General grinder shopping advice

[PavoniBunny]

Hi All,

I've just bought a La Pavoni Europiccola (awaiting its arrival) and wondered whether you could recommend a good grinder so that I can begin by getting the best out of it. I can't spend oodles on it as I only just managed to convince hubby about the machine in the first place (he's not a coffee drinker!). Currently I have a little blade grinder, but it's not all that good really! Recommendations available in the UK would be gratefully received!

Apologies if I'm duplicating a thread, but I couldn't find anything when I searched!

[HB]

Apologies if I'm duplicating a thread, but I couldn't find anything when I searched!

Your post's related topics turned up these:

• What is your grinder of choice and why?
• Need help selecting burr grinder
• Best Inexpensive Grinder?

If you don't mind a little extra effort, an even lower cost option is a manual (hand) grinder.

[PavoniBunny]

Thanks - I thought I must be looking in the wrong place! All I can say is Wow! What a minefield! I think I'll have to make do with my little grinder until such time as hubby forgets that I bought the Europiccola! And keep an eye on ebay of course!

[PavoniBunny]

If you don't mind a little extra effort, an even lower cost option is a manual (hand) grinder.

Are there any particular ones I should look out for - I'm a novice in all areas here!

[HB]

Zassenhaus is frequently mentioned as the go-to hand grinder manufacturer, but I'll defer specifics to the site's manual grinder aficionados. Classic threads include Manual Grinders and Hand (grinder) jive - a photo essay.


Peacecup's current lineup

[PavoniBunny]

Right... rather than bore anyone with a new thread, I'll just carry on here!

I've had a search for Zassenhaus products on google - searching within the UK - to little avail... I must admit that I'm completely confused! There are various manual grinders available on ebay, but how does one work out what's a decent one and what may be rubbish/decorative? Then there are things like these which, I'm guessing, may be rubbish given that they're fairly modern looking and 'stylish'.

http://www.anothercoffee.co.uk/products/item210112.aspx
http://thecookskitchen.com/browse_8441
http://kitchenware.co.uk/browse_4956
http://thecookskitchen.com/browse_8564

And I suppose this, being cheapish, isn't worth touching either... http://www.anothercoffee.co.uk/products/item150600.aspx (budget is an issue for the time being having spent on the coffee machine in the first place!)

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated - I almost need a 'yes, buy this model' kind of answer because I have no idea about the technicalities, so I apologise in advance!

[jesawdy]

I see a promising KYM and a Peugeot hand mill grinder on eBay UK. I'll admit no direct experience with hand mills, although I'm interested in owning one, just haven't gotten one yet. I've laid hands on some new ones in kitchen stores that are Chinese made... they didn't really look to be up to the task, but who knows?

I'd avoid that Krups "burr" unit.

Don't skimp on the grinder... if you need to go cheap pursue a used hand mill grinder or comb for a deal on a used commercial grinder. There are deals out there with a little patience. I've sent you a PM on an interesting unit.. Oops, thought it was a Buy-It-Now, turned out to be a Reserve auction.

[PavoniBunny]

Thanks - I'll keep a look out there. Thanks for the link, I'll keep a watch - you never know, the reserve might not be too bad!

[sneakymagic]

Hi pavonibunny,

All the above advice good.

except...

I feel like I should stand up for the Krups GVX.

It gets a very bad rap from a lot of people - BUT not from me. For £35 (JohnLewis) it is a good performer. It does need attention initially to make sure the burrset is sitting locked in correctly, which is where a lot of people go wrong from what I've read, and it performs best with a weight of beans in the hopper. If the beans are truly fresh it can just about produce a grind fine enough to choke a pavoni, but only just and not guaranteed every time you grind. I have one of each and I've done it, before anyone asks, but that was in its early days. A new europiccola though is a £300 machine, so this is not really a matched pair in price terms.

There are definitely points against it (plastic hoppers chip easily if dropped, it's a little noisy) but the biggest single issue is that it doesn't produce a really consistent fine grind - but then again it is only £35. At that price point there isn't anything else I've seen as good, with the possible exception of hand grinders. For another £15- 20 you can get a dualit/Solis, but that's a 45% increase in price so not exactly a fair fight if you are comparing. The Solis also has its problems apparently so they are both a compromise when used for the more expensive espresso machines.

Mine survived 18months of daily use and now lives at my inlaws as part of my holiday kit - and given the cooked horrors of German filter coffee I'm always happy to see it! I think they secretly use it as it's always suspiciously clean now and their own coffee has improved of late...

good luck with your decision.
sneaky

[PavoniBunny]

Thanks to you all for your comments... and thanks to the kindly gentleman who pointed me in the direction of a Victoria Arduino grinder on ebay - all being well, I should have it at the end of the week. It was less than I thought I would have to spend, but more than I thought I'd be 'allowed' to spend!

Assuming all goes according to plan, I should be on that steep learning curve to mastering the Europiccola by the end of the week. At the very least I think I should get a better coffee than my current machine permits, but that's not really saying much!

[PavoniBunny]

A quick update... my beautiful machine has arrived! Not tried it out yet, and need to work out exactly how to use it (ebay = no instructions!) but I see some fun ahead as I try! And I have a pack of fresher-than-supermarket beans winging their way to me from http://www.realcoffee.co.uk/

Hurrah! I am a happy bunny!

[jesawdy]

A quick update... my beautiful machine has arrived! Not tried it out yet, and need to work out exactly how to use it (ebay = no instructions!) but I see some fun ahead as I try! And I have a pack of fresher-than-supermarket beans winging their way to me from http://www.realcoffee.co.uk/

Hurrah! I am a happy bunny!

Is that a picture of the actual grinder? Looks very clean, as in brand new.

As I mentioned to you, it looks a lot like the Nuova Simonelli MCF grinder. You can find some brochures, manuals, etc here: http://www.nuovadistribution.com/grinders.html

[PavoniBunny]

Thanks Jeff... That is indeed a picture of my actual grinder - it was beautifully packaged and I 'think' it's been used, though it really is in fantastic condition. The delivery box actually had tape with Nuova Simonelli printed on, so thanks for your link - I think it should do the trick - thanks!