# Hurting burrs by grinding to empty hopper?



## Unknowing (Apr 27, 2021)

To start: I have a Gaggia MDF grinder with dispenser.

I'm still drinking my drip coffee during work days and only do espressos in weekends or after work (say 10-15 runs a week) as a treat so I'm not really using the dispenser feature. I'm simply grinding and flicking the dispenser all the time to bring the fresh grounds into my basket. I have a scale next to me to check that I hit the right amount and will have to stop my grind to check the weight 2-3 times per espresso. This is not seamless.

I have thought about, and seen others, *weighing my beans in a separate cup before adding it to a completely empty hopper and simply running the grinder until I hear it's not grinding anything*, instead of having some 3-4 espressos worth of beans in the hopper to have it ready, but not let them sit in "open" air too long.

My question is if this will hurt the burrs or motor of the grinder more than using the hopper as intended. I've seen "single dose grinder" or something along those lines. Are they in some mechanical way different to be able to handle any additional stress from running until empty, or are they essentially just sleeker grinders without a large hopper?

Thanks.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

@Unknowing Welcome to the forum....No it won't hurt the burrs at all.

No need to bold and underline (just bold is fine), we used to have someone who did that all the time, with capitals, underlines bold etc..

HTML links are underlined automatically and it can causes confusion.. 😉


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## 29244 (Feb 8, 2021)

A grinder running without beans is like a car engine idling. No harm done if you run either for a bit before putting them under load.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Someone went away for the weekend and left their Niche running for 3 days I think it was.... 🤣


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## Unknowing (Apr 27, 2021)

tompoland said:


> A grinder running without beans is like a car engine idling. No harm done if you run either for a bit before putting them under load.


 Ah ok, using your analogy, my worry is if the lack of resistance from beans will leave the car on the rev limiter, rather than idle, and hurt the engine. But that is not the case then?


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Unknowing said:


> Ah ok, using your analogy, my worry is if the lack of resistance from beans will leave the car on the rev limiter, rather than idle, and hurt the engine. But that is not the case then?


 No.


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