# Dosing chamber or no dosing chamber?



## coffeeman (Mar 20, 2010)

So I've been wondering this for a while and it may seem an obvious question but why not use the chambers in a grinder?

They can be adjusted specifically to dispense a pre-determined amount right?

We spend loads of time adjusting dose weight to get the right flavor profile so why do people flap the paddle until the basket's full? Sure it keeps the ground fresher than leaving it in the chamber but how do you know you're getting exactly 18g's rather than 16g's?

maybe I'm just being stupid?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Not a silly question at all.

The amount of coffee in each chamber is adjusted by raising or lowering the spindle in the middle (you'll need to weigh the grounds dispensed after resetting)

However, this only dispenses relatively consistently providing you have filled the hopper to completely cover each chamber

In doing this you are grinding too much coffee to be used and it starts to go stale - hence grinding on demand and thwacking the lever continuously (and dosing by sight) is widely adopted amongst independant cafes to alleviate this issue

Many chain cafes choose to fill the dosing chamber to somewhere near half full and keep top filling throughout the day

We should all try to encourage these cafes to grind on demand for a better tasting coffee


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## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

My local independent coffee shop doesn't use a doser at all. They have a big mazzer with a chrome chute and beans are ground direct into portafilter, and hand tamped. They use a timer to get roughly the same amount of grinds each time. It's the best coffee shop coffee I've ever had!


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## Barry Cook (Feb 14, 2012)

As a "pro" barista, I don't use the hoppers any more due to the issue of freshness, instead using the technique Glenn has already mentioned. Also remember that just because the hopper is full, there is a chance of air pockets, meaning an inaccurate dose as it will not be the full weight. In an ideal world I would be using a doserless grinder but can't afford one for the moment, so make do with the next best thing.


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

We use dosers at Bewiched, and the classic lever thwack. A bit noisy and inconvenient but it breaks the clumps up and it can be quite handy to have if a long list of drinks come through, as sometimes the Super Jolly isn't fast enough at peak times and letting the chamber fill just enough for the next shot in the queue whilst steaming milk etc speeds things up dramatically, then obviously leaving it empty after!

When I worked in Costa, we experienced the problem Glenn highlighted if the grinder wasn't left to auto-fill itself.


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