This is driving me crazy. I can't get rid of the initial spritz. I've run 15-20Lb through the grinder and besides the momentary spritz, every thing else is fine. I've used the same beans, the same dose, minutes later through my K-30 and everything is good (relatively speaking).

Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas?

Chipman,

I got an 83 mm HGone with the coated burrs just about two weeks ago. Initially, I did have a bit of a problem. However, now it's working great.

Here's what I do. I grind directly into the Cremina basket with an OrphanEspresso Ipanema aluminum cone to keep from spilling out of the basket.

Then, I use a medium sized cocktail whisk and really give the grinds a good stir - almost like beating eggs - but just for a few seconds.

I then tap the bottom of the basked on a silicone pot holder that is laying on the counter.

Then, I tamp, load and pull.

I get some really nice shots. And, they taste really great.

Hope this helps,

Rick

Thanks Rick. I use the blind tumbler, but I'll try giving the basket a good mixing before tamping.

Redistribution is an absolute must for the HG one. I started getting extremely consistent results when I started using a mini whisk with the same motion that I would use whisking eggs.

I don't use a mini whisk but I do give the cup a good shake when pulling the plug. Since breaking in the grinder I have not needed to redistribute to produce clean shots.

My HG-One that had been used for about a year prior to my acquisition, so I never had to deal with a break-in period. With that caveat, I find that I get very consistent results using just a quick swirl of a cocktail whisk in the blind tumbler, followed by dropping the grinds into a filter basket. I also typically give the baskets a downward tap or two against a hockey puck to settle the grounds before tamping.

If you think of all the heroics that have to be performed with commercial grinders to achieve similarly low levels of retention, a few seconds of WDT doesn't seem like a high price to pay.

Thanks for all the comments. I got me a mini whisk (harder to find than I thought), followed the procedures given to me in this thread, and it was night and day from before. Thanks again.