There are alot of different ways to prepare the puck before the extraction. This document will give you a overview on whats awailable.
THIS IS NOT A BUYERS GUIDE! DONT FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO BUY ANYTHING!
What I use is already desciped in my workflow.
Puckprep aims for different things. The most important things are: A even and repeatable extraction through a workflow that provides a repeatable and well distributed puck.
There are many different Puckprep techniques that deliver different results and are differently effective. But not all techniques work for everyone. What you have to do is find a workflow for puckprep that works for you and isn’t a hassle to you. A great workflow does not matter, if it annoys you during your morning espresso making. This is a hobby and we want not only the cup in the end to be enjoyable but the whole journey to that cup.
This is an invitation to experiment with puckprep. Find a workflow that sparks joy to you. See what happens if you dont do a step, if this makes it easier to you. If the cup is less enjoyable for you, you can just include the step or a alternative step back in. Don’t overcomplicate things.
Besides Puckprep other things to consider:
Its relatively simple. Just weigh the beans before grinding and just grind enough for one dose. This reduces the chance of grinding to much, and also allows for a better storage of the beans. That way they will stay fresh for longer. Beans react fast to oxigen and light.
RDT as a technique is relatively simple. Not every grinder needs it so test how it is with your grinder. In simple terms its wetting the Beans before grinding. Only a single drop is needed or a small spraybottle to spray water on the beans. Some use a spoon, wet it a bit and use it to get a drop of water. So no extra equipment is needed.
The water is very effective in reducing static. This can lead to less fine grinds getting stuck on the grinder. It can lead to some wet beans getting stuck before the grinding element so check if everything went through and nothing got stuck in the hopper.
This technique is only possible with single dosing.
This descripes if the grinder was on with beans already in the hopper, so grinding starts directly, or if the beans got added after the grinder started and could spin up.
Hotstart = already running Coldstart = Beans in hopper before starting
Through labtests it got proven, that hotstarting improves the particle distribution. Its also a bit better for the longevity of the grinder. Some motors can struggle with coldstarting with realy dense beans
This is more of a safety measure. Some like to check if the dose coming out of the grinder is still the same amount then was put it while single dosing. Some grinders have a different variable deadspace where grounds can collect. This can result in variances of dose in the portafilter. If this variable deadspace makes so much difference as it would be noticable in taste, can be debated.
This one can make a big difference in taste and extraction results. The target is to distribute the ground coffee by using a WDT tool inside the portafilter. The small needles of the WDT tool will break up clumps and distribute the ground coffee very evenly.
On the market are alot of different types. I dont think expencive ones are worth the money. There are alot of simple handheld tools that do a great job. Either bought or 3d printed.
The WDT tools with gears (umikot, moonraker and so on) only improve repeatability.
The blindshaker is a drum that uses shaking to mix the ground coffee. Afterwards it allows for distribution inside the portafilter. In some lab tests it could result in a measurable improvement of extraction and repeatability. At the time of writing its not realy proven why this gives such a high improvement. Some speculate that it could have something todo with homogating the dose, some say it could change the grounds by filling larger holes with smaller grounds. One of the newer theories I heared says, that it has nothing to do with it and just is the way the grounds land in the portafilter, with a little mound in the middle.