Indeed, if you can get it for that price, it'd be a real steal. Even at 200, that's a steal in my opinion.
Whatever you do choose at this point, aside from hand grinding, will be infinitely better than a blade grinder. I got one myself a few days ago from Baratza's Refurbished section...it's so much nicer to be able to time my shots and steam milk. 400 some odd adjustable settings is pretty overwhelming as well.
Yes, obviously that's a bid auction, so it could get bidded up in price. But even the buy it now at 200 is a great deal. It has the updated burr set so it's not that old. Find out from the seller if it had any updates done, like the 2.0 gear box (which either they would install or if a newer version it came equipped), updated perm adjustment arm, updated burr carrier (think that's all off the top of my head?). You can also get the serial code from them and verify/check with Baratza.
The Infinity would be fine if you had a pressurized portafilter machine which you don't (those are generally the cheaper entry level machines), but the Preciso is on another level. Once you get the right setting for espresso, all you have to do really is adjust the micro arm here and there for different beans, or as the beans age over upcoming days (can tweak a bit finer and finer etc).
Make sure your giving ample (least 30+ minutes) time for your Silvia to warm up, and learn a bit on temp surfing, and your going to be pulling awesome shots vs before. Also very important, make sure your using fresh roasted beans, anything store bought is pretty much stale, and not only that but not cheap either, even Starbucks beans can run 14 bucks for a lb of stale beans, and in my grocery stores like Publix etc you end up paying 12-15 bucks for 12oz bags of stale beans. I have few roasters around me that only charge as low as 12-13 bucks for a pound of fresh roasted beans. Where do you live as others may be able to point out places by you where you can get some great beans fairly cheap, you can order online too but then you have shipping cost. Even if not a local roaster, you may have a good coffee shop near you that get's fresh roasted orders in and they will generally sell you some.
They are sellers so keep that in my mind they would probably never slam a product they carry, but they say it works. Obviously, if you are making lattes then well I don't think it matters too much if your shot is plus or minus 5 seconds, just make sure it doesnt channel and you'll be okay.
You can always post a WTB a lower end worm drive conical, and see if anyone bites until you bite the bullet on the Encore.
And I would take the Encore over the Infinity it has 40 settings compared to 16.
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 1:22pm Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
For an extra $40 you can purchase the Baratza Encore. This grinder has 40 diff settings and I have seen it in action pulling good shots with a Rocket Giotto machine. This one I think would be idea for light to medium use. I have heard that if you need to really dial down not to grind excessively. Shots should be no problem tho. :)
Saraluna Senior Member Joined: 3 Aug 2012 Posts: 12 Location: usa Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 2:39pm Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
CMIN - I will definitely inquire with the seller. I always warm the Silvia for a half hour minimum. I have heard about temp surfing, but I gather you need some sort of peripheral for it, so I haven't tried it myself. I always buy recently roasted whole beans, both online and from local roasters.
Emrad - I did look at Baratza's page after the preciso was first suggested. Thank you for sticking around :) This board has been nothing if not informative.
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 Mon Aug 6, 2012, 3:01pm Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
Saraluna Said:
CMIN - I will definitely inquire with the seller. I always warm the Silvia for a half hour minimum. I have heard about temp surfing, but I gather you need some sort of peripheral for it, so I haven't tried it myself. I always buy recently roasted whole beans, both online and from local roasters.
Emrad - I did look at Baratza's page after the preciso was first suggested. Thank you for sticking around :) This board has been nothing if not informative.
Temp surfing isn't as much the peripherals. It's more trying to figure out the temperature range at which the machine brews best; the water sitting in the boiler will cool over time until the low temperature triggers the thermostat to kick on the boiler. You just get more pleasing shots if you can find where the sweet spot is.
Sara, generally people seem to say you can't get your money's worth with something less than $100 and suggest to "up" your budget to get something better. While valid, I honestly don't think you can get much better than either used items, hand grinder, or sticking with the Encore vs the Infinity. That's probably how I would pursue it.
If you can get the Preciso off ebay for $200, it'll probably last you a long time. If not, the Encore ($85 refurb from Baratza) isn't a bad choice by any means for okay espresso. Anything is better than a blade grinder for coffee grinding.
Posted Mon Aug 6, 2012, 3:28pm Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
Saraluna Said:
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.
With all due respect, you asked for advice, and I tried to give it to the best of my knowledge and ability. I cannot imagine how you're getting better results from a blade grinder and your Sylvia without temp surfing than you would get anywhere else, but I'm not going to argue taste, because that's not an objective enough argument.
So yes, any burr grinder is going to be better than your blade grinder. But there aren't any in your price range (under 100) that I would recommend. That was my answer to your question. I apologize if it came off as unhelpful, but I feel that it's unhelpful to tell you that you're going to get good results with anything under about $200, unless you get a really awesome deal. I'm sorry that that's not the answer you wanted, but that's the truth.
Saraluna Senior Member Joined: 3 Aug 2012 Posts: 12 Location: usa Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Tue Aug 7, 2012, 10:47am Subject: Re: Help me pick a grinder?
That's the thing; taste is a subjective argument, and not one really worth having. Since making coffee is largely about taste, "good results" are rather subjective, too.
However, I'm grateful for the advice of everyone on this forum. I like being informed. I genuinely wish my budget was higher, but c'est la vie.
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