# Grinder for novice



## 3smees23 (Oct 3, 2017)

Hi All,

My first post on here guys. Looking for recommendations for a first grinder, of course this will be 2nd hand. I don't really want to spend more than £100.

I would appreciate your thoughts as not sure what makes/models are half decent.

Many thanks

Sam


----------



## Rakesh (Jun 3, 2017)

You will struggle to get a decent espresso grinder for under £100, try stretching your budget to around £160 for a used 64mm commercial.


----------



## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

Are you going to use for espresso or filter?

For espresso, I think the best bet would be to get a hand grinder at that price range, like the AerGrind or Feldgrind.

For filter, you can also try AerGrind or if you want electric the Wilfa grinder is the best entry level one. Workshop coffee have a quite good deal.


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Cheap grinders are a bit of a problem. Used commercial ones are often priced well over £100 and may have a doser attached. For home use that would drive me nuts. I've seen video's of people for ever working the lever to get coffee out as it's ground. The dosers are intended to be filled to some extent before being used just as they are in cafes etc. Mods to remove the doser may or may not work. I asked on here about one model and was warned that I would have problems.

So IMHO which may vary from others you probably need to spend over £100. The obvious answer is one of Sage's models. There is a seller on ebay that seems to handle Sage's returns from a number of sources. The model I bought of them have all gone but there was a substantial saving. It's the smart grinder pro but they also do a cheaper model. That is not that much over £100.

Another model but pass as far as I am concerned but other people on here will be aware of it is the one mentioned here

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?3380-Switching-grinders-from-a-Gaggia-MDF-to-a-Iberital-MC2

I also recently bough a Graef grinder. The one that usually retails at about £150 or more. I managed to get it for £124 but am currently sending it back I hope via a paypal dispute. It's extremely well made and has some interesting design features but perhaps the best was of putting it is that it has grind settings that can't be used as they clog the burrs up with the beans I like most. It very probably will with others too. They also do a model that is under £100. I did see a video on youtube of some one using one successfully but don't know what beans he was using etc. If you do go that way maybe Amazon would be a good idea due to their returns policy or some similar outlet.








While I have the Smart Grinder Pro I haven't used it yet. It's a 2nd grinder as there is one in my Espresso machine, a Sage BE. There's nothing really wrong with that grinder so the pro should be the same. The only problem with it maybe is that it has steps but that hasn't been a problem so far and the pro has more. I'm not a perfectionist though.

John

-


----------



## Rakesh (Jun 3, 2017)

Dosers are perfectly fine in a home environment provided you weigh how much coffee is in the portafilter. Some doser mods can make it easier but they are pretty fine by themselves. The sage grinder is okay, but you won't get the best out of your machine with one.


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Rakesh said:


> Dosers are perfectly fine in a home environment provided you weigh how much coffee is in the portafilter. Some doser mods can make it easier but they are pretty fine by themselves. The sage grinder is okay, but you won't get the best out of your machine with one.


I've seen that comment several times. Perhaps some one could explain why people wont get the best out of their machine.

John

-


----------



## Rakesh (Jun 3, 2017)

ajohn said:


> I've seen that comment several times. Perhaps some one could explain why people wont get the best out of their machine.
> 
> John
> 
> -


Stepped adjustment prevents fine tuning, one step in one direction may be too large a step to get the desired results and therefore preventing the required extraction for the shot you are after, thus preventing someone from getting the best extraction they can from their machine, ofcourse this is completely dependent on the size of the steps, and the sage grinders steps are a large enough size to become frustrating.


----------



## DaveP (Jul 14, 2017)

ajohn said:


> I've seen that comment several times. Perhaps some one could explain why people wont get the best out of their machine.
> 
> John
> 
> -


Basically... its because limited personal knowledge is a dangerous thing, and a bull shit filter may have to be applied


----------



## Obnic (Jan 14, 2014)

+1 for dosers are not a problem for home use.

They deliver perfectly fluffy static free grounds to the portafilter. Also the fact that many folk don't readily favour dosers often means you can get a lot of grinder for your money. Definitely worth considering. Why not take advantage of the forum day to try a couple of machines out. Talk to @coffeechap, in my experience he's incapable of not being helpful, and often has access to improbably good deals on grinders - a good friend to make.


----------



## DaveP (Jul 14, 2017)

> +1 for dosers are not a problem for home use.


A problem (or issue) being related to.... 'how much are you using at a single time' for this unknown home.

But indulge me and let me assume that for Mr & Mrs average both working and with 2.368 children who are in full time education, their normal coffee bean consumption for espresso is in the order of 125g per week.. ergo a doser would be more faff / more wastage than it was worth.

If however they were grinding for any other method ..... then a doser is kinda (insert suitable rude word here)

Yes.. I'm guessing about a situation that we have no facts about, lol


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

DaveP said:


> Basically... its because limited personal knowledge is a dangerous thing, and a bull shit filter may have to be applied










I'm not sure which side smells.

People need to bear in mind that all have a budget. What's best? Forget the idea or being able to make decent coffee. People can spend all sorts of money on single group head machines. Budget in that area definitely crops up on here.

Personally while the Ibertal is stepless I'd buy the Sage because as I change beans I can easily set it back to the settings I have used before. The SGP is better for that because the time can be set for the dose as well. Not so easy on the BE or their other grinder. :







I'm thinking of making a dial for it but am wondering if the knob just pulls off as I could simply buy one then.

It's also possible to dose onto scales on the SGP while it records the time taken. The time can then be set into the machine.

John

-


----------



## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

I've just stuck my doser back on the SJ. I'll take the couple of grams each shot wastage for reduced mess any day haha. You find you get a rough idea of how long to run the grinder for, so for 16-18g I know I need to run the grinder for 10-12 seconds


----------



## Rakesh (Jun 3, 2017)

joey24dirt said:


> I've just stuck my doser back on the SJ. I'll take the couple of grams each shot wastage for reduced mess any day haha. You find you get a rough idea of how long to run the grinder for, so for 16-18g I know I need to run the grinder for 10-12 seconds


Exactly, someone who has been running a doser gets familiar with the amount of time needed to run the grinder and wastage is usually minimal, pair that with a lens hood and purges become no longer necessary.


----------



## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

Rakesh said:


> Exactly, someone who has been running a doser gets familiar with the amount of time needed to run the grinder and wastage is usually minimal, pair that with a lens hood and purges become no longer necessary.


I tried the funnel for a week and couldn't get on with it so gave up haha


----------



## Rakesh (Jun 3, 2017)

joey24dirt said:


> I tried the funnel for a week and couldn't get on with it so gave up haha


Any reason why not? I'd been looking at them for a while. Perhaps we could discuss via pm so as to not derail the thread?


----------



## Obnic (Jan 14, 2014)

DaveP said:


> A problem (or issue) being related to.... 'how much are you using at a single time' for this unknown home...


I have a dosered Robur. I use it with a borosilicate tube with a 1kg weight on top of the beans. It is accurate to +/- 0.3g per timed dose.

Now I'm not advocating a Robur (love them as I do, they have other issues) but we shouldn't be frightened of dosered grinders. A 'clean sweep modification' and a keen sense of time, or better still an Auber timer mod, can make them entirely manageable and relatively waste free. In return you get big burrs, strong engine torque, and static free grounds. All for a keen price.

You have to spend a big wad of cash to get fluffy grounds from an on demand grinder.


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

There is a Mazer Mini Electronic on ebay at the moment with some hopeful early bidders, an hour or so to go.







Maybe some with doser should change. Most grinders that do come up do have dosers which I believe is why people own them not by choice.

John

-


----------

