Best coffee grinder

[Shuggie]

After years of faffing around with various coffee grinders, with which I've mostly had acceptable results, eventually, I have bought one of these

What a great bit of kit! Quiet, not too big, very adjustable, but most importantly it's possible to get a perfect grind and dose within minutes. Most grinders have stepped grind adjustment, but this one is smooth and gives fine control of the grind with a helpful indicator of the coarseness setting on the display. The thing reeks of sensible design which fortunately all works out in practice.

Even better, I got it from eBay seller XS Items at £60 off the normal price - nominally manufacturer refurbished but in fact brand new, sealed and complete. I'll plug XS Items because their service was outstanding and they use a courier service that tells you when they're coming.

 

[TheDecameron]

I bought the basic Sage espresso machine and it works beautifully. Much prefer it to my Gaggia Classic for consistency. Noted your experience with the grinder!

 

[gintonic]

same as the Breville isn't it? https://www.homegrounds.co/breville-smart-grinder-pro-review/

Can the burrs be replaced?

 

[Shuggie]

Yes it is, but Breville in the UK is sold under the Sage banner. The burrs can be replaced and even come out without tools.

 

[gintonic]

Yes it is, but Breville in the UK is sold under the Sage banner. The burrs can be replaced and even come out without tools.

thanks - clearly a grinder to consider should my Rancillo break beyond economic repair

 

[matthewr]

Meh. It's got loads of features that look like solutions to problems nobody has. Would much rather have a Baratza Virtuoso for less money.

 

[Shuggie]

Meh. It's got loads of features that look like solutions to problems nobody has. Would much rather have a Baratza Virtuoso for less money.

Or more money - the normal retail price of the Baratza is higher than for the Sage.

Much to my surprise, the Sage's features do translate into actual benefits - everything has a function and everything works slickly and without fuss, which is all anyone really needs with a coffee grinder.

 

[gintonic]

The functions look great to me, I'd use them, but I have no need for a replacement grinder.

will it grind for Turkish coffee?

 

[matthewr]

It possibly makes sense if you put lots of coffee in the hopper but I don't understand why someone would do that at home. I usually have two coffees on the go and weigh the beans I need for each brew which is more accurate (or at least less wasteful) and convenient, allows for cleaning whenever I want, doesn't have the problem of how to adjust grind setting with beans in the burrs, allows one to keep beans in a airtight bag, etc. etc.).

 

[najb]

Any grinder needs to be flushed through before dispensing your allotted dose. If you only grind what you think you need then the first few grams will be old stale coffee. In an espresso dose of around 20 grams that is large component.

Any decent grinder will have a 'valve' to allow you to remove the hopper, with beans, for deep cleaning the machine.

In my household we get through 200 gms of coffee in about 2 days so having that amount int he hopper is fine and the hopper is reaonably airtight, at least to the point where I don't have to worry about any loss in taste.

 

[gintonic]

We roast twice per week - each batch is about 250g. For espresso we dose at 15g, I clean the grinder about every 3 months - we have no problem with stale coffee.

Our beans are freshly roasted by us, so actually need some time to de gas after roasting (this takes anything between 4 days and 15 days depending on the bean) before you get the best out of the beans.

 

[matthewr]

Grind retention is minimal in both of my Baratza grinders, maybe 0.1g, and I am not convinced it has any effect and certainly orders of magnitude less than not cleaning the burrs once a month. I run the grinder after use and give it a good old whack with my cleaning brush to clean out anything hanging in the gears and shoot.

And whatever effect there is it's preferable to either wasting coffee or else not being able to drink two or three different coffees at a time.

 

[gintonic]

Rancilio has no problem with grind retention either........other forms of retention maybe...but not grind.

 

[Mike Reed]

I've only got an old electric push-button Moulinex grinder but I don't have any grounds for complaint.

 

[Darth Vader]

Any grinder needs to be flushed through before dispensing your allotted dose. If you only grind what you think you need then the first few grams will be old stale coffee. In an espresso dose of around 20 grams that is large component.

Any decent grinder will have a 'valve' to allow you to remove the hopper, with beans, for deep cleaning the machine.

In my household we get through 200 gms of coffee in about 2 days so having that amount int he hopper is fine and the hopper is reaonably airtight, at least to the point where I don't have to worry about any loss in taste.

I doubt whether it would be grams as ground coffee is of low density so looks more than it actually is. With my Mazzer electronic I don't use the hopper rather I put the beans directly into the burr chamber that's covered by a glass ramekin. I press the manual button to flush out the old grinds and then use the pre-programmed double shot button to grind directly into the portafilter.

A second hand mazzer can sometimes come up on evilBay at a reasonably low price. The burrs are readily available and not too difficult to replace and will last a lifetime. Just like HiFi you get what you pay for.

I can't comment on the OP as I have never used that grinder but it doesn't look like it would stand up to daily use in a coffee shop. The Mazzer is a standard used professionally with daily heavy use.

Cheers,

DV

 

[wacko]

For £115 looks good. Don't understand why so much Sage stuff is on XS Items as I like the brand generally.

 

[Vinny]

It gets 10% one star reviews on Amazon - not exactly great - and the burrs cannot be replaced because the manufacturer will not sell spare burrs. There is also mention of unreliable motors.

 

[gintonic]

It gets 10% one star reviews on Amazon - not exactly great - and the burrs cannot be replaced because the manufacturer will not sell spare burrs. There is also mention of unreliable motors.

the OP says they can......

 

[Vinny]

Not according to one very unhappy user on Amazon - his wore out after a couple of years and no replacements was one of the reasons for his one-star rating.

 

[gintonic]

which is why I asked the question earlier in the thread. If you can't change the burrs then it is a disposable item.