My daily gear is a Lido 2 and a Cremina. I can't think of the last time I had an uneven surface to my puck since changing over from a pump machine. Last week, however, I had an HG One on loan and two things changed:

A) many pucks weren't perfectly smooth & polished on top, but were instead a bit rough/wavy like sand at a beach (NOT wet / soggy / muddy like on a pump machine with bad tamp)

B) my after-flush was yielding a fraction of the particles I normally get from the screen when compared to the Lido grinds (particles coming from behind the screen, not stuck to its bottom exposed side)

I know I was grinding considerably finer with the HG than with my Lido, but when I try to adjust my Lido comparatively fine I damn near choke my machine. I find nothing wrong with the taste or flow of my daily dose & grind size though, and only mention the fineness for the sake of IDing why I'd have wavy or gritty puck surface and fewer fines in the group flush.

Cheers,

The HG One you were using might have burrs that are out of alignment, or that's definitely what it sounds like, in addition to possibly too light a dose.

Does it look like the image midway down this thread?

Of the pucks that weren't perfectly polished, none of them were as messy/rough a surface as that. None of mine were even messy about the perimeter of the basket.

FWIW my dose is 18g in an elektra double basket (even tried 19g as per the HG loaner who also uses the same machine & basket); and 10g in an elektra single basket (10.5g with The temporary finer grinds).

HG One you were using might have burrs that are out of alignment, or that's definitely what it sounds like, in addition to possibly too light a dose.

Does it look like the image midway down this thread?

Thankfully not.

You know the loaner HG One well, Merle. I'm pretty sure it is serial #17. It has 71mm burrs and is officially registered to someone near San Antonio, TX.

Here are pics of a prepped shot and the puck afterwards:



Here are some additional pics: http://bit.ly/1x09Y1h

What Randy's describing could be a function of dose as much as anything. I'm often using an 18 gram dose with my Cremina, which results in an espresso grind that is more sandy than powdery. But if I went down to a 14g dose, I suspect that would change.

While the HG One was on loan, I used my Vario with steel burrs for espresso. That was an interesting exercise, as the grounds were definitely more prone to clumping when they produced the same flow rates as I'm used to. I don't recall ever experiencing clumping with the HG one.

Eastsideloco wrote:Thankfully not.

You know the loaner HG One well, Merle. I'm pretty sure it is serial #17. It has 71mm burrs and is officially registered to someone near San Antonio, TX.

What Randy's describing could be a function of dose as much as anything. I'm often using an 18 gram dose with my Cremina, which results in an espresso grind that is more sandy than powdery. But if I went down to a 14g dose, I suspect that would change.

While the HG One was on loan, I used my Vario with steel burrs for espresso. That was an interesting exercise, as the grounds were definitely more prone to clumping when they produced the same flow rates as I'm used to. I don't recall ever experiencing clumping with the HG one.

David,

Yes, I know that one well indeed and can say the problem is not alignment, so that leaves the second suspicion I mentioned - dose.

While I'm sure you know this already, to verify the dose, try the nickel test (lay a nickel on top of the fully prepared puck and fully lock down the portafilter). If correct, you should see a slight indent of the nickel in the puck. If the nickel is fully inserted and/or cracks the puck, your dose is too high; no imprint - too low.

Grasping at straws at this point if the dose is not the culprit. I never had the problem you are mentioning when using that exact grinder on my Cremina unless I dosed too high and got some grounds in the shower screen. And at the SA Sprodown, we used that grinder on David's Cremina with the same results.

Is it possible you overdosed on a shot with really fine grinds and have residue up above the shower screen? I did this on a few occasions and could not figure out why my shower screen starting spritzing when pulling warming flushes. When I dropped it to clean it and lube the seals it was pretty obvious why I was seeing the erratic spraying.

Hope this helps.

Hey, just to throw out some ideas, is it possible that the significantly finer grinds caused the puck to become significantly more compacted. That might have caused for a vacuum and if you pulled a Fellini or somehow raised the lever after compacting could that vacuum have caused an uneven surface?

Also, on the other end of the spectrum, is it possible that at the end of the shot, as the pressure was being released, that as a result of the finer grinds slowing the rate of water extraction, it might have left a little on top of the puck to slosh around and push the very top of the puck as a wave might at the beach before finally dripping out? The finer grinds might also be more susceptible to this?

Just throwing out ideas, if it tasted good it must not be anything during the shot anyway!

That's a good line of inquiry. I just pre-infuse, then pull. However, Randy incorporates some Fellini moves into his routine.