Coffee grinders

[gintonic]

go look at UK coffee forums

budget? style of coffee (espresso, pour over, moka pot, dripper etc etc)?, single or continuous dosing? roast style of beans?

 

[gintonic]

I'm with you in most cases, but not coffee. There are a lot of variables involved, so you want to eliminate as many as you can as you experiment. I use a small electronic balance, a fiver on eBay if
that. My doses are 15g, BTW.

quite low? let me guess la pavoni lever (small portafilte).

scales are a must

 

[Vinny]

But it goes largely unused because the the coffee it produces seems not just weak, but positively watery. I must be doing something wrong....

As gintonic says, FAR too many variables - I would think that as a first off, your grind is too coarse, if your brewing method will take a finer grind. Grind size can alter the amount of coffee needed by almost, maybe more than, double.

 

[Tim Jones]

I'm doing it really fine - my assumption being that the point is to maximise the surface area of the product relative to volume.

 

[TheDecameron]

What we need is a sticky for 'I'm not interested in this subject but I'm going to post on the thread regardless' posts.

Or, I upgraded the mains cable on my burr grinder and it changed it from a £39.99 one into a £300 one. Even SWMBO noticed the difference. Job done.

 

[TheDecameron]

I use two of these,

https://theperfectgrind.co.uk/graef-cm-800-coffee-grinder-review/

very impressed with the performance and immaculate construction. If I needed another I might get the Sage as I’ve been very impressed with their espresso machines after using Gaggia Classics for years.

 

[2ManyBoxes]

Or, I upgraded the mains cable on my burr grinder and it changed it from a £39.99 one into a £300 one. Even SWMBO noticed the difference. Job done.

Come on now, we all know that cables make no difference

 

[sean99]

Come on now, we all know that cables make no difference

I find my electrical goods don’t work at all without them so I beg to differ.

 

[boneman]

I'm doing it really fine - my assumption being that the point is to maximise the surface area of the product relative to volume.

depends on the brew method. Trick is to grind it as fine as you can for the method you are using. REALLY fine would require an espresso machine to properly extract that flavour. If I were to put that in my press it would be near impossible to push down. In a paper filter the water would sit in it too long.

 

[gintonic]

Trick is to grind it as fine as you can for the method you are using

If you want broad instructions, i would grind a middling grind size for the type of drink you are making. But the reality is, you need to dial in the grind. It will vary from bean to bean and from roast level to roast level.

There are plenty of YouTube videos on dialing in a grind. James Hoffman has an excellent 3 part video on dialling in espresso:

part 1:

part 2:

part 3:

he also has videos for the ultimate French press, and V60.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

Groan.
Can’t we have these boring consumer white goods requests and their responses as stickies?

There's no need, as long as people complaining about the thread keep posting their complaints they'll keep rising to the top anyway.

 

[dweezil]

I'm doing it really fine - my assumption being that the point is to maximise the surface area of the product relative to volume.

Make sure you're not heating it, my grinder warms up on the finest setting.

 

[gintonic]

Make sure you're not heating it, my grinder warms up on the finest setting.

the best grinders run reasonably slow! The very best offer temperature control. I had access to one of these for a while https://coffeehit.co.uk/products/nouva-simonelli-mythos-one-clima-pro complete overkill for home use, and no good if you want to single dose.

Currently using a hand grinder to espresso and an electric on demand grinder (Rancillo) for pour over, drip and cold brew. Waiting until Sept for my new single doser to arrive....

 

[gintonic]

bigger burrs are better at temp control and are easier to calibrate. Retention is important, how much coffee gets left inside to go stale from one grind, and left to contaminate the next. Also plays a part if you change beans frequently like we do (every week) and we often have two or three beans on the go at a time - high retention means you will contaminate one coffee with another.

 

[gintonic]

I never end up with exactly the correct amount of ground beans. Is there a magic formula

weigh the beans and single dose on a grinder with very low retention.

Groan.
Can’t we have these boring consumer white goods requests and their responses as stickies?

can we do as some forums have and ban all politics threads.

 

[gintonic]

This has all come about as my local Waitrose have recently had a section that sells various products by weight (rice, pasta, muesli, seeds, dried fruit and COFFEE BEANS

they will undoubtedly be stale......

 

[Darth Vader]

they will undoubtedly be stale......

Yes. Its best to buy from a reputable roaster or DIY. I started off with the dog bowl method and went on from there.

Cheers,

DV

 

[gintonic]

Yes. Its best to buy from a reputable roaster or DIY. I started off with the dog bowl method and went on from there.

Cheers,

DV

what do you use to roast now?

We still roast our own but to be honest we are thinking of giving up. When we started there were no decent roasters bug now there are loads.

 

[Darth Vader]

I use my 15 yo (where does the time go?) Hottop drum roaster and also have an even older IMEX CR-100 hot air roaster thats sometimes pressed into service.

The roasting takes place in my garage due to the smoke.......

Cheers,

DV

 

[awkwardbydesign]

My problem with grind-your-own is that I never end up with exactly the correct amount of ground beans. Is there a magic formula, or should I simply bring too much, and tip the excess into the bean bag?

I simply load my grinder with the amount I want (7gm, single shot scoop in my case) and grind it all. The beans live in their air proof tin.
At the moment I have a Ascasio i-Mini i3 conical burr grinder which cost me £42 inc p&p on ebay. Not as good as a flat burr grinder, but OK with a bit of experimentation. My other grinder is a Hario Skerton manual, but I discovered my wrists are too f***ed for it. Works OK though. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MXJI90S/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21