My old grinder quite this morning so I'm in the
market for a new one. Any recommendations?
Any brand/model to avoid? TIA

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Many thanks for the info.

On Mon, 23 Feb 2004, Larry Coon wrote:

wrote:

My old grinder quite this morning so I'm in the
market for a new one. Any recommendations?
Any brand/model to avoid? TIA

I can offer my experience with my current one -- it's the
Capresso that retails for $50 US from Williams-Sonoma (not
the one that currently sells for over $100). Here's a
link: http://www.capresso.com/prod_grind_burr.html

The control for the grind is fine, but I'm not happy with
the control for the amount of coffee to grind in one run.
I like to grind exactly enough for one pot, which is pretty
much at the farthest end of the control wheel. So if I
want to grind a little less, I really don't have an option
to, and there really isn't enough sensitivity to "fine
adjust" the amount of coffee. If I want to brew a precise
amount, I have to grind a larger amount and then use a
measuring spoon.

The bean-holding area is covered but not airtight, so you
can't really leave beans in there for very long.

It's a little messy. The grind-catching carafe pulls away
from the front, which invariably results in some spillage
on the countertop. The opening from the unit to the
grind-catching carafe gets clogged pretty easily, and has
to be cleaned regularly. And if any grinds are left on
the contact area between the caraffe and the unit, it can
make it difficult to click the unit in place -- if you're
not careful, and there's not a good seal around the opening
through which the grinds shoot, then a big mess results.

The feed from the bean-holder into the grinding mechanism
is just gravity, so if the beans are arranged just-so then
it'll grind for a while without any beans falling in. Since
the grind is time-based, the result is less coffee being
ground than you want. For best results, I tap/shake the unit
lightly while it's grinding.

Finally, I don't think this can be helped, but the unit IS
pretty noisy. I'm usually the first one up & downstairs to
make coffee, and the grinder wakes my wife up. I think ANY
grinder is going to be noisy, so this isn't a problem
specific to this grinder.

All in all, it does the job and isn't very expensive, but
there are definitely features I wish were improved. However,
I really haven't tested a lot of other grinders to see if
there are others (especially at the same price) that do the
job any better.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

wrote:

My old grinder quite this morning so I'm in the
market for a new one. Any recommendations?
Any brand/model to avoid? TIA

Well, since you still haven't advised of your price range, I'll
recommend my Ditting 800. It's the closest thing I've found yet to a
perfect machine. But then it cost $1100, so it should be that good.

-- Larry

Sorry, I was called out of town unexpectedly and am just
now getting back to unfinished business. I'd like to know
more about your Ditting 800 -- what makes it the perfect
machine? What makes it cost $1100? Thanks.

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004, Larry wrote:

wrote:

My old grinder quite this morning so I'm in the
market for a new one. Any recommendations?
Any brand/model to avoid? TIA

Well, since you still haven't advised of your price range, I'll
recommend my Ditting 800. It's the closest thing I've found yet to a
perfect machine. But then it cost $1100, so it should be that good.

-- Larry



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 08:55:03 -0600, wrote:

Sorry, I was called out of town unexpectedly and am just
now getting back to unfinished business. I'd like to know
more about your Ditting 800 -- what makes it the perfect
machine? What makes it cost $1100? Thanks.

It's extremely solid mechanically, and thus perfectly consistent from
one batch to the next. The dial settings are accurate and repeatable
right out of the box. It mills extremely consistently down to Turkish
grind, and processes a pound of beans in less than one minute.

See http://www.ditting.com/ditting_coffe...der_models.htm. Mine is
the KR 804.

-- Larry

If it is for espresso based beverages the very best grinders are made by
Mazzer of Italy

On Fri, 07 May 2004 12:52:45 -0400, "ukwill" wrote:

If it is for espresso based beverages the very best grinders are made by
Mazzer of Italy

Surely you mean to limit your statement to grinders with dosers?

-- Larry