Le'Lit PL53 Stepless Doserless Espresso Grinder - Page 3

[Java Jones]

My roommate worked at Taco Bell part time and closed, so we had all the bean burritos we could stand. After a month, we had all we could stand.

I could make ramen noodles into a gourmet meal and was even known to catch a fish or two in a pond by campus and cook them over an open fire, but I like that kind of thing.

When I started in the IT field the information super highway was a two lane dirt road.

Fyi, when I started college, ATM was an asynchronous transfer mode and you got cash from the lady behind the counter.

-- I gotcha beat. Lasagna noodles and I managed a tomato sauce from the catsup packets in the student union building. Local gardeners would set out excess produce on the sidewalk, and there were a couple fruit trees in the campus married housing properties that were good for apples and plums. Not an all the time impoverishment, but there was that summer when the VA lost my checks.

[ntwkgestapo]

I goofed the other night when I was trying to get the doser spout off and moved the grind adjustment without noticing how many turns I'd moved it! SOOOO, I decided to see just how adjustable this machine was! I cranked the knob with the motor running until I JUST heard the sound of the burrs BARELY touching and then started counting back from there in full turns. I'm now 25 turns from burr contact and have JUST started to get into the Moka pot/Vac pot area of the grind! It'd be a tight Moka pot grind and I'd suspect the Vac pot that these grinds went into would make a VERY strong cuppa. I'm gonna give up on finding WHERE drip would be (as that's NOT what I bought this thing for!) and head back to the 'spresso area! Before I do I'll probably grind some onto a white piece of card stock (actually a piece of Bristol board) and take a picture just for reference!

[Mike Panic]

Steve - any idea how many turns out from touching i should start for espresso

machine showed up this morning here at work - 4 more hours till im home trying this thing out

as others have said, very small, but i think its going to look really good next to my europiccola

[ntwkgestapo]

Mike, When I got mine ALL I did was tighten the grind from where it SAT about 1 full turn and I was golden! Of course, I've foobar'd that NOW! But, I'm gonna TRY to come up with an "Initial adjustment" type of procedure (just a SWAG, each user will have to tweak to match their machine!) over the weekend... Best I can say, is experiment. AND enjoy! I really, really like this grinder (of course if I had space for it, a Cimbali Max Hybrid would be GREAT! )

[HB]

I didn't bother zero'ing the grinder. Grind a teaspoon and then pinch the grounds between your fingers; repeat until it feels about right. Out of the box it was set to near Turkish grind. It took a few spins of the adjustment knob to get it into espresso range. The adjustment range is large; move at least one-half turn each time until you're in the ballpark. IIRC, the adjustment between coffees was anywhere from 1/4 to 1-1/2 turn, depending on the bean hardness/moisture content.

[Mike Panic]

ok so im thinking i may have received the runt of the litter.

as instructions said, turned in about 2 full turns, attached hopper, put some beans in, start to grind... it barely spits them out... have to take the hopper off, its soo fine the grinder itself is choking.

ok - clean out, turn counter clockwise about 4 turns, same thing, the machine is nearly choking itself.

2 more turns out and ive got fine grinds coming, it takes about 90 seconds to get 11 grams worth.. really fine, tamped, looked like a polished finish

now ill preface this w/ the fact that i've been using a cuisinart in my europiccola for 2 weeks now and not been happy - its been watery, barely any real crema and barely been able to get 10grams in the machine

what happens - machine chokes... ok - figured that would happen.

heres where it gets good - the adjustment knob falls off! i don't have an allen wrench small enough to tighten it back on... so its the good ol' fingers trying to back this thing out. hopefully i have one in my toolbox at my mothers house

let it cool down, get the portafilter out, 2 more turns c-clockwise... grind, try again, same result, machine chokes

repeat - 2 more turns, grind, choke.

at this point, im really frustrated.. i turned it back 8 full turns - again, i have no knob.... pavoni chokes.

frustrated, 8 more full turns back... put 12 grams in the portafilter, tamp the way i have been - by this point i know how far down my tamper needs to go in order to fit the portafilter into the group head... it goes on.

lever up for 10 seconds, down and finally i see a few drips! back up for about 5 seconds to get more water in there... down - a full 28 seconds and some of the finest looking ribbons of espresso come out of the machine and have the most wonderful look in the shot glasses.

tasted amazing.

repeat, 11.5 grams because 12 was a really really hard tamp, prob way more than 30lbs and i turned the 1/2 turn clockwise to help compensate.. results were not as good as the first time, so ive turned it 1/2 turn in again and when my head clears from the 6 or so shots ive had so far tonight, ill try it again, prob going back to 12 grams and tamping hard w/ the now slightly finer grind

all in all it took a little more than 1/4 pound of beans.

my feedback on the grinder:

tighten the adjustment knob!

there needs to be someway that the lil tray attaches to the machine

the button that is depressed by the portafilter needs work - its convexed in shape and rather polished, against chrome it slips all over the place. the metal in front to hold the portafilter is worthless - if i hold my 49mm portafilter down there, i end up with grinds all over my hand, the handle of the portafilter, all over my countertop in front of the grinder, just everywhere. ive started to use a small glass juice cup, grind into that, use a normal coffee scooper to load up my basket while it sits on a digital scale and then load it back into the portafilter to put in the machine.

size is awesome for me. it is within an inch difference in height from my black based europiccola and looks very good sitting next to it - ill be on a photoshoot all day tomorrow and all my gear is packed for it, this weekend i will try to get a photo though. aesthetically speaking, this grinder looks good next to the pavoni and compliments it well. some commercial grinders tower over machines and visa versa, these 2 look like they were meant to be next to each other.

i still think doserless is my preferred grinder, never owning a doser model - especially since im still loading the basket on the scale so i can stay consistent and learn to make the same pull of espresso day in and day out....

all in all - i couldn't be happier i bought a real grinder, beats the crap out of the $50 i was using, and will still use for french press.

im also very happy that i bought new instead of demo or used off ebay, warranties can be a good thing

1st-line is top notch... ordered about 1.25pm EST thursday and by 9am Friday it arrived, that is customer service.

[bsalinas]

there needs to be someway that the lil tray attaches to the machine

I actually really like the fact that this isn't attached. I have mine so that the "depression" is facing up (and so it catches grinds in it). It means that in order to clean up the grinder, I can just pick up the tray and toss the grinds into the sink.

[1st-line]

ok so im thinking i may have received the runt of the litter....

all in all it took a little more than 1/4 pound of beans.....

my feedback on the grinder:

tighten the adjustment knob!

there needs to be someway that the lil tray attaches to the machine....

1st-line is top notch... ordered about 1.25pm EST thursday and by 9am Friday it arrived, that is customer service.

Thanks for the feedback. Just to set the facts straight.... there are no runts of the litter with Lelit. Depending upon the espresso machine and more importantly, the beans used, the grind could need adjustment of the grind fineness.

We decided that the tray not be attached as an OP stated that it is easier for cleaning.

We do apologize for the knob. Please email me on the email addy on our web site so I can mail you the allen key. We do need you to mail it back as these are hard to find.

We do appreciate the positive feedback on our delivery. However, I personally credit our carriers (the men and women at UPS and FedEx) for their services just as I blame them when they do not deliver on time. In addition, the fast delivery occurred because you were only one day in transit time. West coast customers will take up to 5 business days.

Thank you for your business.

Jim

[Mike Panic]

Jim

No need to mail one out - I'm fairly certain I have one somewhere.

I have, in the meantime - managed to get the grinder within 1/2 turn depending on beans, exactly where I want it.

Ristretto's out of my europiccola take a good 25-30 seconds w/ 11.5grams in the double filter basket and produce some of the most amazing crema out of any beans I seem to run through it - I am truly happy with it.

Regarding shipping - ups does a fair job - but the fact that it was packaged and ready for them to pickup within 4 hours of the order being placed is a feat unto itself and rare with online vendors anymore, so it is much appreciated

[Java Jones]

Mine is slated to arrive Friday, Feb. 1 -- (West Coast).

I'm getting anxious (as contrasted to "eager"). I don't need a portafilter holder under the chute. Am I going to be able to mill beans into a measuring cup?

Coarse grind for press pot? It sounds like about 30 turns from "fine" to something suitable for press pot. Am I going to be able to adjust a half dozen full turns from press pot to moka pot or drip? It sounds like the ultra fine adjustment knob is the weak link in the design. Should be practical to adjust stepless from fine grind to coarse in a turn or two on the knob. A visual setting reference would be nice -- look at the position of the knob and know where the burrs are set.

Still trying to visualize precisely how the portafilter bracket under the chute looks. Between reflections on the stainless and ambiguous references in perspective it's hard to visualize the bracket. It'd be nice if it were removeable. I may just remove mine when the grinder arrives.

How about someone post some simple photos? Nothing fancy, but I'd like to see some views that show what's going on with the portafilter bracket. Photograph it in profile and watch the reflections from the background. Also, you could insert a dark colored card behind the bracket to eliminate reflections.

I'd like to see some more photos.

[jariten22]

The portafilter supports are just a set of folded metal tabs, one from each of the side panels. It shouldn't be difficult to hold and angle a small measuring cup into the chute to catch the grounds. If you're handy you should be able to bend them out of the way (straight) or cut them off with the appropriate tools. The side panels are simple stainless steel sheets that are held on by four sheet metal screws. I suppose a possible simple solution would be to offer a set of side panels without the portafilter tabs - but the cost-effectiveness of designing/ordering/machining/distributing another part for a budget specialty grinder may be prohibitive.

Re: the stepless nature of the adjustment, that's just a trade-off that you have to live with until someone puts together a viable hybrid stepless-within-steps adjustment mechanism. Which I'm sure is something out there somewhere

[ntwkgestapo]

Sorry, Java Jones, but I don't know of ANY stepless grinder that provides the QUICK change capabilities you're looking for... The Mazzer with it's "push the adjustment ring down and twist" comes close but it's (in it's doserless form) over 3 times the cost of the Le'Lit... stepless grinders are intended for minute adjustments, not gross ones (gross as in LARGE, not "yuck" )... Macap and Cimbali BOTH have the "crank until your fingers fall off" mode.

[ntwkgestapo]

Mike, I'll see what allen wrench it takes tonight and post the size (I've got allen wrenches from about 1mm up to over 30mm in size so I'm pretty sure I can find it... Working on X-Ray equipment years ago forced me to get metric AND english standard allen wrenches in ALL KINDS of sizes! Some equipment was manuf. in Europe, some in Asia and some in the US so... you got ALL KINDS of screws in all kinds of sizes, threads, etc...)...

And I really LIKE the unattached tray... REALLY easy to pull and dump (and about 90-95% of the grinds that miss the P/F hit the tray!).... Also, I've found that setting the P/F in the holder, pushing in to hit the button and using my thumb to rotate the basket inside the P/F works just GREAT on this machine... I DO, sometimes, get a small pile of grinds on my thumbnail, but not much at all! This grinder is SOOOO MUCH nicer (and cleaner) than the Solis/Starbucks grinder I had... NO static that I can see and the clumping is almost non-existent! I'm NOT doing a WDT, just level the basket, tamp lightly, spin to polish and lock-n-load!

[Mike Panic]

I've found the folded tabs for the portafilter to not be very useful and have been grinding into a small juice glass... but will be buying a measuring cup like one of these below soon:



I'd also say that, with the fine amount of adjustments, it might be more of a pain to do drip and espresso from this one grinder, day in and day out. You may want to consider a cuisinart $50 grinder from bed bath & beyond - 20% discount they mail out once a month (so you'll get it for $40) just to do french press or drip coffee.

I've probably pulled a dozen and a half shots and have the grind nailed within a half turn depending on beans and couldn't be happier with this grinder. Well worth the $200

[bsalinas]

A visual setting reference would be nice -- look at the position of the knob and know where the burrs are set.

I've been thinking about this a lot. With $8-10 in electronics equipment, I think (emphasis on think) that I could throw something together which would simply count in regular increments as you turn the knob (and display that on a simple LCD).
This would make it easier to set your grind between methods, however it would still be time consuming to have to turn the knob 30 times. I guess the solution to that is to have a motorized knob. Then you could set what "number" you want the knob to turn to, and the knob could turn itself. Maybe that's a little over the top.

Regardless, this sounds like a good project for next weekend.

-Ben

[Java Jones]

OK thanks. It sounds like this design will work for me. I'll put some sort of mark on the adj. knob to keep track of the turns.

I'm betting the tabs are spot welded. That's easy to remove and refinish if I want.

[matt.shure]

Any ideas, how I can get my hands on that one in Germany? I think there might be some market here too, but I can't find the PL53 on http://www.lelit.com ?

[ntwkgestapo]

OK, the allen wrench for the Le'Lit's knob is 2mm. Snugged mine down just a bit (wasn't really loose BUT, it did tighten a quarter of a turn on the set screw)...

[HB]

I'm betting the tabs are spot welded.

No, they're folded over from the sides, i.e., the casing is U shaped with the portafilter "wings". Portafilters with deep bowls may have trouble clearing. For example, the La Marzocco portafilter fits with little remaining clearance above the rim. Lever espresso machine portafilters like the Elektra Microcasa a Leva's work, though some grinds overshoot to the left. Four ounce kid tumblers also work as a ground collector for presspot.

[ntwkgestapo]

I've been using a Yogurt cup as a "purge" device. Just to flush out the stale grounds. Works great! My Starbucks Gran Crema P/F is to large, it fits, but JUST. You get some clumping because of compression into the filter basket. The Factory P/F is NOT a problem. I just put it on the P/F "wings" and grind into the basket, spinning the basket with my thumb to get even distribution.