Grind to volume or weight designation on basket?

#1: Post by **sonofwatt** » Dec 05, 2018, 10:55 pm

Depending on the coffee I use, I notice a big (~5g) difference in volume before my portafilter basket is filled. With some coffees I'm barely able to get 19g into my 21g+ basket, and with others I can easily go over 24g without any spilling.

What I'm wondering is, do people usually just aim for the dose weight the portafilter basket maker designed it for, or do you go with what fills it up? Do you vary based on the coffee up or down in the dose, or again, aim for a static dose weight regardless of coffee?

Thanks

#2: Post by **Jake_G** » Dec 05, 2018, 11:03 pm

Use the nickel test.

I pretty much blatantly ignore the number on the basket...

Cheers!

- Jake

#3: Post by **spressomon** » Dec 06, 2018, 11:29 pm

It depends upon the headspace between shower screen and the puck. Darker roasts sit taller, lighter roasts visa-versa, so weight varies accordingly, all things same basket relative.

#4: Post by **forbiddenbeat** » Dec 07, 2018, 2:22 pm

I just weigh the dose, don't care about volume. I have a single-dose grinder so I weigh the dose before grinding, but if I didn't, I'd calibrate the time on the machine top match a certain weight. So either way, I ignore volume, since as you said it can totally vary from bean to bean.

You do need to make sure you don't overfill the basket. If you see shower screen imprints on the grinds after pulling a shot, that's too much coffee. It may not matter, but it a) makes your shower screen dirtier, and b) can increase the likelihood of channeling.