Bottomless Portafilter for DeLonghi
DeLonghi uses a 51 mm basket across most of its home range, but in two different lug arrangements. Choosing between them is the only decision that matters.
Dedica or Stilosa: check before you order
This is the one place where a 51 mm order goes wrong, and it is worth thirty seconds. Take the portafilter that came with your machine, turn it over, and count the tabs on the outer rim. Three tabs, unevenly spaced so it only goes in one way, means Dedica. Two tabs opposite each other means Stilosa.
If the portafilter is not to hand, the model number decides it just as well. EC680, EC685 and EC885 are Dedica. EC260, ECP3420, EC155 and BCO430 are Stilosa. The number is on a label underneath the machine or on the back panel.
| Model | Range | Fit |
|---|---|---|
| EC680 | Dedica | 51 mm, 3 lugs |
| EC685 | Dedica | 51 mm, 3 lugs |
| EC885 | Dedica Arte | 51 mm, 3 lugs |
| EC260 | Stilosa | 51 mm, 2 lugs |
| ECP3420 | Stilosa | 51 mm, 2 lugs |
| EC155 | Stilosa | 51 mm, 2 lugs |
| BCO430 | Combination machine | 51 mm, 2 lugs |
SMEG ECF01 and ECF02, Severin KA5995 and Casabrews 3700 PRO use the same 51 mm three-lug fitting as the Dedica.
What changes on a small machine
The Dedica is a narrow machine with a small boiler, and that shapes how a bottomless portafilter behaves on it. Two things are worth knowing.
First, thermal stability. A small boiler recovers more slowly than a large one, so the temperature at the start of a shot depends on what you did in the minutes before. Running a blank shot through the group before you brew makes a visible difference on a bottomless portafilter: the flow starts more evenly and the first drop arrives at a more consistent time.
Second, dose. The 51 mm baskets DeLonghi supplies are shallower than a 54 or 58 mm basket, and the dose they are designed for is smaller. Filling one to the same depth you would use on a larger machine presses the puck into the shower screen, and on an open base that shows as water escaping around the rim rather than through the coffee. Weighing the dose once and remembering the number solves it permanently.
The pressurized basket that came with the machine
DeLonghi ships most of its home machines with a pressurized basket, usually with a small plastic insert or a second floor with a single hole. It is designed so that supermarket pre-ground coffee still produces crema, and it does that job well.
It cannot be used on a bottomless portafilter. All the flow is forced through one point, so instead of the puck you would be watching a valve. Every portafilter here ships with a non-pressurized basket — a single wall with a full field of fine holes — which is what an open base needs.
Switching means grinding finer, and on a Dedica that usually means finer than the machine's own guidance suggests. The pressurized basket was compensating for a coarse grind; without it the coffee has to provide the resistance itself.
What the shot will show you
On a small machine, channeling tends to appear at the edge rather than the center, because a shallow basket is easier to underfill and the bed is thinner. A ring of droplets around the outside in the first second or two is normal as the bed settles. A steady jet firing from the same place on every shot is not, and it usually means the coffee was not leveled before tamping.
The other common sight is the shot running pale and fast from the start. On a Dedica that is nearly always grind rather than dose: the machine is capable of a good shot, but it will not build pressure against coffee that is too coarse.
The BCO430 and the other combination machines
DeLonghi also sells machines that combine an espresso group with a filter coffee jug, the BCO range being the most common. These use the Stilosa two-lug fitting at 51 mm, which surprises people who assume a larger machine means a larger portafilter. The espresso side of a combination machine is the same size as the espresso side of the small standalone one.
They behave a little differently in use. The boiler is shared, so the temperature at the group depends on whether the filter side has been running, and the pump is tuned to serve both. A blank shot before brewing matters more here than on a dedicated espresso machine, and it is visible: with an open base you can watch the first shot of the morning run differently from the second.
Dose weights that work on a 51 mm basket
The single most useful thing you can do after fitting a bottomless portafilter to a DeLonghi is to weigh the coffee going in. The 51 mm baskets are shallow, and the difference between a dose that works and one that channels is small enough to be invisible by eye.
Start by weighing what you currently put in without changing anything, and write the number down. Pull a shot and watch the base. If water escapes around the rim and the knocked-out puck carries a clear imprint of the shower screen, you are over. If the puck falls apart wet and the shot ran fast and pale, you are under. Adjust by half a gram at a time rather than by eye, and keep the number that gives you a single centered stream.
Doing this once is worth more than any amount of tamping technique, because it removes the variable that changes silently from one morning to the next.
Handle woods
Both 51 mm fits are offered in rosewood, beech and Chacate Preto, the same three woods as the 54 mm. Wood is natural, so grain and shade vary between handles; the photographs show representative pieces rather than the exact one you will receive.
Related reading
The portafilter size guide covers lug counting across every machine family we fit. If your first shots spray, why a bottomless portafilter sprays takes the causes in order. The main page has the full fit table and the specifications.
DeLonghi portafilter questions
What size portafilter does a DeLonghi Dedica take?
The Dedica EC680, EC685 and Dedica Arte EC885 take a 51 mm portafilter with three lugs. The Stilosa range takes 51 mm with two lugs, and the two are not interchangeable even though the basket diameter is the same.
How do I tell a two-lug from a three-lug portafilter?
Turn your existing portafilter upside down and count the tabs on the outer rim. Three unevenly spaced tabs means Dedica. Two tabs opposite each other means Stilosa. The model number on the machine tells you the same thing.
Can I keep using my DeLonghi basket?
Not if it is the pressurized one, which most DeLonghi machines ship with. It forces the flow through a single hole, so an open base would show you nothing. A non-pressurized basket is included with every portafilter here.
My Dedica shots run fast and pale. Is that the portafilter?
Almost always the grind. Once you move from a pressurized basket to a single-wall one, the coffee itself has to provide the resistance, so the grind needs to be finer than the machine's default guidance suggests. Adjust in small steps and watch the first drop.