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Tangentially related: if you do want an amazing electric coffee grinder, feel free to piggy back on my countless hours of research and go with this: Baratza Vir
by user3939382 5y ago
Tangentially related: if you do want an amazing electric coffee grinder, feel free to piggy back on my countless hours of research and go with this: Baratza Virtuoso+
It is excellent.
- faeyanpiraat 5y agoI’m suspicious.
- birdyrooster 5y agoHow much static electricity does it generate? That is my biggest complaint on burr grinders, they act like Van de Graaff generators and then the grounds get stuck all over the machine.
- tailspin2019 5y agoIn my two days of usage so far…. not much. I read about other grinders having issues with grounds being stuck in the container but this one doesn’t appear to have that problem. I think I read that the + model has a redesigned ground container to tackle the static issue - had seen some mention that static was more of an issue with the older “non +” model
- cjonas 5y agoAdd a miniscule amount of water to your beans before grinding
- Arch-TK 5y agoThis is the way. The best way is to run the handle of a teaspoon under the tap and stir it through the grinds before grinding. It doesn't matter if "burr grinders suffer from static build up" when they're categorically far better than anything else when it comes to grinding.
- Wistar 5y agoOMG. I have battled the grinder static thing for… years, decades, and did not know this. Thank you
- birdyrooster 5y agoI assume distilled water?
- NegativeLatency 5y agoDepends a lot on the roast for me. Darker ones seem to lace less flaky floaty bits after grinding
- divbzero 5y agoIn the spirit of OP, the main navbar on Baratza’s website links to an article titled: STOP! Don’t Dump It – Fix It! https://baratza.com/stop-dont-dump-it-fix-it/ https://baratza.com/stop-dont-dump-it-fix-it/
- CamperBob2 5y agoImpressive. Next time my Breville strips its gears, I'll try to remember to give these guys a try. It probably won't be long.
- na85 5y agoConcur. Nice to see my own conclusions validated, I really like mine.
- tailspin2019 5y agoJust bought one two days ago. Reviews were good, and I’m not disappointed. (Paired with a Moccamaster)
- Wistar 5y agoCan I ask: What grind do you use for your Moccamaster?
- tailspin2019 5y agoCurrently using grind setting 18, 68g beans (darker roast) for a full brew on the Moccamaster
- BossingAround 5y agoWhat's the main difference between Virtuoso+ and Encore? From just a quick glance, Virtuoso+ has a number of features that aren't very useful (like a timer, or LEDs/display) while having seemingly identical burr system?
- ValentineC 5y agoI believe the Virtuoso also comes with a better M2 burr set. The Encore can be upgraded to it.
- NegativeLatency 5y agoI have one of these, the LED is dumb but the digital timer is really nice for repeatability in how much you grind. Wasn’t willing to pay even more for one with a scale
- tokamak-teapot 5y agoI have a Macap M5D. This has a timer with three presets. It’s perfect and while expensive, even second hand, I wouldn’t say it’s overkill for home use. The timer means I don’t get the grind wrong. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want one. I suppose I’m quite good at ‘eyeballing’ the quantity now, but the timer means consistency.
- BossingAround 5y agoGenerally, I'd advise against storing coffee in the bean loader. They aren't really hermetically sealed, so your beans will go stale. I always grind to measure, in which case I don't need timer.
- tmountain 5y agoI bought an encore after much research myself and had to return it after just a few weeks. It started grinding my beans to an ultra fine espresso type consistency no matter what setting I used. After much troubleshooting, they sent me a new unit (in transit now), but not a great experience from the device perspective (customer service was great).
- ValentineC 5y agoOn the other hand: if you drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day, and don't mind putting in some elbow grease — a manual grinder like a Comandante or Kinu often produces much better grinds for the same price, since money can be allocated towards a better burr set instead of a motor. I've had a few friends whose only experience with a manual grinder was a Hario Skerton or its clones, and get turned off manual grinding because of how bad the experience is. The pricier hand grinders have much better UX.
- throwawayboise 5y agoAbsolutely. Much prefer a small hand-operated device that I can easily store in a cupboard to a big heavy device with a cord that needs to be near an outlet and takes up counter space all the time. I have come to really, really resist buying plug-in kitchen gadgets. I have a few, such as a toaster and a kettle, that I actually use. For anything else I've found that they just end up living in the back of a base cabinet and I forget that I have them.
- ip26 5y agoI was ready to go all-in on manual grinders. But their supply chain completely evaporated in the pandemic, and I could not find one I wanted anywhere. For months. That ended that.
- ValentineC 5y agoWhat brands were those? It looks like 1zpresso and Timemore are readily available, at least, and the 1zpresso JX Pro is top-of-the-line.
- ip26 5y agoKinu was the worst offender, and Comadante nearly as bad.
- ateng 5y agoLife hack: link your manual grinder to a drill. Now you have a automatic grinder that’s reasonably priced and have a superb burr. Have not tried this myself but I was told by a professional this is way cheaper and better than any automatic grinder below USD$1000, if you’re spending around $200 for a top end hand grinder
- yojo 5y agoI have a Vario, that has struggled with a fine espresso grind. The burrs are ceramic but the carriage is plastic and it affects the tolerance. I gave up repairing/troubleshooting it and bought a beat to hell SuperJolly off EBay for $170. Dropped in a new set of burrs and have an unstoppable overkill grinder with a huge motor and all metal parts
- Arch-TK 5y agoIf you want espresso you probably want steel burrs mounted in steel with good bearings. If you are on a budget and don't want to spend £500 ($700 + tax and shipping) on a niche then you can usually find used smaller commercial machines. Research the burrs they use and see if you can find new burrs, this way you can spend probably somewhere around $200 on what would function like a brand new high quality burr grinder.
- yojo 5y agoYes, that’s what I did. The Super Jolly I bought is a commercial machine (by Mazzer) and I put new OEM steel burrs in it.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- rolleiflex 5y agoThis is oversimplifying it a little. Yes Baratzas are great grinders but they are not one-size-fits-all depending on what kind of coffee you make. For example Baratza Encore is everyone’s darling with good reason (I have one and I use it for espresso every day!) but it’s not a great espresso grinder because fundamentally speaking its tiny motor just doesn’t have enough torque to drive big burrs, so it has small ones. Which means when you grind at espresso sizes it’s going to lose its tight spread and it’ll output some grains that are too big for espresso, some are too small and some are just right. Since espresso is very dense coffee, this is something that is very clearly tastable even to a skeptical non-expert like me. This spread of grain sizes is something to some degree any grinder does, but grinders designed for espresso have tighter spreads, so they provide much more of the size you want (so your water can actually pass through) and much less of what you don’t want. Incidentally this is something I like about specialty coffee industry compared to other connoisseur stuff like wine. Wine experts walk around talking about the earthy aromas, if some coffee ‘expert’ tries to do the same, someone in the audience busts out a refractometer and says ‘aight, let’s see’. It’s still a money pit, but it’s at least on a much more scientifically solid ground.
- lostlogin 5y agoThanks. I’ll add a pointer towards Mazzer grinders too. The key is to buy them when they are described as broken, then they are very cheap. As far as I can tell they are almost never broken as such. Either something inside needs plugging back in, or the on/off switch needs replacing (it’s got spades on it, so just plug a new one in). They are nearly entirely metal, with the few plastic components readily available. The are quite easy to sand and repaint too, so you can match them to other bits of equipment or decor. The correct colour choice is a 1970s orange.
- secabeen 5y agoAnd if you want an overkill coffee grinder, get a Kafatek Monolith, or a Weber Workshops model.