Unpopular take: pre-infusion on a $20 Mr. Coffee is a game changer

I kept reading how cheap machines can't do real pre-infusion, so I never bothered. Then last Tuesday I tried a simple hack I saw buried in a forum reply. You just pulse the pump for 3 seconds, wait 5, then run the full shot. The difference in my morning pull was wild, the crema went from thin and blonde to this thick honey color. Same beans, same grind setting from my old blade grinder, same tap water. I did it every day for two weeks now and my shots are way more balanced, less sour bite on the front. It costs zero dollars and takes 8 extra seconds, so why does nobody talk about this basic trick? Has anyone else tried this on a non-expensive setup or is my machine just weird?

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tylerr291mo ago

Man, that is interesting because I always figured pre-infusion needed a real pump and some kind of pressure control, not just timing the switch. When you pulse it for those 3 seconds, are you flipping the switch off and on, or holding the button down? Also curious if the water actually sits in the puck or just drips straight through, since these cheap machines don't have a solenoid to hold it back. And did the two weeks change anything besides taste, like did your grind start choking the machine once the puck got wetter?

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