A knock box is pretty much as simple as how it sounds. After each espresso coffee shot has been pulled, left-over grounds in the Portafilter (known as the puck) needs to be thrown away. Generally, the easiest way of removing these grounds is by knocking them out with a bit of force. Hence the knock box.
It is really important to visualise your workspace and consider how you flow.
How many pucks do you dispose of a day? Do you have small bench space? Is there a lot of floor space near your machine? Is there room for a garbage chute around your machine?
All these questions and more should be going into your decision when purchasing a knock box or knock tube. Every piece of equipment added to a fast-paced environment can make or break your efficiency.
There are many different brands and designs of coffee knock tubes and before purchasing one, you will need to understand your needs and what will be the best for your workflow. We hold a range of fantastic brands such as Dreamfarm, Crema Pro, Barista Basics, Rhinowares and Cafelat, which all specialise in different styles of Knock Boxes. Some of which are also dishwasher safe, so be sure to check out the user manual. We will outline the three main categories of knock boxes to help you choose your style of knock box!
Bench-Top: Bench Top is pretty self-explanatory, a coffee knock box that is small enough to fit on top of your bench which sits at the perfect height beside your coffee machine and coffee accessories. There is a range of great styles, colours and sizes. Make sure you consider the volume of coffee you go through when picking sizes. The last thing you want is to run back and forth emptying the knock box during the morning coffee rush.
Free Standing: Free Standing commercial coffee knock boxes comprise of two types. The first is a solid piece and the second is a split tube, which means the top is able to be removed. The main benefit of removing the top section of the tube, is for cleaning purposes. You have the choice to place a garbage bag in the tube to protect from coffee grounds and easily take apart clean the top knock bar and sides of the top component.
Countertop or Chute: The countertop variant of knock tubes is definitely a game changer in the right circumstances. It frees up room on the floor, so you do not have a large free-standing tube and clears up vertical bench space from having a bench top knock bin. In counter chutes are seamless and are basically a black hole for all your coffee ground wastage.
In saying this, your workstation has to be suited to installing a chute. This means under your bench; you will have room for a bin to collect the pucks and there will be no issues cutting a hole in the countertop to fit the frame and knock bar. Sometimes this can be a pain as most milk fridges are directly underneath the espresso machine. If this isn’t the case for you and you are looking for an effective use of space, a countertop coffee chute is for you!
Although this article seems more for the commercial barista, this information also will suit at home baristas. If you are a home coffee fanatic, you may more than likely to purchase a bench top knock box, which is where we would recommend you check out our Knock Tubes Home page for more tailored information and products.
Do I need a knock box?
We highly recommend using a coffee knock box. Removing the puck from your portafilter has never been cleaner or easier when using a knock box. If you value, speed and cleanliness in your workstation, then there really is no other alternative.
As we have mentioned in our article, there are different styles to suit all needs of home and commercial users. There are bench-top, freestanding and countertop chutes to choose from.
What do I do with all the coffee waste?
Regardless of whether you are a commercial barista or a home barista, there are many ways to recycle and reuse your coffee grounds.
- Waste collection services:
You may not know, but there are many different waste collection services available specifically for coffee grounds! Here in Australia, many cafes use a company called Reground.
They provide bags for knock boxes and chutes to collect on a weekly basis your left-over coffee grounds. Here the grounds are taken to local community gardens and composted around your local area. Check out who provides these services in your area!
- Make an exfoliating scrub:
Time to save money and your left over grounds! Use 1 cup of grounds coffee, 1 cup organic sugar or salt, ½ cup organic coconut oil, ½ tablespoon cinnamon and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Melt the coconut oil and allow to cool, mix ingredients together and allow to set in a mason jar!
- Clean up dirty hands:
Using your coffee grounds to remove dirt and grime from your hands is a very effective way of reusing the grinds. Rather than purchasing harsh chemicals that will be washed down the drain and inevitably find its way into our ocean, here's a little trick.
Melt a bar of soap into a container and add ⅓ cup of coffee grounds. Allow to set. You’ll have yourself an environmentally friendly exfoliating soap scrub.
- Fertilise your garden:
Spreading coffee grounds around your gardens topsoil in small amounts allows the coffee grinds to give up nitrogen to the soil which in turn benefits the growth of your plants! Try creating a liquid fertiliser by adding 2 cups of coffee grounds to 20L of water, leave overnight and then its ready to go!
As we know by now, there’s a little more to brewing coffee than just putting a coffee capsule into a machine and hitting a button, well for a quality cup of coffee anyway. All of our accessories are meant to complement and significantly enhance your brewing experience and ability! Usually, you’d begin your espresso process by using a Dosing tool to weigh the appropriate amount of beans with your Coffee Scales before grinding your fresh coffee!
Your coffee grounds will be put back into your dosing cup and transferred into your Portafilter Basket which may be a single, double or triple! The Distribution tool will help you to evenly distribute the grounds within the Filter Basket prior to using a coffee tamper to compress the grounds. By placing your portafilter onto a Tamping Mat you’ll prevent damage to the portafilter handle or bench, simply place 10-30kg of even pressure down on the tamper and twist to polish. Lock the portafilter into your machine, use the scales under the spout with whichever cup, glassware or reusable cup you prefer and commence brewing.
Now when texturing milk it's important to use the correctly sized milk jug for the amount of milk you require. Once you texture the milk, use a milk Thermometer to get the ideal steaming time for whatever milk you’re working with and if in a cafe you might have the option of a Milk Jug Rinser which is incredibly convenient for the post brew clean! A chocolate shaker is a must for those mocha or cappuccino lovers. When the shot is pouring, make sure to use a barista timer or your scales to measure for the perfect extraction, we recommend 23g in and 46g out at an extraction time of 25-30 seconds. Knock the puck out in either a Knock Box at home or a Standing knock tube or in bench shoot if you’re in a cafe!
Now every machine deserves a good clean, check out our range of Blind Filters, cleaning brushes, cleaning products and chemicals! Everyone loves having a few beans up your sleeve so be sure to check out our favourite Coffee Storage units for home or cafe! If you've got a passion for coffee, well there's nothing tastier than some cupping, use some of our coffee Cupping Tools, such as bowls and spoons to bring this professional experience into your own home!
