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I'm not a full on coffee geek and have limited funds to spend on it, but I do enjoy it and a few half decent cups are are pretty much essential to get through the day.
I've not (yet) gone down the espresso rabbit hole, and very much brew on the cheap. Aeropress mostly, cafetiere or moka pot occasionally. I have a PACT subscription and also buy beans from a local roaster. I have a cheap grinder, which has just died. A Krups GVX231. The grind size adjuster has broken and is stuck on coarse. I have stripped it and there are teeth missing from nasty plastic cogs so not easily repairable without parts - and it wasn't that great anyway.
Is there such a thing as a half decent burr grinder, second hand probably, for around the £80-£100 mark?
You sound similar to me.. and I've been happy enough with my Bodum Bistro for Aeropress etc.
It does suffer from static a bit (don't know if this is common) but adding a drip of water to the beans sorts that out.
I got a Dualit 75015 earlier in the year.
Metal burrs and seems to do the job..
I'm no pro so can't give you anymore than that!
My John Lewis Krups grinder died to be successfully replaced by the De Longhi version https://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLonghi-KG79-Professional-Burr-Grinder/dp/B002OHDBQC/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3BVWPJKJW87AM&keywords=burr+grinder&qid=1665750488&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0Ljg3IiwicXNhIjoiNC40NiIsInFzcCI6IjQuMDEifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=Burr%2Caps%2C65&sr=8-6
£60 currently.
I have the Krups one. It's not that good - doesn't reliably go fine enough, BUT I have discovered the secret to getting perfect reliable espresso every time, with a cheap grinder:
Grind the beans twice. Set it slightly coarser, but put the grounds back through. It makes them finer than the first time round so you need to set the machine coarser, but it also appears to be more consistent sizing. It packs the grounds down more, so make sure you measure out your beans when they are still whole.
I measured that a heaped spoonful of the scoop I use is about 18g. After being ground once that wouldn't pack down enough to fit, but it does after the second.
Dualit 75015
I've got the same.
Pros - metal internals.
Cons - I'm not convinced the finest setting is fine enough, my mostly non adjustable* Delonghi machine makes espresso very quickly with it.
number of cups selector dial is really just a timer, the minimum '2' is quite generous, I don't weigh it, just tip it into the portafilter by eye and can usually get it about right (i.e. I know what overfilled to the point no water will flow looks like).
I like coffee, but I'm not prepared to pay 'hobby' prices for coffee making kit. I only paid £20 off facebook marketplace.
*you can set duration, and temp as hi/med/low, but not pressure.
If you shop around you might find a Wilfa svart for about £100. I did a lot of research before I bought mine and it was the best bang for buck I could find. Adjustability is really good, it’s easy to clean and I think it looks ok on the counter. It makes noticeably better cups than the cheapo dualit it replaced.
If you shop around you might find a Wilfa svart for about £100.
Currently £95 on Amazon.. may come down for Black Friday. This was top of my list but unavailable when I bought my Bodum.
The Dualits and Bodiums look very similar to the Krups I'm replacing. I don't mind paying a little more for something that is maybe a little better made and likely to last a bit longer. That Wilfa Svart looks like it might fit the bill. I've just watched a James Hoffman review and for a non-commercial home grinder, he seems to rate it. Thanks all.
Knock were doing Aergrind seconds on eBay for £75 if you don't mind hand grinding. If you do Aeropress then the coarser grind doesn't take long at all and the quality should be much higher than any similarly priced electric grinder.
Knock were doing Aergrind seconds on eBay for £75 if you don’t mind hand grinding. If you do Aeropress then the coarser grind doesn’t take long at all and the quality should be much higher than any similarly priced electric grinder.
I did use a hand grinder for a while. Lazy I know, but it got old very quickly!
So...
Ordered a Wilfa Svart from PACT. They are currently doing them for £95 with 2 x free 250g packs of coffee. Thanks again all for the recommendations
Wow - that de longhi one was £40 when I bought it last year. It was poor to be honest, until via a thread on here I modded it to grind much finer. It’s good enough now for my basic tastes.
Spares are available for the Krups one - I've got the button and dial to change out on my old one so we can use it in the office.
Another happy Dualit owner here.
Spares are available for the Krups one
I've seen the power button and dial available, but not the internal plastic gears I need. I hate throwing stuff away, if I can fix it I will and keep it as a spare or give it to one of my kids.
I have the Bodum grinder, modified to go finer with this: https://www.shapeways.com/product/GB9H9Y8GY/burr-holder-for-bodum-bistro-0-8mm-finer-grind
It does go finer, noting that it can very occasionally jam with some brands of coffee.
I managed to pick up a slightly used Wifa Uniform for a hair over £100 so they are around.
I pondering the same thing. But I’m wondering about pushing the budget a little, since apparently this one also does espresso grind:
Hand grinder and a rechargeable drill. It does work. Hand grinding gets old quickly. Otherwise I have a delonghi as it’s the same as my break to cup.
Worth noting that a decent hand grinder will be much much faster than a cheap ceramic burr one. Grinding for Aeropress on an Aergrind will be less than 30 seconds for one dose which isn't much slower than an electric grinder. Even espresso grind is only about a minute
When the Svart arrives you might find this article on grind size useful:
https://squaremileblog.com/2018/06/26/wilfa-grind-size-guide/
I arrived at the same conclusion for aeropress (quite a bit finer than the built-in size guide) through trial and error and really improved my coffee.
For those with the Duallit 75015, there’s a mod you can do to move the burr rings closer and moves the range of adjustment towards the finer end of the spectrum. It’s a bit of a pain to do since the machine isn’t really friendly to disassemble, but once done it made a huge difference to mine, taking it from ‘not fine enough’ to ‘decent enough’ for espresso.
That said, I wouldn’t buy one (expecting to have to do this) - I’ve got better things to do with my time!
The grinder in my Sage Barista Pro seems decent - assume that’s similar to the Sage one posted.
Not espresso? I’d get one of these https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/wilfa-cgws-130b
Or for a bit more a sage https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/products/coffee-grinders.html
So much more choice at reasonable prices now compared with when I got my Mazzer Mini EL
@johnhe I've had one of those for 4 or 5 years, used every day, and it's been faultless. I think in previous threads it's probably been the most commonly recommended grinder in the 'not stupidly expensive' category.
@blokeuptheroad you may be able to sell the functioning parts on ebay as there is a thriving SH market for spares. I am after replacement clear plastic bits as mine are cracked / chipped and not sure how long they will last with my OHs juggling skills.
I have had mine for donkeys years so it doesn't owe anything. But have only recently started using it for an Aeropress, bought it for camping but it is now used every day)
I would be interested on how you get on with the new one.
Cheers @binman. If I can find the cogs I'll fix it. My son is just getting into coffee and I'll give it to him if I can fix it. It has served me well being in daily use for about three years and would probably carry on for many years for the want of 5 pence worth of plastic parts. I shall scour ebay!
I've got a brand new in box warranty replacement sage smart grinder pro I need to get round to selling. The one I use just about goes fine enough for espresso with the right beans, but I've not fiddled with it much.
@dc1988 good shout on the knock grinder, just ordered one to use at work with an aeropress. Seems ebay had a £6 off code too, sweetening the deal
It's a great price especially given what the new version now costs! I previously had a cheap ceramic burr hand grinder and the Aergrind is so much better in every respect.
If you tend to grind to the same level of coarseness/ fineness all the time then an Iberital MC2 would be my choice (we have 2). They dispense just what you need at the time, which stops the ground coffee from going stale but it's a bit of a faff moving from fine to coarse and back if you use different brewing methods. It's also not ideal if you want to grind a whole lot, but other than that they're great.