The Hack To Finally Getting Your Coffee Filters To Fit Properly

One of the easiest ways to save money on coffee is by brewing it yourself at home. Buying beans or grounds in bulk along with filters and any other add-ins makes it easy to bring the cost per cup from dollars to pennies. However, even for those more experienced with coffee machines, this process can have its frustrations. One of the more common annoyances while brewing coffee is the filter not fitting quite right. Perhaps your basket filter won't lay flat, or your cone filter won't fit all the way into the machine. 

If you've tried brewing your coffee in these scenarios, you may have found them to be more than an aesthetic issue — in either of these cases, you can end up with a crumpled or burst coffee filter and grounds in your cup. However, there's a trick to getting those conical filters to fit properly, and it also helps prevent them from breaking during the brewing process. For a satisfying fit and quality coffee, fold the filter along the seams on the side and bottom.

Those conical filters aren't too big and oddly shaped for your drip coffee machine: you're just skipping a step. As HuffPost discovered, there are actually instructions on the box for how to fold the filters to get them to fit. Before placing your filter in the machine, fold the bottom seam up and the side seam in. Not only does this make the filter fit by reducing the space it takes up, but it also flattens the bottom so it is more likely to stay in place.

This step takes just a few extra seconds, but it's crucial for getting your filter to fit properly in your machine. An extra moment in the morning is well worth it to avoid a crumpled filter affecting the end result of your coffee. However, why do some people bother with conical filters when the basket ones fit many machines much better? It turns out there's more to coffee filter shape than meets the eye.

The choice of coffee filter shape is a personal one, and it turns out it has more of an effect than many would think. According to a study by the Specialty Coffee Association and Breville Corporation, semi-conical and flat-bottom filters produced a perceptible difference in coffee taste. While the results didn't rank one shape over the other, many coffee fanatics may find they have a preference. Along with coffee beans and the brewing method, filter shape is another variable you can tweak to find a cup you enjoy most.

This hack for getting your filters to fit properly can prevent morning mishaps and annoyances. As a result, you can be unafraid to try conical filters in your drip coffee machine. The next time you're looking to play around with the taste of your brew, give cone-shaped filters a try now that you're armed with the knowledge of how to get them to fit without bursting. You may discover your new favorite way to make your morning cup.