Hi HBers,

I'm new to the world of home roasting, but I've got the bug and I don't see any cure in sight. I've been a long time coffee drinker, going through each wave - preground Folgers at home with my dad, blade ground Starbucks in college, and have been home roasting for a few months now on a Huky 500T, currently accompanied by a Mr. Coffee burr grinder I got on sale for $40.

First things first - what are the best burrs I can get for this thing? I know the 804's are highly praised. Is an upgrade to the lab sweets worth $100? As a chemical engineer who works in a lab daily, the "lab sweet" caught my attention, but to my remedial palate, I'm not sure it would make a huge difference. Any better options for the price out there? Maybe some SSPs?

Thank you!

First things first - what are the best burrs I can get for this thing? I know the 804's are highly praised. Is an upgrade to the lab sweets worth $100? As a chemical engineer who works in a lab daily, the "lab sweet" caught my attention, but to my remedial palate, I'm not sure it would make a huge difference. Any better options for the price out there? Maybe some SSPs?

Definitely search the forums -- I have seen many discussions about Lab Sweet vs. stock Bunn vs. SSP. I myself posted last fall!

Ditting Lab Sweet vs. Bunn burrs

I have not been able to try the Lab Sweet burrs, but the SSP silver burrs were definitely a step up over the stock Bunn burrs. Much less bitterness/astringency. It is worth the upgrade to the SSP burrs, but I can't say how different the SSP burrs will be from any other options. I highly doubt the other coatings will make any difference in grind quality (but perhaps in burr lifetime, but that doesn't matter for home use), so I wouldn't spend more for those options -- the silver will do.

Do you already have a Bunn grinder? Which one? If you are lucky enough to find one with a DC motor you can also play with the supply voltage to change the motor speed.

Joey - this is extremely helpful! Thank you for sending me that link. I was originally thinking that the 804s or the Lab Sweets would be better, but it seems like the SSPs would be awesome too. I agree that I don't think I need a coating since this will be a home-only grinder with a very high end max of 50 lbs per year, but it looks like their website only offers a coated option - I don't see a way to do no coating??

I don't have a grinder yet - I have this guy's word that I can get his for $125 (including shipping), but it is in absolutely terrible shape externally. I don't care, because it's going to sit in a big cabinet until I do all of the mods I have planned, so almost better that it's beat up to get it for a better price since I plan on completely redoing it anyway. I need to figure out how to tell what year it's from and if it has a DC motor, but guessing from the pic, it's older than I am!



I'll keep reading and researching. I appreciate the link - that helped me narrow it down to most likely going with SSP instead of the lab sweets.

The SSP "silver knight" is the basic option without any special coating.

$125 is a decent price -- I paid $150 for a G9 from the mid 90s. I got super luck and got a G3 for my parents at $56 that was about 10 years old. That G1 is probably an AC motor. Some posted a picture of a G1-MD recently that had the DC motor.

My guess is you'll be in for 1 to 2 days of cleaning that thing out, haha. Grounds and old coffee oils manage to coat the insides entirely over time. If you want to make a custom enclosure, you can scrap all the electronics on the inside (assuming it's the same as the G9 and G3 I've torn down). It's just relays. I connected the motor directly to a power strip to use as an on/off switch.