IMS Puck Diffuser Screen by E&B, LAB for 58mm portafilters

I've been using a Normcore 1.7 puck screen for a couple of years now. It always seemed to do exactly what is expected from a puck screen but, we all know the problem it is to remove the puck screen from the portafilter. Half the time it ends up in the knock box, and is blazing hot when you go to grab it. E&B (my favorite brand of baskets) has come up with a better mousetrap, or in this case, a better puck screen. It is a thinner profile than the typical puck screen and has a super fine mesh attached to it. The water is evenly dispersed over the puck helping to minimize or even eliminate channeling (with proper puck prep of course). But the best part of this new design is when you go to remove the screen from the portafilter. Included is a small magnet, shaped like a coffee tamper, that used to remove the screen quickly and cleanly from the basket. When I saw this feature, I knew I had to have it. But first, I thought, let me try using a magnet on one of my other puck screens. No go. They're made of stainless steel and are not magnetic. I received the E&B puck screen and magnet yesterday and couldn't wait to show it to my wife. She's always had a bit of difficulty removing the standard puck screen after pulling a shot, even with an additional paper filter between the screen and coffee puck. She beamed with joy at the thought of this problem being solved in such an elegant manner. Folks, it works exactly as advertised. The shots pull beautifully and the removal with the magnet is almost magical! I tried it both with and without a paper filter between the screen and the puck and it comes out easily in either case. When used with the paper filter, it stays nice and clean. When used alone, it does have some residual coffee grinds stuck to the surface, but, as mentioned in the description, it rinses clean effortlessly. I'll probably continue to use the paper filter just to keep things tidy, though definitely not necessary. With traditional puck screens, it's hard to tell if it's actually clean or not. (I use an inexpensive ultrasonic jewelry cleaner every 2-3 days to clean puck screens and baskets). This new E&B puck screen is by far the easiest to use and easiest to clean of all the puck screens I have used. Will it make a better espresso? Maybe, maybe not. But the work flow is most certainly improved by adding this piece of gear to your arsenal.

I've tried numerous puck screens, this tops them all. Perfect thickness, EASIEST TO CLEAN, great mesh while the top layer holding it from the group head and disperses the water. Magnet piece is just a cherry on the top. I dislike the price, but go cry once.

I’ve tried them all. There are the thicker wire mesh screens; there are the extremely thin laser etched screens with tiny perforations all over the surface… and there’s this one. The mesh screens are difficult to clean and if you don’t have a deep portafilter and basket, chances are you may need to cut down your dose or end up with the puck screen in contact with the brewhead shower screen. They can also be too restrictive and reduce saturation and extraction of the grounds. The thin perforated screens will quickly get bent out of shape and are difficult to handle. This little guy is the answer. On top, it’s a thin, laser perforated screen. But that screen is reinforced in a frame, which on the underside has over 250 holes that disperse the pressurized water all over the puck. The whole gizmo is thinner than those wire mesh screens, more rigid and stronger than the thin laser cut perforated screens, and more effective than either of them alone. Also easier to remove and clean. You can just knock it out, or use the little magnet that comes with the E&B screen… believe it or not, it works to lift the screen off the puck. Miraculously, I still haven’t lost mine. I used to spend too much time and effort keeping my E61 brewhead clean and backflushing my machine. A puck screen has all but eliminated the need for that maintenance task. Along with a stainless steel portafilter, my ECM Synchronika stays clean as a whistle with minimal effort; and shot quality seems to be a lot more consistent. Drop the $25 or so and get an E&B puck screen. The return on investment is huge.

I use this MOSTLY to help keep the shower screen and gasket cleaner than not using a puck screen. I'm not entirely convinced that it makes any measurable or noticeable difference in the quality of a shot. It does seem to speed it up just slightly while keeping the extraction about the same. It does completely succeed in keeping the screen clean and I really like this puck's thinness compared to the thick one I was using before. I bought this one to replace that one because this one is made of a grade of stainless steel that attracts to a magnet, and it comes with a small magnet. This helps keep you from all of the awkwardness and potential fingertip scalding that you get from either fishing the puck out of your knock box or trying to pry it out of the portafilter. I have just one complaint, and it might not be one that could be improved much by the manufacturer. The magnet itself seems quite strong. I keep it on the side of the drip tray where it has a very strong attraction. Magnets won't stick at all to a lot of stainless steel grades, but this one uses a grade that is attracted to a magnet. It's just not a very strong attraction. The magnet will grab the screen, but sometimes you have to pull, go back at it again and have it grab, pull again, maybe a third time if it's really sticking to the puck. Sometimes it just comes right out. I'm no expert on stainless steel, so maybe it's the case that there is no grade of stainless steel that's viable for making a puck screen like this that would have a stronger attraction. Maybe either no grade grabs more strongly, or the ones that do also have other qualities that make them suboptimal for this use. I don't know. If there is a stronger attracting one that would work here, even if more expensive, I'd have loved to have it to make that retrieval a bit easier. That said, I still think this is worth 4 stars because I can always get it off the puck without having to use my fingertips, and that wasn't true of my old screen. I also really like the thinness and that it still does exactly what it's supposed to do -- keeping the grounds off my shower screen. If you're buying this because you do perceive some improvement in the quality of your shot, I have no doubt at all this one is going to achieve what you're after. The machining is terrific, and it reminds me of the precision shower screen I'm using in how it's carefully crafted to distribute water. The magnet works well enough that I won't go spending money on another even if I thought it had a better magnetic attraction, but if the manufacturer does know of a grade of stainless steel that provides the qualities they want AND has a better magnetic attraction, I'd encourage them to use it. And if I learn that this is the best attraction that's possible at all in a stainless, or that more attractive ones compromise something else about the functioning or longevity or whatever, I'll not hesitate to boost this to 5 stars. That's the lone reason for 4 -- the weakness of the magnetic attraction. It's just a minor complaint for an otherwise great product.

Rarely does a product impress me enough that I am moved to write a review. I already had a name brand screen, dark in color. After use, it either disappeared into my knock box or flew across the counter, taking chunks of coffee with it. The E&B comes off easily and the magnet also allows it to be stored on the side of the espresso machine. But there is further magic! For the first time, my pucks consistently come out in one piece, with virtually no coffee grounds stuck to the bottom edges of the basket. Clearly this screen greatly helps water distribution though out the puck. Loving it.

It's a puck screen. (shrug) It fit as it was supposed to, and was pretty easy to clean in spite of the dual sided design. One is more of a honeycomb shape, while the other is more of a small micron mesh. They're really good at helping keep my grouphead and showerscreen clean of grinds. I like them, so I only use these.

I have been using many different puck screens in the past, none of them distributed water evenly, so I continue to hunt for a better puck screen. I finally have found "IMS Puck Diffuser Screen by E&B", it's the best puck screen, it's not only keep the group head clean but it's also distributed water evenly and nicely a crossed the portafilter, that made great espresso. It also come with a little magnetic to remove the puck screen before notching the grounds off the portafilter, very nice touch. I am buying second set for backup.

It's a nice LOOKING screen; not sure if it's any better performing than the other two types I've tried. HOWEVER, as others have found, this has two sharp gouges on the perimeter 180º apart from each other. I actually see the same burrs on the seller's website photos, so I'm assuming it's something to do with their jig/clamping process. None the less, for a top tier screen, I would think better.