Hi everyone, was just curious to know if any of you use espresso grinders with doser but for home use? I know often they are used for higher volume applications, but wonder if any of you use for home use? Also do you fill up doser a bit or pre-measure beans first for one or two shots?
Thanks
Fab

I used to use a Mazzer Mini with a doser for home use, still have it for back up. I weighed every dose and did a lot of brushing out of the chute. Upsides no frogging around with trying to remember how to work the buttons on it.

A friend and former roommate used a Mazzer Super Jolly when we lived together. It was a mess.

We single-dosed and used a bellows but it was very hard to get consistent weights in the portafilter due to retention in the dosing chamber. I took it apart to clean once and there were several caked-on grams retained from the grinding chamber through the doser. It was also difficult to prep pucks since the grinds came out in globs and hit the portafilter at different angles with each pull of the doser.

He uses it to this day and we've pulled some great shots, but I would generally recommend a doserless grinder unless you do a ton of entertaining or have ambitions to open a shop.

Hi gang, thanks for the reply. It seems that the dosers might be better served for higher volume use?
On a side note/question...i've seen some conical burr grinders online for quite cheap (50-100). Any of you ise these types of grinders?
Thanks
Fab

Similar experience with a Compak K10 WBC here. The doser isn't used for "storage", with all (or nearly all) of its contents going into each basket.

Until recently I used a Mazzer Mini with doser as my backup grinder. I always single-dosed and while it did take me upwards of a minute to sufficiently clear all the grinds from the doser, it wasn't all too bad. If you've found a good deal on a doser grinder and don't mind a bit of hassle, I say go for it. If it bothers you further down the line you can always do what I did and convert it to doserless. If you have a more flexible budget, don't want the hassle and are planning on buying new, I would steer clear.

I used a Mazzer SJ doser for a long time. Those doser models work much better for singledosing then GOD grinders. With doser models it's really easy to access all parts of the grinder and thus getting all of the grounds out while this is near impossible with GOD grinders.

There's still nothing that beats a Mazzer SJ doser model for the price as they can be found pretty cheap second hand and you can put SSP burrs in it if you want. And those grinders are bomber. For singledosing I really don't get why everyone wants an expensive GOD grinder that does a pretty crappy job while doser models are so much more suited for that.

Erik, interesting observation. I think if you grind enough for like 3-4 shots, it should be good quantity for the day?
Will look at the grinder you mentioned.
I currently have an older baratza vario. It works ok but find it a little soso in terms of adjusting and holding the grind. I kinda like manual adjustments, where you turn the top burr ring and can lock it in place.
Fab

I third with JohnB and Jeff. I just started single dosing with Compak K10 with JohnB's mods. It works really well. The doser eliminate any static and no WDT required. Best yet, there isn't any mess once you get use to the hang of using the doser handle.