Why Do French Presses Explode? (REVEALED!)

Contributor
8 Min Read
Why Do French Presses Explode

French presses are vulnerable to explosions if held under extra pressure. Tension could build up and prohibit the plunger from even being moved lower when acceptable coffee grounds jam the filtration screens. The French press can burn up if you push it all too forcefully.

The French press is a helpful tool that could be used for so many various functions, such as preparing coffee. You do not even anticipate it actually to explode, however! The question at hand is: Why do French presses explode?

You can end up with an enormous disaster on your hands and perhaps be injured if something like that occurs. But then don’t feel anxious! You can prevent this from transpiring by adopting a few actions.

Why Do French Presses Explode?

French presses commonly blow up when two events occur:

  1. A lot of force is applied in an attempt to drag the pump down even more 
  2. coffee grounds jam the mesh filter

Coffee Grinds Hinder The Meshed Screen

Each French press does indeed have a mesh screening to filter ground coffee away from the coffee that has been strained. The coffee grinds are forced down when the pump is held down, letting the filter coffee seep through the screen.

Small particles that jam the screens and prohibit flowing coffee from traveling through trigger this trouble.

Putting Excessive Pressure On The Jammed Plunger

A wholly enclosed french press seems to have a jammed filtration. Glass surrounds the vessel’s bottom, sides, and head, with compressed coffee grounds functioning as the main barrier.

The pump becomes blocked, and it becomes more hard to press whenever this starts to happen.

Some people continue pressing the plunger downward aggressively without comprehending the situation. And ultimately, the French Press bursts into flames because there is no place elsewhere for the additional pressure to let it go out.

What Happens If A French Press Blows Up?

There are only indeed two main ways that a French Press can shoot up.

  1. As a consequence of this pressure, the glassware smashes, shooting shards of Glass and hot coffee flying all over the place.
  2. Hot coffee bursts out of the coffee machine’s head as a result of the mesh screening or trapped coffee particles breaking away.

In the scenario of glass shards, you have the possibility of experiencing wounds, burn injuries, as well as causing an enormous nuisance in your cooking area. An eruption of incredibly hot coffee could end up in your faces and all across your cooking area. 

However, if your coffee erupts up and then out. It is indeed horrible in either condition. It is a rather significant concern because there has been considerable controversy in this field.

How Can I Avoid My French Press From Blowing Up?

Prevent pushing the plunger downwards if it appears blocked; this will be the most helpful thing you have to do to prevent your French Press from blowing up.

Take the plunger out and consider wiping the filtering screen or discarding extra grounds if squeezing becomes overly complicated. 

There seem to be a few different methods you could attempt to prevent your French Press from shooting up.

To Prevent Clogging In Your French Press, Try Coarser Grounds.

For a French Press, coarser grinding is recommended. Primarily since coarser grounds minimize over-extraction, this brewing procedure removes a significant amount of the flavor from the coffee.

Although with coarser grounds, it is also tricky for the filtration screens to become jammed. It decreases the chances that your coffee machine will burst into flames!

There is a minor problem with it just because coffee beans are not at all entirely uniformly ground.

There will constantly be some tiny bits in the coffee. You get coarsely crushed or ground it manually, making it more likely that the filtering will become blocked. 

However, if coarse grinds are used, the tiny particles should be sufficiently few, which will not pose a problem until they build up over multiple brewing.

Make The Filter Cleaner

Coffee oils are just one of the components that are removed during the production process.

The French Press filtration screen for such oils as well as the grinds could become blocked. Furthermore, this muck can accumulate over multiple brewing, making it even harder to squeeze the pump.

You can prevent this from becoming a concern by properly cleansing the filter. Add hot water along with a few droplets of liquid detergent into the French Press to rinse your brewer. After that, press the plunger continuously until bubbling forms.

The certain oils bound to the filters must be cleaned as a consequence. Flush the water and detergent out, rinse the coffee maker with fresh water, and then push the lever one more time to get away from any leftover detergent.

Eliminate The Churns Of Floating Coffee

Some grounds will undoubtedly rise to the very top of the coffee as it steeps in your French press, while some will drop to the bottom.

You could let these drifting grounds soak for a bit and then simply take them out even before lowering the plunger to avoid them from getting trapped in the filtering screen.

Some people suggest swirling your coffee while it is still in the French press to disintegrate the grinds.

Slowly pour the coffee that’s already been squeezed into your cup when you have started pushing your coffee and notice that it is becoming increasingly hard to move.

Then detach the plunger, wash the filters with water to wash away the ground coffee, reinstall the plunger, and squeeze the leftover coffee.

Conclusion: 

So now you know the main reason why do french presses explode. You may prevent your french press from bursting open and developing scorched scars by avoiding the factors mentioned above. 

Additionally, keep your french pressing machine clean regularly to reduce the likelihood of your filters clogged. And there you are, now you can easily sit back and enjoy your freshly french pressed coffee in the morning.

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