Suddenly, it's not enough

Kelsey

I've been using the Breville Smart Grinder for the last couple of years and have always felt it was perfectly fine, with the exception being that it would choke on the occasional harder bean. For those purchasing their roasts, that's fine. For me, likely to stuff up a roast, it was an occasional pain in the bum.

I recently picked up a used Rocky Doser model to chew through these occasional harder beans but of late I've found myself favouring the Rocky more and more.

It's not that the Breville doesn't grind as well as it always has, it does.

But whether it's the slightly more finicky requirements of a lever machine or the improvement in my palate (thanks to having Lamkin Lane nearby) I'm not enjoying the results of the Breville nearly as much as that of the Rocky.

Which is a pain, because that damn doser retains grinders like no-one's business.

I suspect it's also down to the clumping (or lack thereof) that's the result of the doser action - consistency is up using the doser.

That said, the eventual goal will be to find a doserless that fits my needs better without having to resort to finicky distribution techniques.

Brett H

Get a click-clack lid for Mr Rocky.  It makes the world of difference.  The Rocky is a great grinder and I've often wondered why Rancilio are not interested in a couple of tweaks to make it a 'category killer'.  Possibly it's that Italian modus operandi of best materials, best motor... Best $$$ and where's the air-con, power windows and radio? I know a brave forum member who has persevered with the Breville in spite of owning a Vario and others.  He has the skills however to facilitate that his unit is better than it can be.  That sounds like twaddle but once you see him work on machinery you'd know what I mean. So mate, my journey was (of grinders I didn't get refunds for or sell on): Mr Lux (awesome... Still have it, still use it on camps and it's 18yo) Mr Rocky (now on plunger duties at work) Mr F5 (paired with my pavoni lever) A8 Automatica (impulse purchase sitting on my studio floor... Ornament duties) K10 (main espresso grinder) Now... You could save a lot money by going straight to K10/Kony/BNZ or you can follow my fiscally unsound path of depreciable uncollectibles  >:D

Kelsey

But I **LIKE** having collectibles floating around gathering dust... I hadn't seen that click-clack lid mod before - that's fantastic. Do you know if KMart still stock them? The K10 Fresh or Elektra Nino are my two wishlist items. One day...

Brett H

I've not seen them in a long while.  If you get one, buy a few... They aren't easy to come by I reckon though I haven't looked hard.

conikal

Click -clack lids are harder to find than a virgin at schoolies ! One option might be to remove the doser and go "nakid" ...much neater and less messy !

Brett H

on 1393818668:

Click -clack lids are harder to find than a virgin at schoolies ! One option might be to remove the doser and go "nakid" ...much neater and less messy !

http://www.coastalkitchenware.com.au/default/shop-by-brand-1/click-clack.html?p=2 I'd reckon its the middle one but I'm inclined to buy all three just go be sure...  They actually make good storage containers also  :thumb:

Kelsey

From what I've read, the 600ml containers are the go.

Kelsey

I think the only 'real' problem in terms of retention is that of the chute - while an enormous amount of ground coffee seems to coat the sides of the doser, I suspect that once coated it sticks there and isn't regularly turned over. I'm still gettiing superior shots out of it, so I really can't be bothered getting to fussy about brushing out the doser after every shot.

Brett H

The click clack will solve the majority of the issues and you won't have to discard the first double shots worth of grinds before every session to move the stakes through the chute.  The click clack just paid for itself in time and product wastage

Kelsey

I'm absolutely getting one of those. I think the Smart Grinder might be up for sale in the near future.

Koffee_Kosmo

I have used a few grinders and have settled on a favourite - a large conical For your jumping bean problem you can make a DIY hacky sack of the right size for your rocky They can be easily made by loose filling a balloon with rice and green beans and tying it off Something like this - a real hacky sack Attachment not found.

Ronin

on 1393895702:

I'm absolutely getting one of those. I think the Smart Grinder might be up for sale in the near future.

Funny K, it wasn't that long age we did the 'Grind Off' and the smart grinder was enough.  :pan

Kelsey

Yeah man, I'm not unaware of the irony. Maybe it's the beans, maybe the upper burr has loosened a little, maybe it's the extreme humidity we've had lately. I still preferred the Kony-E of course!

QM0996

Click Clack principle is good... but only removes free flowing grinds.

[li]Sweeping the chute does a little and or cleaning the doser does next to nothing....[/li]

[/li] [/list] If on a clean system; if you were to weigh and grind, then even after cleaning and collecting you would be short. There can be significant grinds that are trapped between the burrs outer dia and the wall of the grinder.  Thus the only way to clean is to have the burs rotate and use good vacuum and or compressed air.... HOWEVER you would then need to add extra beans to the first grind OR you will be short in the dose... Simple method, run a half shot through the grinder and collect into a container...  Over time you can sell these grinds to the neighbour  or re pack some pods and still get good results. OR You keep them and use to re condition / flush your machine after a chemical clean.

Kelsey

That's definitely one of the reasons why the Rocky is a short-term solution for me. I really can't be bovvered mucking around cleaning the damn thing out every shot. I'll live with adding a click-clack lid and pushing around the free flowing grinds - everything else coating its seemingly glue-like interior can damn well stay there.