Yeah, I didn't do anything special with mine either. I ran about a 1lbs of coffee through it at a coarse grind for toddy, but then I just jumped into using it. It's a fantastic grinder out of the box.

If you have some old stale coffee you aren't going to drink, you might as well run it through. But I wouldn't go out of your way to get coffee for seasoning.

I guess it's pretty definitive then: Don't do anything special, season as you go.

Thank you everyone for responding!

I'm in the just use it camp.

Or if you really want to, go visit a local coffee roaster and ask for some stale beans to break in your grinder. They'll just give them to you most of the time.

What about dosing method? Motor on or off when filling with beans? I always put beans in a grinder or hopper before turning on the motor but I've seen videos where someone turns on the Monolith, then throws the beans in while it's running.

The instructions that came with the Flat say to load the beans and then start the grinder. I missed that, and have been turning it on just prior to dumping the beans in. It seems to be working well. So unless there is a reason why it must be the other way, seems like either is workable.

Motor on when loading might be fine with the metal funnel cap that comes with it, but if you bought a wood cap and haven't had your coffee in the am, I would hate to consider what happens with the motor on and a mishap.

For those ordering a Monolith Flat, I was confused but the top portion shown on the website is a both a cap and funnel. With that there is less risk of fingers in the chamber. Some people like to cover the hole with cylinders and other objects. Others buy a wood cap. We bought a dark wood cap to somewhat match our espresso machine and tend to use the wood cap. With that, the burrs are way more exposed and I don't turn the machine on without the cap in place. Also some sort of cap is needed or beans will jump out.

BillBurrGrinder wrote:What about dosing method? Motor on or off when filling with beans? I always put beans in a grinder or hopper before turning on the motor but I've seen videos where someone turns on the Monolith, then throws the beans in while it's running.

I don't think it really matters, I used to use the wood cap so I had to load beans first. But I used the LW Commercial Bean cellars now so its easier to use the safety cap and just dump the beans in while it's running.

Is anyone upgrading their Flat to the new SSP burrs planning on seasoning? I think I read somewhere that SSP burrs are pre-seasoned, but not sure about that.

Put around 1 pound of coffee through, then started using the grinder, so hadn't thought I would season the new burrs. In retrospect, it took a while, I guess mostly because Im generally a weekend user on the flat. Maybe I'll put 1 pound through the new burrs. From the store:


These burrs also need very little seasoning and are ready to go out of box.