Any experience with Ditting coffee grinder?

[wookie]

I'm mulling over a possible grinder upgrade to a Ditting. Thought I had found a good deal until Malachi pointed out that the model I was looking at (KF804) wasn't suitable for espresso. So now I'm looking at the KR1203/KFA1203 models, which should have no problem with espresso.

But they're also much more expensive & harder to justify for home use. I've done a straw poll and can't find anyone I know who has direct experience using Ditting's.. much less able to compare a Ditting to Mahlkonig, Swift, Robur or anything else. Nor much on the web or any (local) dealers that will let me grind some beans with one. The main usage would be for espresso at home, but it would have to do double duty & do some FP/drip grinding too as my M3 & Mazzer Mini would be going out the door to partially finance the transaction. Has anyone here had a chance to play with Dittings at work?

[malachi]

I would not suggest this.

If a Mazzer Mini or Cimbali Junior are not sufficient for you needs, I would suggest looking at a Mazzer Kony or a Versalab.

[wookie]

I appreciate your input Chris, but can you elaborate on why I may be on the wrong track? It would be educational (to me) to know where you are gleening deficiencies. I have tasted & was quite impressed with FP brewed from a Ditting 804 . Both in the cup and that there were almost no fines. I wish I had the benefit of a longer or side by side trial between the Ditting & the Versalab, but it is my impression that Ditting did significantly better for FP. I have no direct experience with espresso ground by a Ditting, but the spare comments I can pull off the web are universally positive. Am I missing something obvious..?

[malachi]

The Ditting grinders are fantastic for brewed coffee and for cupping - as good as if not better than anyone else.

But for espresso... they're just simply not designed for this use.
The models you're listing are designed for high-volume commercial grinding. You'll notice that they have the "agitator" plate which is designed to settle ground coffee into a pound bag.
They're great grinders... they're just not espresso grinders.

[wookie]

Thanks for the follow up. I realize that these are intended as high volume grinders, but I am surprised to learn that they aren't capable of a good espresso grind. I'm still trying to locate someone with a Ditting locally to grind some beans firsthand. But failing that I will take your advice & pass all together.

[mteahan]

Well, as someone that actually owns a Ditting with the 120mm mill set, here's what I have for you.

For a coffee bar that does some volume or a small roaster, the thing is fool proof. It's fast and quiet and will grind turkish quite nicely. This thing weighs a ton and is built very well.

However, the relatively cheap gear driven conical grinder I have next to my machine at home produces a better espresso shot.

Yes, I had them side by side for a while just to see.

I am a firm conical fan, and would prefer true conicals over hybrids. Some of the really cheap home conicals don't use commercial quality machining of the mills, but the ones from Spain coming in around a couple of hundred bucks are just fine.

If you are hell bent for leather to drop an insane amount of money, the only problem with large commercial conicals is that like all commercial machines, they aren't really suited for grind 4 shots a day.

There are some other tweakers out there looking to produce alternatives to Versalab. While it's an interesting piece of work, look for the market to develop some competing products on the upper end soon.

The technology to properly blend the excessive grind variations from flat mill grinders is only found on the really big commercial machines. Really big.

I am only hanging on the my Ditting in case I get some kind of tumor and feel the need to open a coffee bar again.

Michael