I recently bought a used Nuova Simonelli MDSA grinder that I was told was may be 10 years old. It looked in great shape, identical to the current model on their website. No surprise, it was clogged with old coffee. I cleaned the burrs, threads, chute and doser as best I could, although it still retained a smell of "old stale coffee". It seems to grind well and can easily be adjusted to grind the beans too fine for my Rancilio Silvia. The problem is that my espresso from this grinder tastes "burnt" and "thin" and the crema is a dark cinnamon chocolate color with little height. I thought I was upgrading from my little Capresso Infinity grinder, but the Capresso made a much better tasting espresso from Ms Silvia then the Nuova Simonelli. The burrs (65mm, flat) look fine to the naked eye and the ground beans look consistent in size without clumping. Do the burrs need to be replaced, is there something I am doing wrong or was my great deal really a folly?
Thanks

Thanks Dan,
I suspected it might need new burrs. It was used in a little priviate school's cafe so I didn't think it saw all that much action. I was just reluctant to sink another $80-$100 into it unless it would produce a great grind. A friend has a La Pavoni grinder that I used with my Rancilio Siliva when I first got it and was able to produce godshots; sweet, complex, earthy, creamy sips of delight. That is what I was hoping for with the Nuova Simonell. The Capresso grinder (now broken) produced acceptable results but never the mouthful of heaven that the La Pavoni did. Will the Nuova Simonell be able to grind this well with new burrs or should I take my money and invest it in a better grinder?
Thanks,
Michael

It is possible there still may be junk hung up in your grinder. Before investing that $80 - $100 in a new burr set, try spending $22 on some Grindz. Perhaps that may alleviate your burnt taste issue.

Soma wrote:I suspected it might need new burrs. It was used in a little priviate school's cafe so I didn't think it saw all that much action.

In 7 years I replaced the burrs in a Rocky twice (that's three sets in 7 years). Each time I could taste the difference when the burrs were replaced. That 10 year old grinder probably does need new burrs. if nothing else, if you change the burrs and then sell it, you can say that it has new burrs.

Thanks for the suggestions,
I just ordered a new set of burrs. It turns out that my grinder was really a re-badged Rossi RR45. The burrs were $46 which is no problem. I looking to tasting the results once the new burrs are installed.

Michael

I would give it a good cleaning while you have it apart. It sounds like it had a hard life. if they used dark oily beans, those old rancid/burnt/carbon tasting oils will adhere to the grinders insides like glue. It may be worthwhile to invest $8 in some Urnex Café WIPZ. Give the inside of the grinding chamber a thorough scrubbing along with the doser.

Thanks Dave,
Cleaning the grinder with product is new to me, I'm use to just occasionally brushing out the burrs from my now defunct Capresso. Is Urnex Café WIPZ a better way to go then Grindz? Is there a household product that will work (nearly) as well? I looked up the WIPZ, it was a cationic surfactants (http://www.scienceinthebox.com/en.../sibd-6341045.html) which is commonly used in fabric softeners & bathroom cleaners. I'm trying to minimize my out of pocket costs till I decide if this beast is worth keeping; it is big and the wife would love to see it go away and the counter space re-appear. When the new burrs arrive, if it takes me closer to a godshot it stays, otherwise, bye-bye.
Michael

I have not used them but Dan (HB) has a positive opinion of them. When I rebuilt my Cimbali Max, I completely disassembled it and washed it all in JoeGlo to get the same effect.

Soma wrote:Is there a household product that will work (nearly) as well?

If it's apart, I've had good results from 91% isopropanol from the drug store along with Q-tips and pipe cleaners.

Best,
David

I would like to encourage you to get a set of new burrs.
Burnt taste is the usual warning sign of dull burrs that need replacement. Often, you can't see it on the burrs, but you can feel it. They should feel sharp to the touch, being able to scrape your nails for instance. Much like a newly sharpened knife.

It can be somewhat of a surprise, the first time you feel how sharp burr sets coming fresh from the factory really are. If you have never tried it, you might easily fool yourself into thinking the burrs are OK when they are not.

Edit- Addendum, becoming longer than the original text... sorry: All too often, we get hold of used pro grinders that according to the previous owner have seen "little use", "low-volume use", "sitting-in-the-corner-used-only-for-decaf" or something to that effect, when in reality, during their service, they have actually seen quite a lot of use, although maybe not at all as much as the owner's main grinder. Some of them also get to see a fair bit of abuse. This does not go unnoticed, even if the grinder looks OK on the outside.

As an example from my own experience, I have a Max at home right now which is in dear need of new burrs and a very thorough cleaning - it smells like... bleeaahhh! Like someone used it as an ashtray. The burrs are so dull it can't even grind for espresso. I am even thinking of changing the auger (conical) burrs... which might be unheard of for a Max, but looking and feeling the auger burrs, I do consider it. The axis is slightly wobbly - if this is normal or not, I don't know, but this might be a result of plain bad user habit: changing grind setting when the grinder is standing still is NOT recommended according to the manufacturer, as it may damage the grinding mechanism. Straightening that axis (if needed) might prove impossible.

According to the salesman, this Max had been "used for about a year", low-volume use. I hope and believe it can be fixed, but to be honest it looks more as if it had been in high-volume use for five years or so, and abused at that. Good deal? Well, you get what you get when it comes to pro grinders. The market is very small, so if you got a good price and you only need to change burr set, you can consider yourself lucky.

Thanks all for the many suggestions and observations.
The new burrs are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I took the old burrs out. One of the screws holding in the top burr was nearly stripped, so they must have been changed at least once before. I had to use WD-40 to get the screws loose in both the top & bottom burrs and am a little worried that the residual odor may be imparted to the coffee. I was considering putting some baking soda in the dozer to absorb the odors, thinking that the sweep in the dozer will push the soda out to remover it. Once the burrs were removed I completely cleaned & vaced the grinder and dozer. There were old oily grinds were caked on the base that holds the bottom burr. I sure that was the source of some of the stale coffee smell that the grinder retained even after the first time I cleaned it. I'll try the 91% isopropanol or JoeGlow if I can find it. I bought the Rossi RR45 for $120 plus about $50 with shipping for the burrs. The Rossi is suppose to compare favorably with the Rocky & Mazzer Mini, both machines I looked for used but couldn't find. If I get good results for $170 out of pocket, it will be worth it.
Michael