I read a LOT before buying the vario about how it had basically 0 grind retention, and it was one of the major selling points for me. I wanted to get away from scooping the chute of my Mazzer...did anyone actually bother to weigh the 1st shot of coffee they put in after cleaning it, and weighing how much comes out?

I did...and repeatedly, after cleaning it, it's a good 2-3g short. That tells me it's using those 2-3 grams to fill the channels and passages of the grinder. The next shot you put 16g in, you get 16g out, but i expect that 2-3 of those 16 are the remnants from the previous grind.

By that calculation a Mazzer also has 0 retention even without cleaning the chute. The 2nd shot of beans will just push out the ground coffee in the chute...and the output will be what you put in.

Anyone else notice this with the vario? Or am i looking at this incorrectly?

Grind a very light roast, then a dark one without cleaning.
Should tell the tale.

All grinders have spaces inside that get filled with packed coffee on the first grind after cleaning. The assumption is that this mostly stays put or doesn't shift enough to make up a noticeable portion of the output. How much do you lose on the second grind?

bob, i think the 2nd grind is pretty good..maybe 0.5-1g...after that it's spot on....

How can we know the old stuff is staying put, rather than being pushed out by the new stuff.

cafeIKE: i don't have different roast level coffees... I do have 1/2 a pack of Grindz...i could see if i instantly get white powder when i grind that... or weigh grindz in vs. grindz out...

jasonmolinari wrote:How can we know the old stuff is staying put, rather than being pushed out by the new stuff.

Open it up and take a look after you finish grinding. In most grinders it tends to be compacted into spaces like screw holes and the area around the burrs. It's a reasonable assumption that once the open areas are filled, not much of the compacted grounds mixes with the actual coffee you want, but basically every grinder exhibits it to a degree, and the Vario is quite good if it's only a gram or two.

I do have a VARIO and yes you are right it does retain a good 2/3g the first time you use it. The assumption is, like already been mentioned, that the new old coffee just will stay in the grinder so not affecting the new batch. If you really want to make sure that is the case you try with two very different roast colours and that you would be able to tell apart just by looking into them.
Even if that is not the case you can program to grin for two seconds of so to get rid of the old grounds and then grind your fresh shot.

Go on Baratza blog read the latest review from Mark Prince.

It tells you everything you want to know about Baratza's grinders.

Vario retains 0,5g to 2g depending on the grind size

The review is interesting, but he doesn't mention how he figures that in the before/after test, that there isn't old coffee being pushed out by the new coffee.
I agree that if i put 16 in i get 15.9 out or so...but of that 15.9 how much is old and how much is new coffee?

When I weight grinds after and before it's usually between 0 and 1,0g at drip and coarse drip with a 14g dose.

Right. Me too.
But what part of what you put through stayed in there and was replaced by old stuff from the previous grind?