On the prowl for a new grinder.....

Cuir_Beluga

Moon wrote:

Crikey .. MASSIVE CALL! .. and I like it. 😛 Do you really need to spend the big $$ to get a machine that adequately suits your needs? According to the coffeeguy .. that would clearly be a no. The Breville Smart Grinder, from what I have read around the traps .. is a pretty good little unit. It should be good enough up to a Coffee Machine of a certain high value. Personally, and I'm no expert by a long shot <--- lol .. but, if I were in Sue's position, I'd only be upgrading my Grinder when also upgrading my Coffee machine. For example. If the Coffee machine was around $2,000 .. I'd pay $600 for a Grinder (Compak Push or Macap M2D) M2D weren't available in Aus in Dec 2013. I was going to import one .. only ended up with a Compak Touch that I purchased locally. I prefer to dose manually .. so I would've been happy with the cheaper 'Push' model.. as it turned out. My guess is that if you have a Coffee Machine under $1,000 .. the Smart Grinder should be good enough *I don't have the experience that the others have in here.. nor have I used a range of different equipment.

Don't get me wrong, the Smart Grinder is a good grinder, I think. I did notice it struggling with a medium roasted coffee I had, slightly labouring and slipping clutch. I'm not sure if that means it will struggle with all medium to lightly roasted beans or is it was more to do with the type of bean. There will be no more machine upgrades for this little black duck for a bit :angel:. I have nothing to compare it to either, only the spice grinder I was using before the Breville ;D.

askthecoffeeguy

I struggled a bit with the breville smart grinder - after adding the customary washers to the blade assembly to improve grind finesse, I found that I choked a few shots coz the grind was too fine and a bit finicky to adjust Though I've heard others rave about it The trick with the cafe series as far as I can tell is to keep the blades and the collar clean, and to replace the blades on a semi regular basis

Cuir_Beluga

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

I struggled a bit with the breville smart grinder - after adding the customary washers to the blade assembly to improve grind finesse, I found that I choked a few shots coz the grind was too fine and a bit finicky to adjust Though I've heard others rave about it The trick with the cafe series as far as I can tell is to keep the blades and the collar clean, and to replace the blades on a semi regular basis

Mine is the pro so there was no need to add the washers, she grinds fine enough. I have no complaints about mine really, she worked well with the DeLonghi and she is working well with the Splendor 🙂.

kbilleter

When running multiple beans or decaf for guests I'm starting to see the benefits of a spare though, if not necessarily an upgrade :-)

GeekKopi

kbilleter wrote:

When running multiple beans or decaf for guests I'm starting to see the benefits of a spare though, if not necessarily an upgrade :-)

good idea about a spare. I'm investigating a hand grinder for decaf that might see occasional use.

Cuir_Beluga

kbilleter wrote:

When running multiple beans or decaf for guests I'm starting to see the benefits of a spare though, if not necessarily an upgrade :-)

I will definitely be holding on to it as a spare, I certainly can see the benefits of having 2 different beans to choose from 😛.

askthecoffeeguy

Cuir Beluga wrote:

I will definitely be holding on to it as a spare, I certainly can see the benefits of having 2 different beans to choose from 😛.

Ive got ten or so folks coming over to my place for coffee in the morning - so i will definitely be cranking out the big guns!

Cuir_Beluga

Good luck, I struggle with two ^-^.

askthecoffeeguy

managed to smash out a dz of so lattes and a few hot chocolates plus a couple of baby chinos! used my home roast India Elephant Hills AA - four days post roast and its drinking beautifully! Could still use a day or two to settle to bring out a little extra sweetness but even the sugar addicts agreed that the coffee didnt need any sugar added - so that's a good sign! Thank goodness my beast of a coffee machine is up and running again, although, now it sounds as though the over pressure valve needs replacing!

Cuir_Beluga

Well done, I bet it kept you on your toes 😛.

GeekKopi

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

managed to smash out a dz of so lattes and a few hot chocolates plus a couple of baby chinos! used my home roast India Elephant Hills AA - four days post roast and its drinking beautifully! Could still use a day or two to settle to bring out a little extra sweetness but even the sugar addicts agreed that the coffee didnt need any sugar added - so that's a good sign! Thank goodness my beast of a coffee machine is up and running again, although, now it sounds as though the over pressure valve needs replacing!

great work. What machine do you have? I've probably seen it in another post but my mind is a little flaky today.

Kevohere

GeekKopi wrote:

but my mind is a little flaky today.

Better have another coffee then :exclaim: :coffee2: or two :coffee2:

Brett_H

GeekKopi wrote:

great work. What machine do you have? I've probably seen it in another post but my mind is a little flaky today.

Rancilio Epoca.

Cuir_Beluga

Just to update... I have decided to hang on to the Smart Grinder Pro, she is serving me well. In all honesty I think I was kind of blaming the grinder for my less than lovely coffee but things seemed to have "clicked" in to place and are looking up so for now, she stays 😛.

GeekKopi

Cuir Beluga wrote:

Just to update... I have decided to hang on to the Smart Grinder Pro, she is serving me well. In all honesty I think I was kind of blaming the grinder for my less than lovely coffee but things seemed to have "clicked" in to place and are looking up so for now, she stays 😛.

great to hear CB. Always awesome when things click! I had an aha moment on Thursday last week with my grinder. I grinder too fine by accident (19grams) but I decided to pull the shot (all 55 seconds of it). It was so thick and tasty. The pour, started of dripping then a steady thick stream oozes out like melted chocolate. I was so impressed. I've had a few more of these really gunky shots since then. That was my click moment. I haven't yet measured the volume nor weight out but I don't care as it was awesome!

Brett_H

I love these 'click' moments. For me it was working out the optimal weight for the KKTO. Once I did that I had roasting consistency and much self satisfaction. I wish you both the same!

Cuir_Beluga

Yep, you have to love a good light bulb moment. You have inspired me, the next time I grind too fine and get drip, drip, drip instead of ditching it I will go with it and see how it tastes.

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