Breville Puck Sucker Evaluation

Go right into a espresso store and also you’ll hear the thwacking of baristas knocking out spent espresso pucks.

Espresso machines use a pump to pressure 9 bars of stress—round 130 kilos per sq. inch—by way of espresso, leaving dried, compacted pucks of their wake. Eradicating these espresso pucks requires some elbow grease (and a rubberized bar to knock the portafilter in opposition to). However, eek! This may be noisy, and a few pucks do not wish to budge. To that finish, Breville launched a vacuum pump-powered knock field known as the Puck Sucker. We put it by way of two essential assessments to see if it really works any higher than a standard knock field.

The Checks

• Espresso Puck Take a look at: We used the Puck Sucker to take away quite a few espresso pucks from a portafilter, evaluating its ease of use to our favourite knock field.
• Usability Take a look at: We evaluated how straightforward the pucker sucker was to arrange and function.

What We Discovered

What’s the Breville Puck Sucker? 

The Breville Puck Sucker is a vacuum pump-powered knock field that robotically engages if you place your portafilter in it. When the vacuum activates, it pulls the spent espresso puck out of the filter basket and into the catch bin beneath, so it is simple to get rid of or compost the espresso grounds. 

Does the Puck Sucker Work? 

Sure—with a catch. In our testing, the Puck Sucker did an excellent job of gently eradicating stuck-in espresso pucks with out us having to exert any bodily power. The portafilter matches neatly within the cradle, the pump robotically kicks on, and the puck is neatly eliminated. There’s just one challenge: As a result of the portafilter must create an excellent seal across the opening for the vacuum pump to work, the Puck Sucker is designed to perform with 58-millimeter Breville portafilters. So it’s solely appropriate with the Breville Twin Boiler, Breville Oracle, or Breville Oracle Contact, making it a much less common product than we’d like. (These additionally occur to be a few of Breville’s priciest fashions.)

Most Breville espresso machines have 54-millimeter baskets, which suggests they are not appropriate with the Puck Sucker. And regardless that we suggest a number of different, non-Breville espresso machines with 58-millimeter portafilters, they gained’t have the best proprietary form wanted for the Puck Sucker to function.

The Verdict

The Puck Sucker is a vacuum-powered knock field that quietly and effectively eliminated stuck-in espresso pucks from 58-millimeter Breville portafilters. It prices greater than the common knock field and is proscribed to make use of with only a few fashions, so we won’t extensively suggest it. Nonetheless, when you’re prepared to spend the cash and have a appropriate Breville espresso machine, you’ll get pleasure from its easy operation and mess-free design. 

Good to Know

The Puck Sucker is compact sufficient to suit on an espresso machine’s drip tray for storage, and its catch bin can be dishwasher-safe for straightforward cleanup. It will possibly maintain 10 to 12 espresso pucks earlier than it must be emptied and we just like the rubber backside that retains it in place.

What Ought to You Get As an alternative? 

If in case you have an espresso machine that is not appropriate with the Puck Sucker, we’ve got excellent news: There are cheaper knock bins that work with any machine’s portafilter. Once we examined knock bins, we have been notably keen on the homeffect Knock Field, which has a sturdy column as its knock pad as a substitute of a horizontal bar. It absorbed impression in a approach that popped out cussed pucks whereas decreasing the noise and power required to take action.

Why We’re the Specialists

• Jesse Raub was Critical Eats’ author and spent over 15 years working within the specialty espresso trade. 
• He was our in-house espresso knowledgeable and commonly examined espresso gear for this website together with espresso scales and espresso grinders.
• Jesse beforehand examined 10 knock bins.