# Leave beans in hopper?



## gingerneil (Aug 21, 2014)

My new graef cm80 arrived today, so far so good. I pull about 3 doubles a day.

Just wondering... Do people generally leave beans in the hopper, or dose and clean each time? The grinder seems to retain a few grams - so I'll have to learn how to deal with that too.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

http://londiniumespresso.com/blog/single-dosing-forget-it


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

How is the grinder?


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## gingerneil (Aug 21, 2014)

Thanks for the link - I'll go with that!









So far so good with the grinder. I'm on setting 2 for espresso - but will shim the bottom burr to shift that up a little. The shots coming out of my classic are great, even with the end of my older bag of Italian Job.

The one issue I have at the moment is with clogging of the shute and grind retention. I have to give it a good thump after I grind, and a few grams of coffee drop out.

I'll have more of a play over the weekend.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

You'll get that on most small grinders (and even a lot of big, expensive ones) - glad to hear it's working well though


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## sjenner (Nov 8, 2012)

jeebsy said:


> http://londiniumespresso.com/blog/single-dosing-forget-it


This was my reference point for the grinder that I have on order... K10 PB...

CC is ordering some of those Auber timers and one is for me...

I can use this to time a dose from the hopper and hopefully get more or less the dose I want for the cup... (he said hopefully).

The doser does a great job of mixing the grinds up, which (again hopefully) will remove the need for WDT/RDT.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Timer doser ftw


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

Sorry to say,if I dare, I don't completely agree with Londinium.

In my actual experience I would say it depends very much on the grinder & the type of beans you are using. Very dark roasted oily beans left in the hopper in a kitchen atmosphere over time cannot be good.

The Versalab single doses beautifully. I never felt the need to fit the hopper & sometimes I needed to produce espresso in numbers. You develop a routine to deal with the situation. The EK43 I also single dose. With its long, relatively, narrow neck before entering the grind path the beans push through evenly. I played around putting a small heavy ball on top of the beans to assist pass through but I found no difference in the results.

However given normal use with a suitable grinder leaving beans in the hopper would be OK if that is your preference.


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## gingerneil (Aug 21, 2014)

A good tip I picked up on a Barista Intro course at Pumphreys in Newcastle was to put some beans into the hopper, seal the back and then put this in the hopper on top of the beans. You therefore get the weight, but the ones in the bag remained sealed up. This generally works well with 500g/1kg bags tho - the smaller 250g ones are too small.


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## sjenner (Nov 8, 2012)

To be fair to Reiss, this was his position following the acquisition of the K10 Fresh and following a discussion on the forum between he and a forum member (kfir) on the benefits of dosers (B and PB) over on demand (Fresh).

Apparently he single doses on his Compak R120...

...As Ron says, more horses for courses really but if gingerneil is using a Graef with a doser, he is probably OK loading the hopper with 250g and using as indicated on the Londinium blog and pointed out by jeebsy.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

I'm pretty much in agreement with everything said in the above link BUT from time to time I have to single dose. I don't mind so much with the vario though as its pretty consistent either way.


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## hubrad (May 6, 2013)

I have that model.. ended up with one of the included washers plus one of my own to get it so that the burrs just clash right down the scale. Now use about 8-10 for espresso and the full 30 still works nicely for cafetiere.

Personally I single dose the beans into the hopper, more because I switch back and forth between two or three favourites. Using electronic scales I eventually found a particular small glass which nicely holds a double's worth.


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## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

Those who know me will know i can't be f******g bothered with single dosing. It's a pain in the arse, ultra geeky, and makes you look like a [email protected] in front of any guests you happen to make coffee for. Weighing the dose and the output is bad enough, but at least it's quick and easy.

I don't throw a whole bag of beans in, but generally I put a couple of days worth in from the bag and just top up a needed, I then just grind what I need. I'd prefer an on demand grinder, or a timer for the super jolly so that I don't have to keep guessing how long I'm grinding for. But I plan to eventually replace the SJ with an on demand Major anyway, so that'll take care of that.


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## hubrad (May 6, 2013)

Guests round ours just keep chatting while coffee stuff goes on. . One or two exceptions, who you you can just tell are itching for a go themselves! The frontman of one of the bands now has an Aeropress and gets beans from Limini!


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