Posted Wed Oct 12, 2011, 4:36pm Subject: what's wrong with re-grinding, ground coffee?
i've always known NOT to put coffee that has already been ground into my burr grinders, and when it comes to espresso and my Baratza Vario, i have always followed that rule. BUT...
I also have an aeropress, and a couple of old solis 166/Starbucks Barista grinders. My wife has brought home several packages of Starbucks ground coffee that she gets in sheraton and other hotels, when she's on business trips. i use these preground packets in my aeropress, (removing the coffee from the paper filter of course), when i have them available so as not to waste them. also, most of the "good" coffee i roast for myself is blended especially for espresso, and is not the best for ordinary brewing.
i've been finding the preground starbucks hotel coffee packages to be not ground quite fine enough for the way i use my aeropress, so i have been re-grinding them a little finer using one of my old solis 166 burr grinders, (never my vario). what i want to know is, what exactly is wrong with regrinding? is it hard on the grinder? i'm sure it would never come out espresso quality, but who cares? i don't use reground starbucks for espresso anyway.
so in summary, is the problem with regrinding that it is hard on equipment, or that it merely produces inferior quality?
I think it's the latter. Most of the time, preground coffee means stale coffee (packed preground). Most people here are looking for good coffee so obviously they wouldn't even have preground coffee to begin with to put into the grinder. Another reason, assuming coffee fines are not desired and are causing overextraction in coffee brewing - each time you put coffee into the grinder, fines are inevitably produced. Inferior product as a result. That's the two main reason I supposed, with the first being a bigger influence. By putting preground coffee into the grinder, other than risking it being fouled with stale coffee, I don't think it does any harm to the grinder. =P Logically, grinding preground coffee requires less torque and thus will mostly have less load on the motor. There should be no harm to the grinder, not anymore than running the motor empty.
Posted Wed Oct 12, 2011, 5:02pm Subject: Re: what's wrong with re-grinding, ground coffee?
My vote's actually to the former. Grinders are designed so the big bits go in the top, and the small bits come out the bottom, in simple terms. When you add grinds to the hopper, you're increasing the chances they make their way into the internals, including the motor. While there may be some grind quality detriment, I'd never re-grind simply because I don't want to risk introducing an abrasive into moving parts. Some manufacturers may try to seal things up a bit better, but I'd guess the lower end grinders don't tend to include spiffy seals and things.
Posted Wed Oct 12, 2011, 5:45pm Subject: Re: what's wrong with re-grinding, ground coffee?
espresso is my main gig, and i would never, ever ever ever use anything but fresh coffee i roasted and ground myself for espresso. BUT i find aeropress MUCH more forgiving than espresso. enough so, that i use it as a "dumping ground" for coffee that i acquire here and there that does not meet the espresso standards i hold.
Posted Wed Oct 12, 2011, 6:56pm Subject: Re: what's wrong with re-grinding, ground coffee?
SteveRhinehart Said:
My vote's actually to the former. Grinders are designed so the big bits go in the top, and the small bits come out the bottom, in simple terms. When you add grinds to the hopper, you're increasing the chances they make their way into the internals, including the motor. While there may be some grind quality detriment, I'd never re-grind simply because I don't want to risk introducing an abrasive into moving parts. Some manufacturers may try to seal things up a bit better, but I'd guess the lower end grinders don't tend to include spiffy seals and things.
However if you must regrind I'd do it in a Zassenhaus or other similiar hand grinder. No motor or other related internals to be concerned with.
Len
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
Posted Thu Oct 13, 2011, 9:48am Subject: Re: what's wrong with re-grinding, ground coffee?
This situation probably differs for different grinders I guess. I have never have a clogged grinder with Mazzer. But with Vario, I did have to take the burr carrier out for a cleaning a few times if I went too fine. And that's with whole bean. My beans were light-medium roast. If you're regrinding but did not go too fine, I suppose the grinder should not be clogged as the ground is probably drier after being exposed to the air.
Also, about the comment for fines getting into motor. I find that with Vario it's probably a problem even with just grinding whole beans. So it should be a routine to clean them every once a while. Grinding preground coffee might cause slightly more harm but not that much more I think.
But in an attempt to produce a more consistent grind this morning, I decided to regrind. These are freshly-roasted beans that I just ground, and then re-ground. The result is a more consistently fine grind that produced a decent-tasting espresso.
Aside from clogging up a crappy $30 mill, I don't really see any drawbacks to this yet. Anybody have further thoughts on this?
so far, i have only reground using my cheap conical burr mills, (i have three of them), and not with my nice expensive vario. the cheap conicals are super easy to clean, so even the tendency to clog up is not a bother.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 