Hello - I'm new and just learning the first steps of pulling my own shots. I have several concerns but in order to remain on topic I'll just focus on my grinder (Mazzer Mini) at the moment. I watched a CoffeeGeek review and he mentioned that the grinder is tested at the factory and the sticker is pretty accurate for espresso grind level. I haven't really tinkered with it but it's possible I need to do so. I'm finding that once I turn the timer and let some beans fall into the burrs that it's clogging up the chute to the doser.


I use one of my chopsticks to clean it out when the grinder is off. Is there something I am doing wrong?

Also, this might be an easy question, I found a thread where someone uses the Mini for espresso and french press. I will be using it for the same. So when I switch from one to the other, I clean everything I can with a brush. I turn the grinder on and then turn the stepless dial. It's very difficult to turn. I assume this is not a bad sign and the grinder is simply new and needs to be tight so it doesn't self-adjust due to the lack of steps. Correct?

Thanks.

I use one of my chopsticks to clean it out when the grinder is off. Is there something I am doing wrong?

No, this is completely normal (not good, but normal) for the mazzer grinders. Due to the large horizontal chute to the doser, grinds retention is definitely an issue. Sweeping out the chute is important between shots, but even more important if you are going to a press grind. What I usually do on my mazzer when changing beans is sweep the chute, then pulse the motor to clear out any residual grinds in the burrs. I will then sweep everything out one more time. The grind adjustment should be stiff. The tension prevents the setting from shifting when the grinder is being use. Make sure that when changing grind settings, there are no beans in the grinder, if there are only adjust with motor is running.

You can sweep the chute while grinding with a short brush. Just don't run it into the burrs.

Do yourself a favor. Save up and buy cheap FP grinder. Refurb Maestro or new Capresso. You'll be happier in the long run.

If you decide to ignore, then run a few grams of coffee through at the new grind before grinding for real. A surprising amount of coffee can be retained even after several pulses. Espresso and FP grind are not compatible in either direction.

When turning the stepless dial to grind finer,i.e. going from fp to espresso, the grinder has to be running to be able to turn it.

Marvin

cafeIKE wrote:You can sweep the chute while grinding with a short brush. Just don't run it into the burrs.

I have even caught the brush in the burrs when using it AFTER turning off the grinder, if I don't wait for the burrs to stop turning. It is quite annoying to get the bristles out, but the remaining bristles don't seem to affect my next shot.

Thanks for the advice which contributes to further confidence as I learn.

@cafeIKE I agree. I'm still healing from this latest package purchase but I'll have a dedicated cheapo grinder for french press shortly.

Forego FP until the new grinder arrives

There are two kinds of clogging with Mazzer. The chute has a grid that acts as an anti-static device and makes grounds run consistently. Without the grid timed dosing would be less accurate, as grounds would drop in large chunks. For the timed dosing to work, there needs to certain amount of "good clogging" in the chute (i.e., when grinder is empty, you need to run maybe two doubles worth of beans before dosing is accurate).

The "bad clogging" will eventually halt your grinder completely so that the motor won't budge. It will also create a super thick wall of grinds behind the grid. Metal needle and vacuum cleaner are the tools to use. Brush or light toothpick will not work. I get this when the grinder has gotten too dirty (too much fine dust) or if I grind very fine, like turkish.

Mazzer is not really a dual purpose grinder...

The grid is only in the E, not the doser model.

The grid is only in the E, not the doser model.

Of course.

Without the grid, how the chute can get clogged? Or are we actually talking about the chute getting clogged or just surprisingly large amount of grounds being retained in the chute after grinding? If the latter, it's not an issue, but a feature.