Just picked up a Vario K-30. Would like to season the burrs before starting to dial things in. Any advice on how much coffee needs to be run through it before finding consistent performance?

I bought a used K30 Vario, so I don't know about seasoning a virgin machine. I'd hope it wouldn't take too long, though. I'll say that mine is particularly forgiving and, at the same time, terrible accurate. Unless I'm way off base with the roast or grind, I'm in the 4-6 range (the numbers on the grinder) and it's tough to get a terrible pull. Enjoy that machine!

I've not tested that particular grinder, but have owned or tested ones similar to it (e.g., Mazzer Super Jolly has flat 64mm burrs; according to the specs, the K30 has 65mm flat burrs).

For test purposes, I'd grind 5 pounds of stale coffee through it (30 seconds on, 1 minute off). But that's intentional overkill, since I want to be 100% certain the burrs are free of any flashing or roughness. If you happen to have a pound of stale coffee around, run it through, but otherwise don't worry too much about seasoning the burrs. The grind setting may drift a bit without seasoning; it's mildly irksome, but not the end of the world.

PS: For those who are following this thread and wondering, What is burr seasoning? explains the rationale behind the above and includes a link to James Hoffman's Dear grinder manufacturers plea.

Just in case: If you are grinding bulk amounts for burr seasoning with the K30, be careful not to let the ground coffee fill your waste container and back up the exit chute.

The burrs need about 20kg to run in. But I have not experienced a significant change in performance after this amount of coffee. You only need to re-dial in your coffee with re-adjusting your grinding setting a tiny bit. IMO there is absolutely no need to throw away 20kg of coffee...

I have bought a new Vario K30 around 2 years ago. I dont think seasonning will make a big difference. I havent seen any difference at all. What is making a bigger difference is the freshness of the coffee. I have to adjust the same coffee for around 1 point on the dial between 3 days old coffee to 7 days. Sylvain

I completely agree with Sylvain. Just go ahead and enjoy this masterpiece of equipment. You won't sense any difference in performance if you, which I hope you do, use freshly roasted beans. If you don't have a roaster - get one!

Br SK