Was upgrading to the Macap M4 stepless a shopping boo boo?

[annp]

I got this great deal on a honking humongous San Marco 90 grinder last year about a month after I got Anita. The jump in ability from Rocky to the SM 90 was appreciated and I really enjoyed the control I had over my grind as the humidity varied and my beans aged from roast date. Rocky got relegated to drip coffee and we are all fine with that.

The down side to my SM 90, well, it takes up a ton of counter space in an already small kitchen, I have no use for the doser - and it flings coffee everywhere. I've never actually used the bowl on the top when grinding beans, preferring to pour my weighed doses of beans into the throat and cover the opening with a plastic cup before hitting the 'on' switch. First, it was silly to set the bowl up (it holds a couple of pounds of beans) when I'm making 24.5 gram triples, and secondly, there was no way one of the kitchen cabinets would open with that bowl in the way.

So I'd been thinking for awhile about mazzer mini E. Good quality grind, nice product, no doser. However, both the price and the lack of timer on the Macap were intriguing as well. When Chris got them in I ordered one. Stepless was the ticket!

I got it today and I'm really happy that I bought a pound and an half of coffee this week, because I cannot get this thing adjusted correctly. I've ground a lot of future drip for my boyfriend and a made an impressive number of sink shots in the process.

I followed the instructions (the non Italian addendum) included with the manual that said to find the zero point, adjust 2.5 numbers towards the coarse from there and grind espresso. My burrs started making a contact noise at about 2 - but I'm not sure where that is exactly, there is no reference pointer on the grinder other than the center of the worm gear.

Well 2.5 numbers towards the coarse (4.5) got me something between french press and drip . So I started to back it off, grind shots, weigh and pull them. Finally, somewhere at less then 3 I'm close to the consistency I want. I've got both some leftover grind from this morning to compare both visually and with my fingers, plus I know exactly 24.5 grams of beans makes a perfect triple shot.

I'm still not entirely happy and since it pains me to pour shots down the sink that just run way too fast and will clearly be undrinkable, I'll mess with it again in the morning.

Also, one of my biggest complaints about my SM 90 was the huge waste from the fact that a lot of ground beans both hung out in the doser mechanism and mysteriously disappeared. At one point I even took the doser apart, wondering if I could get it to work without (no).

Apparently a lot of ground beans hang out in the spout of the Macap. They are easier to get to than in the SM90, but I still cannot figure out how much goes in for how much output.

So who else has this grinder and how do they like it? Did it take a long time to dial in? Am I doing something wrong? Most importantly, did I make a shopping boo boo?

Ann

[HB]

I got it today and I'm really happy that I bought a pound and an half of coffee this week, because I cannot get this thing adjusted correctly. I've ground a lot of future drip for my boyfriend and a made an impressive number of sink shots in the process.

I followed the instructions (the non Italian addendum) included with the manual that said to find the zero point, adjust 2.5 numbers towards the coarse from there and grind espresso. My burrs started making a contact noise at about 2 - but I'm not sure where that is exactly, there is no reference pointer on the grinder other than the center of the worm gear.

As I mentioned in the review, I dislike the illegible black dial on the Macap. Don't take this personally, but it's possible that you've confused the direction of coarse / fine, or perhaps you're adjusting much less between attempts than you think (OK, both happened to me... I'll blame sleep deprivation ).

To mentally recalibrate, I ended up removing the plastic toothed ring (three small screws - don't drop them in the throat of the grinder!) and turning down the burr by hand. There's something about the feel of the zero point I find reassuring. If you've cleared the grinder, you can turn the burrs hard towards finer with the grinder off, know for certain where zero is, then back off a little over 1/8th turn. Once I had the ring back on, I used a white grease pencil to mark the zero point and a few of my favorite "start here" espresso zones.

As I recall, the Macap chute ledge holds around three grams of coffee, though I no longer grind-until-empty for each shot. If one were to remove the finger guard, it would be easy to sweep. Not that I would suggest that one disable a safety device, mind you.

[Thwack]

So who else has this grinder and how do they like it? Did it take a long time to dial in? Am I doing something wrong? Most importantly, did I make a shopping boo boo?

Ann

Hi, I just got the MACAP Stepless as well. I found that I'm making pretty good shots going about 1.5 from the zero point (using the little dot on the worm gear for reference). My zero point turns out really is almost at 'zero'... the just before reaching the 9. Make sure you really did find your zero point... when adjusting finer looking for zero you may encounter some resistance and a high pitched "whining" sound, but the true zero point will make an unmistakable sound. I too was thrown by the '2.5' recommendation... way too coarse. I'm new at this though so I figured I might be tamping too lightly or something.

Brian

[annp]

As I mentioned in the review, I dislike the illegible black dial on the Macap. Don't take this personally, but it's possible that you've confused the direction of coarse / fine, or perhaps you're adjusting much less between attempts than you think (OK, both happened to me... I'll blame sleep deprivation )...

I already had that drama with the SM 90, which was entirely counter-intuitive in the adjustment direction! I think there is still a tape reinforced post it note on stuck on it's side with words and arrows - it helps when making espresso early in the morning when you really need espresso.

To mentally recalibrate, I ended up removing the plastic toothed ring (three small screws - don't drop them in the throat of the grinder!) and turning down the burr by hand. There's something about the feel of the zero point I find reassuring. If you've cleared the grinder, you can turn the burrs hard towards finer with the grinder off, know for certain where zero is, then back off a little over 1/8th turn. Once I had the ring back on, I used a white grease pencil to mark the zero point and a few of my favorite "start here" espresso zones.

Oh I'm all for taking things apart and messing with them. Ok, I'll try that!

As I recall, the Macap chute ledge holds around three grams of coffee, though I no longer grind-until-empty for each shot. If one were to remove the finger guard, it would be easy to sweep. Not that I would suggest that one disable a safety device, mind you.

Now that's a lot of coffee, which is one of the things I disliked about the SM 90 - sure eventually most of the coffee you put in it would come out of it, but no one knew how old that coffee was. So you might be grinding some really fresh coffee, but the stuff that was coming out of the SM90s nooks and crannies and mixing with your shot might have been from a week or so ago. Now I'm not going to disable a safety device (who me?), but what exactly do you define as the finger guard - and lets say I just wanted to remove it just to clean the grinder or look up in there or whatever?

Ok, here are two more things I'm not in love with - oh - I'm drinking a double triple I just made as I type this, and I'm close on the grind... Anyway, again, the bowl is big and then there is this little plate thing on the bottom that beans or pieces of beans get stuck on. I guess the purpose of that plate is so you can fill the bowl with beans but only drop some into the grinder throat as you go. You can wiggle the plate from the outside, but other than tipping the grinder and whacking it (it's somewhat lighter than my SM90) which cannot be great for it when it is running, how do you keep beans from hanging up there?

I am prepared to learn to use this thing and not send it back, but oh, how I wish it didn't require learning new things! I'm not good at new things early in the morning.

Ann

[HB]

Now I'm not going to disable a safety device (who me?), but what exactly do you define as the finger guard - and lets say I just wanted to remove it just to clean the grinder or look up in there or whatever?

If you remove the finger guard that covers the chute exit (two small screws), you can easily sweep the chute with a small brush.


Package of inexpensive "acid brushes"
available in the paint department

You can wiggle the plate from the outside, but other than tipping the grinder and whacking it (it's somewhat lighter than my SM90) which cannot be great for it when it is running, how do you keep beans from hanging up there?

That piece closes off the bottom of the hopper so you can lift off the hopper without emptying it beforehand. If you're not using it and the beans hanging up on its small ledge annoys you, remove it (push down on the tiny "stop" to pull it out of the slot). Or just dump in enough beans for a day or two instead of grinding until empty.

[Psyd]

That piece closes off the bottom of the hopper so you can lift off the hopper without emptying it beforehand. If you're not using it and the beans hanging up on its small ledge annoys you, remove it (push down on the tiny "stop" to pull it out of the slot). Or just dump in enough beans for a day or two instead of grinding until empty.

I keep mine on for looks, but if you're going to be dosing one or two into the hopper anyways, there's a thread bout using a piece of PVC pipe a few inches long, with the same outside diameter as the inside diameter of your hopper base, and an end-cap on it. Dose into the neck of the grinder and just put that thing overteh top to stop the popcorn effect.

I am prepared to learn to use this thing and not send it back, but oh, how I wish it didn't require learning new things! I'm not good at new things early in the morning.

So practice at night when you're sharp. And as for sinkshots, here in the desert I just call them cubeshots. Anything that's short of spectacular (meaning drinkable without adding stuff) goes into an ice tray. Oddly enough, most icetrays are about a shot per cube! Drop two of these into a cup of milk, add a shot of chocolate syrup and a squiret of whipped, and VIOLA! Instant mocha. 'S great when you offer espresso and there are three guests who all want a candy bar. "Would you like that iced?" They'll go nuts. Oh, and I keep a coupla tall glasses with a dribble of chocolate around the inside in the freezer for those. Folks love 'em!

If you remove the finger guard that covers the chute exit (two small screws), you can easily sweep the chute with a small brush.

Do you find that those rushes shed hairs into the PF? I've started finding short pieces in mine, and I just figure that if I can't taste 'em, no harm done. The longer ones get pulled, but the itty bitty ones, I don't know what to do. Do these 'acid' brushes keep their hair longer?

[annp]

Do you find that those rushes shed hairs into the PF? I've started finding short pieces in mine, and I just figure that if I can't taste 'em, no harm done. The longer ones get pulled, but the itty bitty ones, I don't know what to do. Do these 'acid' briushes keep their hair longer?

Ha! Try living with cats.

Lets see, does that hair hanging out of the portafilter belong to.... Murray, Grommet, Roomie, Shadow, Mary Jane, Tommy, Becky or Mickey?

I've got this nifty brush that is nylon and cylindrical that came in an espresso machine cleaning kit that is PERFECT for the spout of the Macap.

I'm liking it better today, by my last coffee of the morning, I got the grind dialed in (if not quite the amount)- and it looks rather elegant sitting next to Anita.

Will it look as purty next to a GS3?

Ann

[HB]

Do these 'acid' brushes keep their hair longer?

Sure. They sell for around $3 for a package of 12, which should last a few years. I toss a brush when it gets too frizzy.

[alsterlingcafe]

Sure. They sell for around $3 for a package of 12, which should last a few years. I toss a brush when it gets too frizzy.

As for the brush recommendation, I'm still using a combo-brush that has a Melitta measuring cup at one end and a small brush on the other. I also removed the finger guard in the grounds hopper.

I make a double in the AM, and then a few doubles in the PM. That's my minimum. Regardless, I try to put only what beans I need into the hopper. I say this because I got the Macap doser, stepless with my S1. I had similar issues trying to "dial in" the Malabar Gold; my premium espresso blend. On the old MDF, I was at 4 for MB and 5 for most other blends.

Dan, you're probably correct about the 3 grams of grounds left in the chute, in front of the ledge. I see those "lazy exit grounds" after I place my beans into hopper, run the grinder, then shut it off, brush out what I can from the chute, tilt the grinder forward and momentarily turn on the grinder and see grounds fly out of the chute. I sweep a second time. Now I know that I've cleared as much coffee from the machine, into the doser, as I can.

Why do I go through all of this..........? Because I'm doing small runs. And one more thing. If I walk away from the grinder for more than an hour, and come back to make more shots, I load the beans, grind for a few seconds, and then flush those grounds all the way through the doser and into the sink.

Without clearing the grinder, and upon my first shot on returning to the machines, I was getting strangely short extractions. Turns out that the "stale" grounds must have dehydrated or something, as after a short flush with "fresh grounds", I was getting my consistent extractions.

Now......if I use those Macaps commercially and run full hoppers with grounds going through the machine every few minutes, then I am sure that inconsistent issue will not be an issue.

The only thing I would add to the Macap M4 stepless, doser, would be a small 0-60 second auto-reset timer. As for the old "doser v doserless" discussions, I realized, just recently, that I will always purchase doser models. Clumped grounds are a real issue, and dosers are a great value for de-clumping. You may save only $20 if you go doserless, and all you have to do to make a doser model doserless is remove the two machine screws inside the doser. Fabricating a chute is not a great challenge.

Again, I appreciate the comments as I went through alot of fresh beans to get my setup where I wanted it. The Macap ring is horrible. Obviously, the engineering staff, or lead guy, has Owl Eyes. I don't, and injection molded black markings on a black field is an "incomplete job." I would suggest removing the ring and "roller coating" the raised graphics with a very fine paint roller loaded with white waterbased latex. (easier to clean up if you goof up) Truth is, while I like my idea (humble me!) I used a "white out" pen to make a dot on the ring and a permanent dot on the doser edge.

Other than all that, and unless I'm missing something, the Macap meets all the commercial grade requirements one could have in a shoppe or at home.

Best, Al

[HB]

Without clearing the grinder, and upon my first shot on returning to the machines, I was getting strangely short extractions. Turns out that the "stale" grounds must have dehydrated or something, as after a short flush with "fresh grounds", I was getting my consistent extractions.

I fill the hopper with a couple days worth of coffee beans instead of tossing in single shots and grinding until empty as I once did. There's more waste because I have to run the grinder for a couple seconds to clear old grinds from the chamber, but it probably doesn't even total up to a couple shot's worth of coffee per month. The beans in the hopper are deep enough to prevent the "popcorn effect" and I can pull a half-dozen shots without refilling.

[Psyd]

Ha! Try living with cats.

I live with greyhounds. It's pretty much the same thing except for the meowing at the firetrucks. It is the funniest sound you will ever hear an animal make, bar none. Think of a repetitive cat request for a treat (the plaintive, accusatory, 'whiny' meow) in a slightly more baritone voice at full dog volume. The hair situation is pretty much the same, although with one that is completely white and the other a brindle, I always know whose hair I'm drinking.

I've got this nifty brush that is nylon and cylindrical that came in an espresso machine cleaning kit that is PERFECT for the spout of the Macap.

Spill, sistah! Which kit, which brush, which machine, which vendor?

Oh, and Al? Where'd you get the Melitta thing, and how useful is the measuring end? I looked at Melitta products. but couldn't find anything.

[alsterlingcafe]

Psyd.......... Well, like a few coffee items, I believe the combo 5" scoop and brush combo came with my Gaggia Synchrony Super Auto? I don't remember? That was long ago.........like last November. (time flies when you go through the machines!) I even use the edge of the scoop brush for my PF leveling device. I plan on buying a small quantity of wooden stir sticks. Further, the combo brush end may get replaced with a high quality art acrylic brush. A very good brush, with well crimped bristles, should not shed. It's really worth, in my opinion, spending the $5 or so. I have found, over the years, lotsa' Melita accessories at stores like Cost Plus, Linens and Things, etc.

Best, Al in SoCal

[Paul L]

Ann, I've been using my stepped-adjustment Macap 4 for about 15 months now. I'll say up-front that I really like it, I've not had the adjustment issue you've had.

Firstly, I take no notice of the black, numbered collar but, then, I don't vary the grind for french-press etc. I use the same basic grind on my Aerobie Aeropress as I do for my Brewtus and whilst I do adjust for different beans I'm in the zone consistently a click or two either way. Finding a zero and then backing off two numbers would be a huge amount, I know that when I've found zero I back off only a handful of the small clicks you get with my model. To my mind, this says that with a stepless model, the adjustment must be only a centimetre in total or even less.

I'm sure that you once you nail the basic grind-range for your needs you can then concentrate on whether you like the Macap in general. I like the quality and finish, the covered switch, the heavy overall weight and low centre of gravity and I like the smoothness and quiet (if any grinder can truly be called quiet). As many report the Macap is perhaps more kitchen than cafe aesthetically compared with Mazzer and others.

For home-volumes I see no point in using the hopper. It gets in the way on those rare occasions I want to get to the the top of the burrs and gets in the way of cleaning (further below). I weigh my beans from my silver-foiled, 1-way-valve bags into a small cup on my digital scales and I get out of the grinder what I put in so you should not have problems with inefficiency. I place the doser cover over the beans so they don't fly everywhere or occasionally my hand. I have removed the safety bit which Dan mentioned and we're all on our own with this one as we know.

The trick is that once you have ground your beans and with switch off, pull the grinds left in the chute out of there with the back of a spoon-handle, switch-on again which always releases a little more grind and then pull these out again. You've lost little in weight or volume in this way. If I grind 28oz for two 17oz doubles I do have a small amount of unused left over so nothing is really wasting. I could go tighter if I wanted. To pull the grinds out I use a nice little polished stainless-steel coffee measure which is cheap here in the UK. Now you're hardly going to want to ship one over but this is what it looks like, basically a broader back than a teaspoon without the length of large serving spoons. I'm sure you'll have similar. It becomes an easy ritual which I don't even think about.

http://www.whittard.co.uk/Product...e=en-GB&cid=ce5060

Now, for cleaning I keep a hoover in the kitchen! A Dyson cylinder which is there for purely for coffee. Hell, I make enough other sacrifices and observe roasting and espresso/capp making rituals that I figure it's all crazy without keeping the grinder fresh. No nozzles or attachments on the Dyson, just the basic tube so of course the hopper being off is essential as it would otherwise get in the way, I vacuum inside the top, around the top, in the chute, in the doser and the kitchen counter. It takes seconds and makes a tremendous difference. When I visited one or two coffee folk I looked at the pile of pucks on newspapers with grinds going everywhere and ground beans everywhere and said, no way, I am not living in that mess. Just not necessary.

Anyway, I hope there are one or two grains in here to help you connect with the Macap, I have not felt the need to lust after a Mazzer or anything else. Well okay, the natural distribution of the Versalab posted on HB has my attention for a future drool but back here in the real World...

[annp]

Spill, sistah! Which kit, which brush, which machine, which vendor?

Oh, and Al? Where'd you get the Melitta thing, and how useful is the measuring end? I looked at Melitta products. but couldn't find anything.

Oh man, I gotta think - and sorry about not getting back to you sooner, school ate me for a few days.

Anyway... I had to run down stairs and look at the name stamped on my milk thermometer and my shot glasses!

http://www.visionsespresso.com/

I bought their cleaning kit, plus a Pallo coffee tool, plus a "steam wand or pour spout brush." I gave the cleaner away with my Saeco (I use the stuff that Chris recommends for Anita), but I've used everything else in that kit.

Go check out their cleaning supply section.

[annp]

Ok, got grind down, getting better at getting grounds out.

Compared to my commercial SM90, the Macap is a little slow - but I'll point out that my boyfriend does not complain about the grinder being louder than the phone call he is on.

I'm liking it, I think I'll keep it and I appreciate all the help!

Ann

[arossphoto]

I fill the hopper with a couple days worth of coffee beans instead of tossing in single shots and grinding until empty as I once did. There's more waste because I have to run the grinder for a couple seconds to clear old grinds from the chamber, but it probably doesn't even total up to a couple shot's worth of coffee per month. The beans in the hopper are deep enough to prevent the "popcorn effect" and I can pull a half-dozen shots without refilling.

Are you using a doserless? Are you just clearing the grinds from the chamber when you refill the hopper every couple days? I'm curious, because I'm just getting started with my Macap stepless with doser, and I don't understand how you would know how much to grind when you need a shot. I'm currently weighing every shot, but I would like to get to the point where I can do what you're doing and leave a few days worth of beans in the hopper. Leaving whole beans in the hopper for a few days is probably fine, but I obviously don't want stale grinds hanging around in the doser for too long.

Thanks,

Andrew

[Java Man]

I'm using a Macap M4 with doser. I find I can get a fairly accurate dose by starting the timer when I switch on the grinder. At the grind I'm using, it takes 16 seconds to produce enough for my largish double basket (19 grams) and 10 seconds for my large single basket (12 grams). This produces a little more than I need, but I've found it's better to grind a gram or two excess to make sure the puck has no voids.

[arossphoto]

I'm using a Macap M4 with doser. I find I can get a fairly accurate dose by starting the timer when I switch on the grinder.

Thanks. The new Macaps don't seem to have timers. It makes a lot of sense and I wonder why they don't have them? I guess I could use a darkroom timer (too bad I sold mine a couple years ago), but I really don't want more cords and crap on the counter.

Oh... I just read your post again. Do you mean you're using a separate timer and shutting the grinder off manually?

[HB]

Are you using a doserless? Are you just clearing the grinds from the chamber when you refill the hopper every couple days?

No, a Mazzer Mini with modified sweep and deflector. Each morning I run the grinder a couple seconds to eject the stale grounds from the chamber, brush out the chute, empty the doser (some thwack, thwack, thwacking). Then I run it for ~15 seconds and dose the portafilter (more thwack, thwack, thwacking). At the end of a session, I brush out the chute and empty the doser, mostly for neatness since I'll end up purging the stale grinds from the chamber next time.

By the way, lately I've been practicing high-speed doser handle thwacking. Not sure why, I guess that I just like imitating the sound of a busy cafe in the morning.

[bobcraige]

I am using a Mazzer Mini as well. Like Dan, I keep a day or two worth of beans in the hopper. I find I can very closely gauge how much to grind by taking off the top of the doser and watching as I fill one or more compartments of the doser. For instance, I know that two plus a quarter compartments is just right for my double basket.