I have a 900. The salter does not do 1/10 of a gram. I will try finer but I don't think it will go much finer. I have the lido e manual grinder dialed down to 2 stops above zero. Prior to the scale, I would fill the portafilter with beans to get a close approximation of volume. Then grind them down and fill up the portafilter with the ground beans, without, over filling the volume. Basically, just a bit of space over the puck. It worked fairly well. My shots were pulling at 25 seconds. That would be minimally acceptable from everything I read. It tasted very good. I got the scale to up my game. At this point in time I'll try grinding finer. I do appreciate the input.

It would be interesting and possibly useful to find out what the dose weighs using your normal method as described (before using the scale to get 18g).

If you were getting 14-16g, maybe, and getting a good tasting result, you would want to be able to repeat that consistently, perhaps, with new coffees as a starting point to dial them in.

And if you like the result you were getting, document it with the scale, then try larger doses and different grinds, settle on the one you like best. There are enough variables at work that trying to achieve 18g in, 25 seconds as a shot duration may be possible, but might not taste good. Go for the best taste

Don't worry too much about it if the shots taste good. That being said, generally it's a good idea to have a good amount of headspace above the puck so the coffee can expand when wet. Take a look at your spent puck. If you can see the indentation of your shower screen (like this:http://coffeesnobs.com.au/Attachments/DSC01095.jpg)in the puck, you're probably overdosing.

clynch wrote:Think I might be grinding too fine? Can't imagine that effecting the weight.

A pound of feathers weighs as much as a pound of lead, Charlie.

There are many ways to settle the dose into the PF. As suggested, a few sharp vertical taps will help distribute the ground coffee evenly, and tapping the side of the PF with your fingers several times while grinding into it seems to work well for me. This will also let you level it if you tip it a bit toward the (low) side while tapping.

Different coffees and different grinders, not to mention different days of the week, can all produce different results as far as the initial volume of ground coffee (before settling and tamping). Which is one of the reasons dosing by weight is so popular now in the first place. A dosing funnel can be helpful in getting everything in there. You'd be surprised how much you can cram into a basket with the right technique and some determination. I've put 21grams into a La Peppina double basket before. Not recommending that necessarily, just saying it can be done.

Don't sweat it too much. The right dose is what tastes good, the 18gram recommendation is not gospel.

Great input! I will try my old method to see how many grams I was getting on the new scale. I should have thought of that. My Lido manual says to start three stops above 0 for espresso. I roast my beans light. I dialed it down to 1 stop above 0, ground up 18 grams and it ALL fit into the portafilter ! Just barely, but it all fit in. I was amazed. It was borderline over extraction and gave a very fruity shot. I suppose it was grind all along and the scale gave me the proficiency to test it out. Thanks for all the great help.