[For Sale] L'Anna Hand-Fill, Mazzer Grinder & Knock Box

[HughF]

I find that the last two (?) double shots from the MXK's hopper are much inferior to the earlier shots. As I use a bottomless portafilter it is very obvious.

Dr.Chris - I seem to remember that owners said that the Mazzer's doser was not a strong point and needed tape on the flaps to sweep cleanly so I wouldn't suggest finding one for your grinder.
However, with a Rocky doserless I kept having little clumps of ground coffee fall out of the chute after I thought I had cleaned it meticulously (messily annoying). I also think the distribution of the ground coffee is better from the MXK's doser than the Rocky or MM-E doserless. So, some dosers are helpful - I asked for a doserless MXK originally and couldn't get one but I wouldn't swap mine for a doserless MXK now.

Cheers,

Hugh

[bruceb]

Thanks Hugh, it is exactly this observation that inspired me to do the testing on grinding with and without beans in the hopper. Every time I let the beans run out the last shots were abysmal. I mentioned this to a barista in a little town called Rosora in central Italy. He and I talked coffee a lot and he made wonderful shots with his big 3-group Faema and Mazzer grinders. He said "Grinders must never run out of coffee! Always refill when 1/3 full." I have stuck to that advice and am pleased with the results.

As to Mazzer dosers, many are not adjusted properly. There is a knurled knob that has to be adjusted to bring the vanes down to the bottom of the doser and generally it is not adjusted properly. Also, it is important that the bottom of the doser is kept free of dried-on coffee. Finally, it may be necessary to stretch the spring a bit to increase tension on the vanes. This is (unsurprisingly) usually necessary on older, much used grinders. These suggestions may not apply to all models.

[dr.chris]

Well we are very used to just hitting the button on the MC2 and getting out a single shot. The Mazzer doesnt have that option.

It did come with an intact doser and one (fitted) with a strategically placed plastic funnel replacing the guts of the doser so the grounds come straight out.

At the moment on a weekend its going to be doing maybe 4-5 coffees (typically 2 doubles for caps for the wife and 2 trebles) I cant quite see how I can accurately control dosage without wasting a lot of coffee except through weighing out the beans to be ground- and the tamper does fit very well in the mouth of the grinder.

I dont think that the popcorn effect is significant in this case except for the last few beans- so maybe its because I am drinking trebles that its coming out fine. I suspect the big chunky burrs of the mazzer help here too.

What I havent done yet is compare a single shot from each grinder. More experimentation is always a good thing

[HughF]

I use my Macap MXK with a slightly noisy mechanical darkroom timer (a Meopta Viponel S15, cost £40) controlling the grinder's mains power and I obtain fairly repeatable weights for each button push. I need to adjust the timer's duration when I change grind fineness or from one day to another. I can start and stop the grinder manually if I need to e.g. to add a tiny amount to a slightly underweight dose.

So using the doser grinder with the timer means that I only have to get out of the doser all the coffee I just ground into it. No subtlety required (luckily!) - I set the dose per section of the doser to maximum (12 grams?)and do not need to dump from each section more than once.

I find the MXK to be WAY more tolerant of grind setting than my previous MM-E (or Rocky DL or MC2), possibly due to the conical burrs of the MXK vs. the flat burrs of the MM-E and I believe the MXK gives better shots overall too. Dialling in the correct grind setting for a new roast is a lot less hassle.

Cheers,

Hugh

[dr.chris]

That is a good idea and something I had thought about without having any idea of what kind of equipment I would need.

[HughF]

So long as it can switch enough current and you like eBay, searching ebay.co.uk for :
darkroom timer mains
showed some which might work for you plus a Viponel (unspecified model number) in "excellent condition" for BuyItNow £30 which looks extremely similar to mine.

HTH,

Hugh

[GreenBean]

That is a good idea and something I had thought about without having any idea of what kind of equipment I would need.

Another way to go is to build a timer into the grinder. I installed one of these in each of my grinders in 2008 and they have worked perfectly ever since:



For details see my post towards the end of this thread.

[sicinius]

Bruceb convinced me completely. I think steady flow with gentle top pressure is essential. And the Mignon has interchangeable hoppers that are genuinely easy to change, so the last possible reason fro doing it has now gone.

[simonp]

Coming to this very late and from a different thread.

Personally I have always used the single dose method with the 58mm burr Mini I have and not noticed anything detrimental in the shot about this method. No bad channelling problems as I have seen some report. There is a lengthy (and heated) thread on this on Home Barista with very differing and inconclusive results. generally it seems that you need a slightly different setting on the grinder but as to whether you get actually a different grind component the jury seems to be out.
I certainly pull what I consider to be consistent and outstanding shots with single dosing in the Mini. It will be interesting to see if the 64mm Fiorenzato does the same and I will try with the hopper for comparison.
My gut feeling is that having beans sat in a hopper for up to a week will have far more effect on the shot than the way the beans feed.
Plus if blending I tend to blend on a shot by shot basis for experimentation purposes which means the single dose method better suits.

Maybe what is needs is a method of pushing on the single shot of beans to try and replicate the effect of beans in the hopper. Obviously this would be tricky with the last few beans, but could be worth a thought.

[dr.chris]

I went to Grindsmiths in Manchester a couple of times recently, something which is much to be recommended. They had a very big mazza grinder but had beans ready weighed out in glasses at the side of the counter. They take your order and they just throw a measure of beans in the hopper.

I would think its very grinder (and possibly user) dependent. I do like the idea of using a glass tube like EricC mentioned in a recent thread (together with a link to a lab supplier who do the right kind of tube.)

Right now we are still weighing and grinding single measures of beans, but I do have a darkroom timer ready for when we can better arrange the kit.