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Set a Hario Skerton to 4 to 8 clicks from fully tight for French press, per Honest Coffee Guide's compiled Skerton chart. Coarse immersion brewing is where the Skerton is happiest, because its unstabilized burr wobbles more as the grind gets coarser but the French press forgives it.
Hario Skerton grind settings by brew method
| Brew method | Hario Skerton setting |
|---|---|
| Espresso | 1 click, and not really; there is no room to dial anything [1] |
| Pour over | 2 to 5 clicks (V60 at 2 to 3) [1] |
| AeroPress | 1 to 5 clicks [1] |
| Moka pot | 2 to 3 clicks [1] |
| French press | 4 to 8 clicks [1] |
| Cold brew | 5 to 9 clicks [1] |
Every numbered range above was checked against the source in the footnote it carries; where a manufacturer publishes nothing for a method, the row says so instead of inventing a number. Ranges are windows, not verdicts. Beans, roast age, and dose move the right setting inside each window, which is why the dial-in ladder below matters more than any single number.
How the Hario Skerton adjustment works
The Hario Skerton uses an adjustment nut under the handle counted in clicks (notches) from fully tight; Hario prints no numbers on it, so you count. Find your zero before trusting any chart: with the hopper empty, tighten toward fine until the burrs just touch, call that zero, and count from there. If your zero point is calibrated differently from the chart's, every range shifts by the difference, which explains most "the chart is wrong" complaints.
Dial it in from the chart in 3 steps
1. Set the middle of the french press range above and brew once, changing nothing else. 2. Taste against the two failure directions: sour, thin, or fast means grind finer; bitter, harsh, or stalled means grind coarser. The full logic lives in why espresso runs sour and why it runs bitter. 3. Move in small steps, one variable at a time, and write each attempt down; the free dial-in logbook exists for exactly this, and the printable dial-in cheat sheet keeps the correction table next to the machine.
The espresso question
Hario publishes no numbered chart for the Skerton, so the clicks above are Honest Coffee Guide's counts from fully tight. Count your own zero first: tighten the nut gently until the burrs touch, then back out click by click.
Get the grinder
The Hario Skerton is on Amazon: check the current Hario Skerton price. Prices move often enough that we link the search rather than quote a number that will be stale by Friday.
Related reading
FAQ
What is the best Hario Skerton setting for french press? 4 to 8 clicks. Treat the range as a window, start near its middle, and adjust on taste: coarser if the cup is bitter, finer if it is sour or weak.
Can the Hario Skerton grind for espresso? Espresso on the Hario Skerton: 1 click, and not really; there is no room to dial anything. See the table on this page for every other method.
How do I read the Hario Skerton adjustment? The Hario Skerton uses an adjustment nut under the handle counted in clicks (notches) from fully tight; Hario prints no numbers on it, so you count. Zero is with the burrs fully closed, and higher numbers or more clicks mean a coarser grind.
Sources
- [1] Honest Coffee Guide's Hario Skerton chart: https://honestcoffeeguide.com/hario-skerton-grind-settings/
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