BagelMaster wrote:I zeroed the burrs (one dot before the solid dot) and then set it to 34, which seems to be in the ballpark of 32-36 I see recommended for V60 here.

I have the conventional burrs, too, and what you're seeing is familiar to me. I kind of wish I'd gotten both burr sets. But I don't make espressos and thought that the contemporary burrs were strictly for that. It may be that they're preferable for any setting below 40 or a little more, probably is. I mostly make immersion brews that steep for 5 minutes or more. Depending on how much coffee I'm using, I'm grinding with the conventional burrs at 48, give or take. That's a sweet spot for the conventional burrs.

I've been meaning to get my pourovers to be more reliably as tasty as the immersions are, but I think I'll use a different grinder for that because I don't like the grind I get at settings in the low 30s.

You might want to sieve off some of the fines to get rid of the muddiness and slower than intended brews. A standard, relatively fine, tea strainer is, to my eye about 500 microns. That's a little more than you'd like but you could get rid of some, or a lot, of the fines that way. But in the low to mid 30s, you're going to have a lot of fines and you may sieve out more than you'd like to have to waste.

Yes and try a coarser grind for a 3 minute brew...

BagelMaster wrote:I received mine today and quickly unpacked it to make a cup. I zeroed the burrs (one dot before the solid dot) and then set it to 34, which seems to be in the ballpark of 32-36 I see recommended for V60 here. Grinding was surprisingly difficult to start. I used Scott Rao's method of mixing the grounds during the bloom, a gentle stir and swirl during the brewing process. Drawdown took longer than expected (4:00 as opposed to around 3:00), and the top of the bed was VERY silty with fines. I'm using the conventional burrs. Any idea what might cause this and how to remedy it?

I've attached a picture of the spent bed so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.

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Those are just general guidelines I would adjust from where you are now to slightly coarser probably. Those suggested settings will vary bean to bean.

I ended up contacting Helor and they walked me through several brews and it was decided that my grinder was producing a lot of fines. They had me mail it to a contact of theirs in Massachusetts. Their support was very communicative and I was impressed with the experience. I was visiting my family for the holidays and they were willing to mail it to me there so I wouldn't have to wait any longer. They sent the grinder back saying the burrs had been replaced and also included a set of the contemporary burrs that I had not originally purchased as well as a felt carrying case, which is very generous and I am very grateful! Again, for any issues I would not hesitate to recommend contacting them. This has probably been the best customer service experience I've had, in terms of them taking a lot of time to speak with me!

Unfortunately, the set of conventional burrs in the grinder were not swapped or new as they have the same markings of wear on them, so if replacing the burrs was the issue it was not done as stated. I'm still struggling with fines, even up in settings around 44-46. I've tried V60, Kalita 155, and a Clever Dripper and none of them will fully drain as there is a layer of silt on top of the bed. Because of my travel, I've only been able to go through two bags of Natural Ethiopians from two different roasters -- could the coffee itself be the issue?

Do you have a Kruve sifter? You can try weighing how much is left after sifting for 2 mins at <400um at your typical V60 settings. This can tell us if it's in ballpark for similar grinders with similar burrsets (i.e. Feldgrind). It's quite normal for small conical hand grinders to have about 10-15% fines by weight at typical V60 setting.