wildlyesoteric wrote:Is it really feasible to dose while grinding with big commercial grinders like these? Rocky? Sure. Mini? Yeah. Robur? I wouldn't think so, at least grinding per shot while trying to minimize waste. I'd think that from doser handle release to switch off is gonna amount to like 5 grams of grind time. Mazzer Major grinds 4.75g/sec... I know at work with a Nuova MDX there's generally 3-5g in the vanes after dosing.
Yes it's possible and I think it's a pretty good solution. I'm not a rapid doser thwacker. With my Robur it takes about 5-6 secs to grind enough coffee for one extraction. That's 8 doser clicks at my frequency. I waste little coffee. I use the same technique with all of my grinders, varying the time, or not thinking about the time at all. My Kony and Super Jolly require little time sensitivity so less brain cells need participate.
My personal preference is to leave enough coffee in the hopper for several days worth. I don't roast 6 different kinds of coffee and I just don't have the time or compulsiveness to need to change coffees out. I roast what i like and I do it in 1kg batches. For me, it's always the freshness vs resting problem that is bigger than anything else. It's best to roast a couple of days before I'm out of coffee. I then freeze what i ain't gonna use immediately, and then leave a few day's supply at room temp. I fill the hopper with several day's worth, then use it. When it gets too low it gets replaced from the freezer supply. If I get out of sync, I'm comfortable enough with coffee to know that if it's too fresh, well it'll come around in a day or so, and if it's a day past peak, well I can't help that beyond a certain amount and there are two solutions - shut up and use it or throw it out.
Obviously this doesn't work if you change what you are drinking a lot. In that case, I dump out the hopper, replace it with the feed chute slide closed, grind out the remaining beans in the throat, add new coffee and go. If you're gonna use a different coffee you're gonna have to dial it in regardless. Buck up and get over it.
I'm also in the camp that ya gotta keep some column of coffee on top of the burrset. You might be able to use a tamper to help feed coffee into the burrs, but I'm with Ken, Malachi, and any number of highly respected pros that feel this way.
-Greg