you need to wipe out your portafilter very quickly.
4. Having the spouts coated seemed so very obvious. Coffee touches the portfilter head, it touches the spouts as well. We were so lucky with the company we use for the coating, they take their profession very seriously and the craftsmanship to coat the spouts is amazing. Like the heads we didn't want the outside of the spouts coated, only the insides. This took skill and care. But that wasn't enough what about the abyss? That part of the portafilter no-one has probably ever seen. The black hole between the centre of the portafilter and the little length of tube that the spouts screw onto, then the little part of the spout where the coffee exits from. We had it all coated. So now we every part of the portafilter that touches your delicious espresso is coated in Teflon. Easy to clean. And best of all better tasting coffee!
5. I knew I could do it for cheaper. I wanted to be able to walk into any cafe explain the Teflon portafilters and make it at a price where it was affordable. Mission accomplished.

Field Test

Now I needed to test the various Teflon coats in a real world environment. Me making a few coffees with them and going 'ohh look, nice and clean' wasn't going to be enough. Could they stand up to the daily abuse of a busy cafe and with a barista that prides themselves on cleanliness. Up stepped James at Dose. James is one of the UK's finest barista (even if he is a NZ'er). To say he likes things clean is an understatement. Even though he is busy all day producing delicious coffee he still cleans every part of the coffee making process at least once an hour. That meant for us taking out the basket regularly, would that stand up? Cleaning out the portfilter head regularly, which Teflon coating was best?
After a few months of daily use we had our winner on the Teflon coating but more importantly we had seen that it worked and was a real joy for the barista to use.


Cleaning

To clean the Teflon coated portafilter all you need is damp, clean soft cloth. No scrubbing with abrasive clothes. No soaking in chemicals. Just water and cloth.

To help the Teflon stay intact, some other tips are to keep the portafilters apart if you do soak them in hot water. Don't allow them to bang together. Just rinse in hot water, wipe with soft clean cloth and load back into your group head. Easy.


Available now from Coffee Hit