Department of Better Bean Bags:

If I can trust my ears, which are only marginally better than my eyes, I've reduced popcorning somewhat. I pressed a one-inch diameter "EZ Slider" self-stick press-on chair (table leg--whatever) slider onto the center of my 58mm tamper that I use for my per-dose Mazzer Mini. Seem to be fewer beans at the very end of the grind that are popping around (slider takes up maybe 12 beans of volume.)

Probably a larger diameter slider would could be used, but mine is out of an opened package of 24 pieces that cost $9.99 (years ago.) Even I have my upgrade limits.

I have to say I like it better. The pulls are now extremely consistent for the entire duration, where before I experienced the "last 5-second jiggles" where the cone went absolutely crazy. I attribute that to a much more consistent grind.

The deal with shutting off the grinder while I am thwacking the doser is no big deal at all.

Finally, not having to weigh each dose is freeing. I have enough experience with my equipment now where I can dose by sight and not by weight. Best of all, I don't have to locate and pick up stray beans off the counter or floor when I spill them dumping them into the grinder throat.

Thanks everyone for bringing up this discussion. Always something interesting going on at HB.

avdiscolo wrote:Always something interesting going on at HB.

True story!

mturkel99 wrote:Assuming beans are roasted within the week. Is there any benefit in keeping them in the paper/plastic airtight bag as opposed to leaving them in the hopper?

I put roasted coffee in one of these coffee savers. http://www.vacuvin.nl/Vacuum_Coffee_Sav ... g_229.html
The Vacuvin system, http://www.vacuvin.nl/Wining_204.html ,
is good also to keep wine in good condition for about a week.
Theodore.

cannonfodder wrote:On the Mazzer line, a 58mm tamper will fit the grinder throat perfectly.

My 57.5mm Techno's tamper, fits exactly the grinder throat.
Theodore.

Theodore wrote:I put roasted coffee in one of these coffee savers. http://www.vacuvin.nl/Vacuum_Coffee_Sav ... g_229.html

Is it freezer safe?

I have put it sometimes in the refrigerator, but not in the -18C, but in the +4C instead. I don"t know "officially", if it is freezer(-18C),safe.
I think you could e-mail them and ask about.
Theodore.

wildlyesoteric wrote:Is it really feasible to dose while grinding with big commercial grinders like these? Rocky? Sure. Mini? Yeah. Robur? I wouldn't think so, at least grinding per shot while trying to minimize waste. I'd think that from doser handle release to switch off is gonna amount to like 5 grams of grind time. Mazzer Major grinds 4.75g/sec... I know at work with a Nuova MDX there's generally 3-5g in the vanes after dosing.

Yes it's possible and I think it's a pretty good solution. I'm not a rapid doser thwacker. With my Robur it takes about 5-6 secs to grind enough coffee for one extraction. That's 8 doser clicks at my frequency. I waste little coffee. I use the same technique with all of my grinders, varying the time, or not thinking about the time at all. My Kony and Super Jolly require little time sensitivity so less brain cells need participate.

My personal preference is to leave enough coffee in the hopper for several days worth. I don't roast 6 different kinds of coffee and I just don't have the time or compulsiveness to need to change coffees out. I roast what i like and I do it in 1kg batches. For me, it's always the freshness vs resting problem that is bigger than anything else. It's best to roast a couple of days before I'm out of coffee. I then freeze what i ain't gonna use immediately, and then leave a few day's supply at room temp. I fill the hopper with several day's worth, then use it. When it gets too low it gets replaced from the freezer supply. If I get out of sync, I'm comfortable enough with coffee to know that if it's too fresh, well it'll come around in a day or so, and if it's a day past peak, well I can't help that beyond a certain amount and there are two solutions - shut up and use it or throw it out.

Obviously this doesn't work if you change what you are drinking a lot. In that case, I dump out the hopper, replace it with the feed chute slide closed, grind out the remaining beans in the throat, add new coffee and go. If you're gonna use a different coffee you're gonna have to dial it in regardless. Buck up and get over it.

I'm also in the camp that ya gotta keep some column of coffee on top of the burrset. You might be able to use a tamper to help feed coffee into the burrs, but I'm with Ken, Malachi, and any number of highly respected pros that feel this way.

-Greg

Talking today with a big coffee shop manager in Athens,(who I found from the Internet, reading coffeed forum, because they had a American there, last year, who wrote about this cafe in a post),) good enough to its job, I was told that they will change from three phase Roburs, to E Roburs, electronically dosing, which they will come in Greece soon .
He told me that they have some ventilation system, for cooling coffee and grind to dose.
They have high temp with the old Roburs, plus wasting of coffee.
He kindly gave me some of their coffee to taste and it was vey good indeed.It is for the first time I saw my Techno
very happy, not wanting to change it.

wildlyesoteric wrote:Is it really feasible to dose while grinding with big commercial grinders like these? Rocky? Sure. Mini? Yeah. Robur? I wouldn't think so, at least grinding per shot while trying to minimize waste. I'd think that from doser handle release to switch off is gonna amount to like 5 grams of grind time. Mazzer Major grinds 4.75g/sec... I know at work with a Nuova MDX there's generally 3-5g in the vanes after dosing.

Yup.
Did it all the time at Stumptown. No harder than any other grinder.