Could someone who has a K30 Vario with the Mahlkonig short hopper tell me the height from the counter to the top of the hopper? I'd also appreciate it if someone could tell me the height of the K30 without the hopper, both to the top of the hopper collar and to the top of the grinder body.

My overhead cabinets are exactly 18" high and I've heard even the short hopper may be too tall for that. I'm aware that it's possible to cut down the stock hopper or adapt a Macap M4 hopper for a lower overall height, but would like to avoid that if possible.

Oh, and I haven't decided to buy a K30 just yet. It's not clear to me that it will be a big enough step up in taste and/or consistency from the Baratza Vario to justify the cost. If I knew someone was working on a timed, doserless grinder with big conical burrs and low retention that's less than 18" high, I'd wait. But it doesn't seem like we'll see one of those anytime soon.

Don't you just hate how overhead cabinets can dictate your grinder options?

I've owned a b.vario, k30 and k10 all at the same time so if you have any specific questions - pm me.

fwiw - i run the k10 hopperless and I have 16" cabinets. single dosing combined w/an acid brush for cleanup makes for nearly zero waste. i wouldn't advise trying to run the k30 w/o a hopper or even with a very minimal amount of beans - it will cause dose inconsistency problems.

Peppersass wrote:Could someone who has a K30 Vario with the Mahlkonig short hopper tell me the height from the counter to the top of the hopper? I'd also appreciate it if someone could tell me the height of the K30 without the hopper, both to the top of the hopper collar and to the top of the grinder body.

These measurements were made by holding a tape measure up beside the grinder and eyeballing it, so while they are not precision they should be close enough for what you're asking.

Counter to top of the short hopper is ~ 17.25" at the edge of the hopper and ~ 17.5" in the center of the lid, which is slightly domed. The hopper lid is hinged on one edge and when fully opened is ~ 24.5" from the counter to the edge of the fully opened lid. Counter to top of grinder body (mounting flange for hopper is the high point) is ~ 12".

Thanks, Richard. The hinged hopper lid is news to me. Can the lid be lifted off like most hopper lids, or is it fixed to the hopper? The latter would be problematic.

The lid is fixed to the hopper, and I've never paid any attention to whether the hinge can be taken apart without modification. I will look at whether the pins are designed to be removed and get back to you. Worst case, the (plastic) hinge pins could surely be clipped off and the lid made permanently removable like most other hopper lids.

Caveat: The short hopper I have is from Ditting. I don't have personal knowledge of whether Mahlkoenig provides a short hopper and, if so, whether it's the same as Ditting's. I assume they would be the same, but without having them side by side it's speculation.

Peppersass wrote:Could someone who has a K30 Vario with the Mahlkonig short hopper tell me the height from the counter to the top of the hopper?

Hi Dick,

Check out page 3 and 4 of this thread

It has both some measurements and a picture of the hinged lid.

You can always use a canning funnel like I do. My space between the counters and the cabinets is less than yours.
Rob