cappuccinoboy Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2009 Posts: 789 Location: MILANO Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Milano pod, Milano fully... Grinder: grind on demand
Posted Sat Aug 4, 2012, 9:47am Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
Saraluna Said:
Hi all!
I've been making espresso for about a year with the Rancilio Silvia, my first espresso machine. I've been using a blade grinder, and my birthday is coming up, so I thought I'd get a better one.
I'm looking for a nice automatic burr grinder, good for espresso, that is easy to clean and will efficiently deposit ground coffee right into my portofilter. I can't afford anything out of the $100 range. I was recommended the Capresso Infinity, but the reviews on here seem to suggest that the grind is not right for espresso. Any other suggestions?
how comes that no one is mentioning those nice conical burrs grinders in the 250$ range, like Lelit, Vanelli's. Ascaso, Iberital and a few more: stepless, conical burrs, electric, as I cannot envisage poor Sara going with hand grinder: Rancilio Silvia was a good choice but with blade grinder you must have been drinking everything but espresso, you would probably have been better off with a stove top Moka... 250 is probably not in your budget, but it is your birthday, so make it a special one, by the way Happy Birthday !!!!!!!! Ciao, Pietro
Saraluna Senior Member Joined: 3 Aug 2012 Posts: 12 Location: usa Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Aug 5, 2012, 9:49pm Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
cappuccinoboy Said:
how comes that no one is mentioning those nice conical burrs grinders in the 250$ range, like Lelit, Vanelli's. Ascaso, Iberital and a few more: stepless, conical burrs, electric, as I cannot envisage poor Sara going with hand grinder: Rancilio Silvia was a good choice but with blade grinder you must have been drinking everything but espresso, you would probably have been better off with a stove top Moka... 250 is probably not in your budget, but it is your birthday, so make it a special one, by the way Happy Birthday !!!!!!!! Ciao, Pietro
FrankyD Senior Member Joined: 27 Jul 2012 Posts: 58 Location: Davis, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Starbucks Barista Grinder: Baratza Preciso/Kyocera... Drip: Bodum French Press Roaster: WB Poppery I
Posted Sun Aug 5, 2012, 10:01pm Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
Shameless plug, but there's someone posting a Baratza Preciso for 250 shipped(?) in the Buy, Sell, Trade forum. But that's beyond your budget.
If you don't mind refurbished units, Baratza has a program where they refurbish grinders returned to them and then post it on their website.
A Baratza Encore will probably do you well. They show up pretty frequently for under $100. But if you can stretch your budget a bit, it's only $129, brand new and highly rated.
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 1:22am Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
FrankyD Said:
A Baratza Encore will probably do you well. They show up pretty frequently for under $100. But if you can stretch your budget a bit, it's only $129, brand new and highly rated.
i wouldnt suggest an encore for anything beyond a pressurized portafilter. they dont have the grind adjustability and i really wasnt impressed with the grind quality when i had it.
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,723 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 7:05am Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
Kyle himself said on here before the Encore was released that it wasn't really designed for espresso...and I haven't seen one post on this board saying it's anything better than mediocre for espresso.
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 8:19am Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
Yeah. I have the Encore, and you may be able to mod it to make it more espresso-capable, but out of the box it's not nearly consistent enough to be espresso-competent (capable, maybe, but it depends on what you mean by capable). It has a good amount of steps, but there aren't enough options in the espresso range to really be considered as a serious espresso option. It would be a HUGE compromise.
cappuccinoboy Said:
how comes that no one is mentioning those nice conical burrs grinders in the 250$ range, like Lelit, Vanelli's. Ascaso, Iberital and a few more: stepless, conical burrs, electric, as I cannot envisage poor Sara going with hand grinder: Rancilio Silvia was a good choice but with blade grinder you must have been drinking everything but espresso, you would probably have been better off with a stove top Moka... 250 is probably not in your budget, but it is your birthday, so make it a special one, by the way Happy Birthday !!!!!!!! Ciao, Pietro
These are cheaper options, but still out of your price range. And in that price range, you can get yourself a used SJ or the like, which would be significantly better and last years longer.
Saraluna Said:
So....I should stick with the blade grinder? ): A hand grinder is not really an option...
Absolutely not. With a blade grinder, you're almost better off using preground. Almost. I'm not sure which is worse, but neither should be an option. The blade is WILDLY inconsistent, as it just chops instead of grinding. It also heats the grounds while chopping, which is also going to damage your final product.
I wish you the best on your search, but you're setting up an impossible scenario by saying that you want an espresso-capable grinder under $100 and will not use a hand grinder. You really just need to up your budget or use a hand grinder. You're using an alright espresso machine and trying to use the cheapest possible grinder. The Sylvia is known for being finicky, and you're setting yourself up for failure by pairing it with anything but a competent espresso grinder. The grinder is much more important than the machine, and you're giving it a back seat. You're really going to limit yourself to bad espresso by spending anything less than a couple hundred on a used grinder.
Saraluna Senior Member Joined: 3 Aug 2012 Posts: 12 Location: usa Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 10:47am Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
I guess it depends on your idea of failure. I set out to make something better than I would get at a store, at home. Even with the blade grinder I've been doing that. I asked for a recommendation of an auto grinder that would be better than my blade grinder, in my price range. While I gather that this would not be up to the rigorous standards of people in this forum, I genuinely cannot afford something more expensive, and telling me to "up my budget" is not helpful, nor does it answer my question.
ANY burr grinder would apparently be better than the blade, correct? So my question is, is there one in my price range that this board would recommend?
Thank you to everyone who has suggested grinders and posted info. I am reading it all to try and come to a good decision.
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