Methodology

How we test bottomless portafilters

Five checks decide whether a portafilter goes on the site. Four of them can be made before anyone brews anything.

Our criteria

1. 1. The fit is verified against machine model numbers. A portafilter is accepted for a fit only when the machine models it locks into are named. Diameter alone is never enough: 51 mm exists with both two and three lugs, and 58 mm covers a range of otherwise unrelated machines. Every model on our fit table came from a compatibility specification, not from an assumption that a shared diameter implies a shared fitting.
2. 2. The basket seat is flat. The machined ledge the basket rests on has to be turned flat. A basket sitting at even a slight angle extracts unevenly no matter how carefully the coffee is prepared, and it produces a jet from the same place on every shot. The check is simple: drop the basket in, hold the head to a light, and turn it. The gap has to stay even the whole way round.
3. 3. The basket supplied is non-pressurized. A single wall with a full field of fine holes, not a second floor with one hole in it. This is the check that decides whether an open base means anything at all: a pressurized basket forces every drop through a single point, so there is no puck to read. Every portafilter listed here ships with a single-wall basket.
4. 4. The head carries enough mass. Stainless steel, and enough of it to hold heat through a shot. A head with too little mass cools the first part of the extraction, which shows as a sour, thin start on a shot that is otherwise correctly dialed. Mass is also what keeps the temperature steady once the portafilter has been sitting in the group.
5. 5. The handle is fixed, not merely fitted. The handle takes a twisting load every time the portafilter is locked and unlocked, and it heat-cycles twice a day. A handle pushed onto a thread works loose within months. Turned solid hardwood with a chrome collar and a captive end cap carries the load through the fixing rather than through the wood.

Where the ratings come from

Ratings shown on the site are collected from verified buyers across all four fits. Every order carries a 30-day money-back guarantee, so the risk is on us, not you.