It’a detained by magnets so it doesn’t get in the basket and interfere with spreading out the grounds. Needs a clean up with a lick of sandpaper, pretty stupid but these things cost like 50 bucks /shrug
EDIT: appreciate all the concern for my health, it touches dry coffee grounds. I agree that if it got wet there’d be health problems but unless it gets real humid there’s just no opportunity for decay. As for random leaching same diff, without heat and wet it’s not really a concern.
That said I probably will seal an improved design, this is just a test piece.
Chill out about your microbes already. The world is full of them and other micro-organisms that don’t harm you.