The Aldi $30 Grinder

E61

Has anyone bought and used one of these grinders yet?

http://www.aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_18130.htm

They're all sold out at my local Aldi and I'd love to know how it performed!

Matt

Gra

on 1308531462:

Has anyone bought and used one of these grinders yet? http://www.aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_18130.htm They're all sold out at my local Aldi and I'd love to know how it performed! Matt

Hi Matt I picked one up for the caravan to uses with a plunger they are OK for that but that's about all, Finest grind is a long way from espresso.. I haven't had a look as to modification to see if you can get a better grind but for the money and for what I brought it for it beats a cheap hand grinder.. Cheers Gra..

E61

Thanks Gra Hmmm.... I bet AM or KK could pimp one of these up! Wonder if it would be as simple as throwing in a couple of shims? The problem is though that we might have to wait another 6 months before they appear at Aldi again  >:(

Gra

on 1308532780:

Thanks Gra Hmmm.... I bet AM or KK could pimp one of these up! Wonder if it would be as simple as throwing in a couple of shims? The problem is though that we might have to wait another 6 months before they appear at Aldi again   >:(

I will check it out and see if I can get it fine enough just have to find some shims first.. Gra..

Gra

Well a closer look at this unit tells me that it's not worth the bother as the burrs are blunt and have next to no definition to them. The stops are on the burrs and as fare as I can see shims wont work apart from not being able to remove the bottom burr it's self with out complete dismantle motor and all.. One thing though I found a great short hopper for my Eureka Mondial with little modification to the base cheap @ $30.oo ;D

Koffee_Kosmo

As a coffee grinder it makes a fine dry herb grinder Replace the word coffee with dry herb KK

cino

I bought one of these to use at my desk. I would never dream of using it with an espresso machine, but it is pretty decent with an Aeropress. I have only used it a couple of times, but so far I am fairly happy with it. There does not seem to be a massive difference between particle sizes, and even though the blades spin really fast, it does not seem to heat the coffee up too much.

Brett H

What is the throat size of the hopper Gra? I am after a short hopper for my F5 61mm throat from memory. Sorry, I see you've answered this in another thread... 50/52mm from memory

Bottom Line

Went to Aldi yesterday and they still had three left. Bought one to play with and hopefully use at work instead of my hand grinder (old Zass). So far not so good.....but it is only $30! The plastic smells and gets into the coffee. I suppose this will disappear over time. Speed is pretty good. The grind particles aren't that consistent but I got the same amount fines at the bottom of the cup as the Zass. Noisy but no more noisy then an Iberital challenge. Sprays grinds everywhere and you need to have the lid on the collector bin. Same with the hopper lid. If it is off and you get to the end of the beans they popcorn out of the hopper. If the lids are on then the mess is well contained. Taste? Much thinner than the Zass, less oily (plunger brew). The Zass also had more complexity and more flavour. I have only had a couple of brews from it and will continue to play.

Jonty

The grinder is back up this week at Aldi.... Slightly different this time around.... burr grinder....... http://www.aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_20936.htm

UNM

They had exactly the same grinder last year, similar price IIRC. The one I saw last year - Burrs crap, looked to be pressed, rather than machined. I did, however, just recommend this to someone. I have just given away an EM4800 (with pressurised baskets) to somebody that has no grinder and is a student. I believe that with pressurised baskets and a low end machine (whatever the brand), a burr grinder, even with cheap burrs, has to be better than 2 week old grinds. Am I wrong?

Brett H

My issue UMN is the variation of grinds with these cheap grinders.  The mixture of fines over and underextracts at the same time. Yuck! Seriously, at this price point why wouldn't those seeking quality coffee invest a bit extra in a hand grinder?  Longer lived, better quality grind and the added bonus of portability!

mycuppa

Utterly ridiculous and bound to waste way too much time of people like us - like when they call and spend 20 minutes telling us stories about they are just not enjoying coffee, can I recommend something nice ?. The world already has too much landfill.

UNM

Sooo, should I take back what I said and encourage them to buy preground from mycuppa by preference over while beans ground in one of these? Bearing in mind the machine is using pressurised filters.

mycuppa

UNM - you are not utterly ridiculous. My exasperation is with manufacturers like Aldi who make that crap and don't have to put up with the countless people who think it's OK to match with their espresso machine and end up getting very frustrated and blame coffee bean suppliers because it's "obviously the beans".

UNM

on 1330293219:

UNM - you are not utterly ridiculous.

  ;D ;D Nice to have that confirmed in writing. I shall no doubt quote you on that in future. Thing is, I have only made four or five shots with a pressurised basket in my life (and didn't drink those), so don't really know for sure if the pressurised basket will be tolerant enough of uneven grind for one of these to be a reasonable trade off. Stale grounds are bad, uneven grounds are bad, but which is worse in this specific situation :question: Anyone got experience and opinions? Doesn't have to be one of 'the regular posters'.  Anyone?

askthecoffeeguy

On holidays recently I stayed at a friends place - they had one of those cheapo pressurised basket coffee machines and a decent hand grinder - I supplied the beans and ended up making a very drinkable cup of coffee much to my amazement - had to temperature surf so as to not scold the beans but it poured well and drank well - forced me to rethink my outlook a bit on the el cheapo machines ! So to answer your question fresh beans and a good quality hand grinder do a better job (for me) than pre-packaged and / or whole beans ground w a lousy grinder !

Brett H

I have a friend who drinks preground Merlo that he transports home after they grind it into the tin in a cold pack and puts it in the freezer.  He drinks this in a Saeco with pressurized baskets over about a fortnight.  It's not great but its not that bad either.  Key to me seems to be fresh ground beans sealed and in a freezer.  It's definately a better brew than I would get with my Krups/pressurized and a whirly grinder.  Thankfully I've gone a little upmarket since then but I stand by my post above for those who want a quality brew.  Great beans, freshly consistenly ground... water!