# New grinder - wet pucks?



## Jopp (Jan 16, 2013)

Hey all,

After lurking for a while I have selfishly made an account to ask a question







I really hope you can shed some light into my problem!

I've been using a Hario Slim/Gaggia Classic and getting decent shots but in the pursuit of perfection I have finally bought an MC2.

When using the Hario, my pucks were quite dry after pulling a shot but having dialed in the MC2 for 2oz over 25s the pucks are extremely wet. Is there any reason as to why this may be?

My only observation is that there seems to be more of a gap between the group and the grounds when tamped using (seemingly) the same amount of coffe by filling the basket, and skimming the top.

Is it something I'll have to deal with or is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thanks a lot!

J


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## forzajuve (Feb 2, 2011)

How hard are you tamping? The resistance in the basket should come more from the natural oils in the beans rather than the fact you have tamped the hell out of it. You will therefore need to grind finer when tamping less to slow the shot down. Also measuring a dose by weight is the best idea to ensure you have the correct amount of coffee for the design of the basket. Wet pucks can be an indication of under dosing.


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## aphelion (Nov 23, 2012)

could be underdosing or too fine a grind/too heavily tamped..

are you weighing at all?


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## Jopp (Jan 16, 2013)

I'm tamping less than I would have for my Hario even though the grind is finer. I found that if I tamped how I would for the Hario it would choke the machine.

I'm not weighing at all - I'll have to see about getting a scale. In the mean time I will play around with different levels of dose/tamping/grind.

Any recommendations of a cheap and cheerful scale would be appreciated... and if anyone knows the amount of grams I should be using for a Synesso Double Ridgeless I'd be most grateful









Thanks guys.


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## forzajuve (Feb 2, 2011)

These are the sort of scales that most of us use. Search for gold scales and this type of thing will come up on ebay/amazon.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Wet pucks I have found (on my Expobar) to be almost exclusively due to how high the dose sits in the basket.


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## MarkyP (Jan 10, 2013)

garydyke1 said:


> Wet pucks I have found (on my Expobar) to be almost exclusively due to how high the dose sits in the basket.


Hi Gary,

Do you mean under-dosing and/or tamping too hard?

[sorry to hijack]


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

MarkyP said:


> Hi Gary,
> 
> Do you mean under-dosing and/or tamping too hard?
> 
> [sorry to hijack]


Try increasing dose by 0.5g increments (adjusting output to maintain suitable ratio) until pucks are more solid.

If it tastes good already and sloppy pucks are not of a concern then dont change anything.


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