De'Longhi Dedica Upgrade Guide: The Best Accessories & Mods for Better Espresso

The De'Longhi Dedica is one of Australia's most popular home espresso machines — compact, affordable, and capable of genuinely good espresso once you know what it needs. Out of the box it's decent. With the right upgrades, it's excellent.

This guide covers the best accessories and modifications for the Dedica EC685 and EC686, why each one matters, and what order to tackle them in.

Why the Dedica Needs Upgrades

The Dedica's main limitation isn't the machine itself — it's the pressurised basket that ships with it. Pressurised (or "crema enhancer") baskets are designed to produce crema with pre-ground coffee and a wide range of grind sizes. They do this by forcing all the water through a single small hole, which artificially inflates pressure regardless of how well-prepared your puck is.

The result: inconsistent espresso that's hard to dial in, and no real feedback on whether your technique is improving. The fix is simple — swap to a non-pressurised (single wall) basket and suddenly the machine rewards good technique with genuinely great shots.

The Upgrades, In Order of Impact

1. Non-Pressurised Filter Basket — First Priority

This is the single most impactful upgrade for the Dedica. The EC685 and EC686 use a 51mm portafilter, so you need a 51mm single-wall basket. Once fitted, the machine behaves like a proper espresso setup — grind quality matters, tamping matters, and you can actually taste the difference when you get it right.

Pair this with a burr grinder that can go fine enough for espresso (the Dedica's built-in grinder on the EC685G is passable but a dedicated grinder makes a noticeable difference).

2. 51mm Tamper — Stop Using the Plastic One

The stock plastic tamper that ships with the Dedica is undersized and flimsy. A proper 51mm flat-base tamper in stainless steel gives you a consistent, level tamp every time. This is a sub-$50 upgrade that immediately improves shot consistency.

Look for a flat base rather than convex — flat tampers are easier to tamp level on a 51mm basket.

3. Puck Screen — Cleaner Grouphead, Better Extraction

A 51mm puck screen sits on top of your tamped puck before you lock in the portafilter. It distributes water more evenly across the puck surface and keeps your grouphead significantly cleaner between backflushes. For a machine like the Dedica that can be fiddly to clean, this is a quality-of-life upgrade worth having.

4. Dosing Ring — Neater Workflow

A 51mm dosing ring clips onto the portafilter basket and gives you a higher collar to dose into, preventing grounds from spilling over the sides. On a small 51mm basket it makes a noticeable difference to your workflow — less mess, more consistent doses.

5. Precision Scales — Dial In Your Dose

Espresso is a ratio game. Knowing your dose in and your yield out (typically a 1:2 ratio — 14g in, 28g out) is how you dial in consistently. A small set of precision espresso scales that fit under the Dedica's drip tray gives you the data to repeat your best shots.

The Dedica Mod: Removing the Frothing Tip

The Dedica's steam wand ships with a rubber Panarello tip designed for automatic frothing. It works, but it produces thick, bubbly foam rather than proper microfoam for latte art. Most serious Dedica users remove it to expose the single-hole steam tip underneath, which gives you much more control over milk texture.

The tip pulls straight off — no tools needed. From there, technique matters more than equipment: angle the wand just below the milk surface, create a vortex, and stretch the milk in the first few seconds before bringing the temperature up.

What Order Should You Upgrade In?

If you're starting from scratch: non-pressurised basket first, then tamper, then scales. Those three alone will transform what the machine can produce. The puck screen and dosing ring are quality-of-life additions once you're getting consistently good shots.

Compatible Accessories Summary

Upgrade	Size	Priority
Single-wall filter basket	51mm	Essential
Flat tamper	51mm	Essential
Puck screen	51mm	Recommended
Dosing ring	51mm	Nice to have
Precision scales	Any	Recommended

All accessories listed above are available at Coffee Nerd — sized specifically for the Dedica's 51mm portafilter.