# Japanese Hand Grinders with Floating Burrs - Good thing or Bad thing?



## JamesG (Mar 29, 2012)

What does everyone think about the floating burr on hand grinders like the Porlex, Hario Slim etc? Is it a good thing that the upper burr isn't fixed? Or do you think it leads to too many inconsistencies particularly on a coarse grind for say a french press?

From a bit of surfing, I've read that having a floating burr is good for espresso grind as it allows the inner burr to self center on a tight setting. But it becomes a problem on coaser settings as the burrs are not forced apart until after grinding has begun so it leads to more fines.

Has anyone experimented by fixing (wedging) the upper burr in place to see if this makes a difference?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

JamesG said:


> What does everyone think about the floating burr on hand grinders like the Porlex, Hario Slim etc? Is it a good thing that the upper burr isn't fixed? Or do you think it leads to too many inconsistencies particularly on a coarse grind for say a french press?
> 
> From a bit of surfing, I've read that having a floating burr is good for espresso grind as it allows the inner burr to self center on a tight setting. But it becomes a problem on coaser settings as the burrs are not forced apart until after grinding has begun so it leads to more fines.
> 
> Has anyone experimented by fixing (wedging) the upper burr in place to see if this makes a difference?


I am frustrated with the amount of fines from my Porlex, this gets better the finer you go...not brilliant for french-press type grinds...not too bad for aeropress.


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## Monkey_Devil (Jul 11, 2011)

Totally agree Gary. I like the grind coarse and brew long methods for French press, but the grind is not very consistent for it with the porlex.


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## tribs (Feb 21, 2012)

I have not had my Porlex mini long. It's a lovely design and well made, but I echo the above. I wonder if what you say is correct whether discarding the initial grinds would improve things.


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## JamesG (Mar 29, 2012)

I think it effects the last few grinds too as there's less mass to force the burrs apart. You'd probably have to seive the grinds afterwards which would be a major pain in the arse.


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## tribs (Feb 21, 2012)

Stop early?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I think the solution is a Baratza Maestro Plus, or a 2nd hand Ditting 804 /Mahlkonig Tanzania (this might take years to find). Yes the brewed coffee tastes leagues better through the later mentioned grinders

The Porlex is best left for travel / work.


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## JamesG (Mar 29, 2012)

Have you seen this ridiculously expensive hand grinder: http://www.orphanespresso.com/OE-PHAROS-Hand-Coffee-Grinder_p_3977.html

Not knocking the workmanship or design, just think its a lot of money for a hand grinder.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

The Lido is much better priced and probably a good thing for brewed coffee...BUT the same price as a Baratza Maestro.


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## lookseehear (Jul 16, 2010)

That's not an expensive hand grinder, check out the portaspresso rosco here.

If you consider that the pharos uses huge conical burrs and supposedly produces a grind for espresso comparable with a Robur or similar it isn't that expensive. As well as the fact that each one is made by hand and is pretty much bomb-proof! I'm really tempted by the Lido as a long term replacement for my porlex but maybe not just yet.


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

I remember reading recently about some people who reported improvements by sifting the grounds prior to brewing. This greatly reduced the amount of fines and improved the consistency of the remaining grounds used for brewing. Apparently there was also a noticeable improvement to the taste too.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2


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## JamesG (Mar 29, 2012)

lookseehear said:


> If you consider that the pharos uses huge conical burrs and supposedly produces a grind for espresso comparable with a Robur or similar it isn't that expensive. As well as the fact that each one is made by hand and is pretty much bomb-proof! I'm really tempted by the Lido as a long term replacement for my porlex but maybe not just yet.


As I said I'm not knocking the design or quality I just meant that at the end of the it's only a hand grinder. I could see the Lido as being quite tempting if you're travelling a lot though.

I'm not entirely convinced that a Pharos could compete with a Robur or something lesser for that matter. Surely the extra force that an electric motor has will give a more consistent grind? Or are the burrs on a Pharos sharper than on a Robur? Or am I barking up the wrong tree - physics was never my strong point?


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

I could be wrong but I imagine that the force driving the burrs would have little effect on grind quality or consistency except perhaps that a larger motor will potentially generate less heat than a smaller one and also will probably last longer and be more suited to grinding larger volumes.

In fact, I imagine the slower turning of burrs from manual operation could potentially be superior to an electric equivalent.


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## lookseehear (Jul 16, 2010)

From videos I've seen of the Pharos it looks easy to operate and takes considerably less time to grind for espresso than any other hand grinder (maybe 30 seconds over a couple of minutes!). The main problem with it is removing the ground coffee - I believe it takes a fair bit of shaking to get it all out.


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## JamesG (Mar 29, 2012)

My logic was that at higher speeds when the burrs hit the bean it would produce cleaner fractures. There'd be a higher probability that the burrs would just take one small slice off the bean at each impact as they'd have more inertia to carve straight through it. At slower speeds (and particularly on coarser settings) when the burrs struck the bean it was more likely to get wedged between the burrs and then crushed and this would cause fines.

But that's just my theory.


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## beebah (Apr 1, 2012)

Hi, I have a porlex tall grinder and I find there is a lot of play when the burrs aren't very close together too. I saw these mods but haven't had a chance to try them out yet. http://coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/564267

I also find that lighter roasted beans are more likely to catch and break into pieces rather than being ground.

Nick


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