michaelbenis wrote:I'm still hoping someone who has compared the SJ and Major and/orMajor and Robur will pipe up.....

Sorry for not piping up sooner. Disclaimer: I sold my SJ before acquiring a Major. Working from memory, I'd class the Major as a SJ on steroids: faster, less clumpy, but overall a similar grinder.

The Robur has a sharper, more nuanced taste profile, although I find it well balanced. Like many large conicals, it has an espresso "sweet spot" about a mile wide. Aside from the grinds retention issue (which results in an annoying lag when changing grind settings), it's easy to get consistently beautiful pours from the Robur.

I've been using my Major (ghetto-modded to doserless) for vac pot, and the Robur for espresso. That should tell you something. But I'd agree with Jeff: the Major is a terrific flat burr grinder for espresso. Size is only slightly larger than the SJ, but the grind is noticeably better. Grinds retention is significantly less than the Robur, and grinding speed is slightly faster. Coffee buildup under the burrs is greater than the SJ, but it's never been an issue for me.

I'll go pipe down now...

Many thanks Jeff and John in particular: that's really helped.

Cheers

Mike

I'll also add this. . .

I will NEVER get rid of my Major. The ONLY reason I would get rid of it, is If I fell into an extra 1K, and bought the newest model Major.

I do however want to get a large conical, but again, NOT to replace the Major. I simply would like to have two grinders, and If Im going to spend the money on something to be, at least equal to the Major, it'll be a Conical. Which one? Idk. The K10 is most likely, but I would like to see/hear more about the Doserless model.

But regardless. The Major will come to my grave with me.

Jeff, I'd certainly advise you to consider the Elektra Nino: it's a brilliant big conical for home use. I'm very happy with mine for all the reasons that Nicholas has explained so well in the Nino and big conical grind retention threads.

Cheers

Mike

JmanEspresso wrote:I do however want to get a large conical, but again, NOT to replace the Major. I simply would like to have two grinders, and If Im going to spend the money on something to be, at least equal to the Major, it'll be a Conical. Which one? Idk. The K10 is most likely, but I would like to see/hear more about the Doserless model.
But regardless. The Major will come to my grave with me.

I'm planning on replacing one of my Majors with a large conical at some point & the K10 WBC is currently at the top of my list also. Might have to wait a few months as I'm in the process of buying my "dream" espresso machine & my wife won't want to hear about another grinder anytime soon.

I'd recommend reading up the stuff on ground retention here, for which the WBC sounds worse than the Robur: Compak K10 WBC or Mazzer Robur?

You can compare that with Nicholas' and others' pics of the Robur here: Minimizing Waste and Static on Large Commercial Grinders

It's worth reading the whole of that thread in my opinion....

All of which makes it clear why a lot of home Robur owners switched to the Nino and have been happy....

Not that I want to push you or anything.... but one favour deserves another

Happy weekendings!

Mike

Thanks for the links, if the K10 is worse or even close to as bad as the Robur I'd pass.

This morning I gave my Robur a thorough cleaning and purged out roughly 22 grams (glass on the right of pic ) of coffee which included a couple of small pulses of fresh beans. The cleaning included multiple bursts of air, pulsing and vacuuming. A minute or 2's work. After running a series of shots I had another go at cleaning and this time I purged roughly 10 grams ( glass on left of pic) of coffee by plusing and blasts of air. After I took the vacuum to it again and a final blast of air there were only a few grains of old coffee dislodged.
So there ya go. What I managed to extract from the Robur on a Saturday morning, your results may vary. Tomorrow I'll do the same to the Major which currently holds a somewhat oily decaf.
-Ian

Wow, I thought I wrote the Nino as one of my choices. Apparently, I didnt.

Yes, the Nino is high on my list. I want to hear more about the K10 Doserless as well.

Here's why the Nino is NOT on my list . . .

It only comes in 220v, and the thought of using a step-down transformer doesn't work for me. That means laying in a 220v line/circuit. And if I do that, I've eliminated one BIG excuse not to get a Mirage Duette Classic from Kees van der Westen!

So . . . no Nino. No!

Cheers,
Jason