Niche Zero: To RDT or Not to RDT - Page 2

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
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iploya
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#11: Post by iploya »

+1 for no RDT on the NZ. Straight into the PF with a dosing funnel.

Those photos are crazy, not sure what is different about your grinder environment than mine.

Nate42
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#12: Post by Nate42 »

If you're single dosing, the answer to should you RDT is always yes in my opinion. It takes barely any time or effort, it doesn't hurt anything, and it can be a big help in minimizing mess or retention. I've never understood the obsession some people seem to have with avoiding it. We're talking a miniscule amount of water, I don't see how it could harm anything. If you have coated burrs they should be protected, and even if you have steel burrs they should be coated with enough coffee oil to protect them from corrosion. And again we're talking about miniscule amounts of water.

I've used RDT every single time I've ground coffee on my monolith flat every day for 5 years. My burrs are fine. And I was using it on other grinders before that. Unless I'm missing something I don't understand why the Niche would be any different.

I mean if you truly don't have to great. By all means save a step. But if you find it helps there is no reason not to.

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mbeck
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#13: Post by mbeck »

I definitely don't have to RDT on either my Niche or my (still very unseasoned!) Monolith, except with extremely dark Neapolitan roasts. Clearly environment and beans have a huge impact on static. I do blow out both grinders however, and get a fair amount of grinds out by doing so. Might be interesting to see what kind of retention I'd get with RDT but not using the bellows.

Nate42
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#14: Post by Nate42 »

There's no such thing as a truly zero retention grinder, you'll see some no matter what, but I'd bet at least some of that retention is due to static and you would see less if you would RDT. The other reason I personally RDT is mess, I find RDT makes for more grinds in the basket and fewer on the counter. Not that I have a huge problem without, but it still makes a noticeable difference.

Beans and and environment definitely make a difference.

akabigo
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#15: Post by akabigo »

RDT every time with medium to darker beans. Been doing so for almost a year. Two quick spurts from a small, fine spray bottle. Burrs still look new cleaning once a month or so. YMMV

LewBK (original poster)
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#16: Post by LewBK (original poster) »

Got a billows, and it seems to work, so for now, I'm going to try to live without RDT.

Viper.gts
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#17: Post by Viper.gts »

I did now several tries. With my DF64 RDT seems to be kind of a "must do". However with my Niche with RDT the Retention is much higher! Zero retention is getting up to a gram of espresso stucked in the grinder. However static in the dosing cup is big and when turning into my portafilter there is always coffee left in the cup that is hard to get out

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sluflyer06
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#18: Post by sluflyer06 »

iploya wrote:+1 for no RDT on the NZ. Straight into the PF with a dosing funnel.

Those photos are crazy, not sure what is different about your grinder environment than mine.
I dunno, I have a monolith conical and a niche, the niche is a static monster, one shot and the whole grinder is wearing a mustache of grinds, the kafatek has almost no static at all

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Jeff
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#19: Post by Jeff »

I single-dose my Niche directly into a funnel/basket. I've never had a problem with static at typical espresso grind levels. (I don't often grind coarse with it.)

A puffer of various sorts manages the last couple tenths of a gram adequately, without significant mess, at least for me. Roughly 60-65 F and 50% RH.

jpender
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#20: Post by jpender »

I don't have Niche Zero but sometimes I get zero static and other times it's horrendous. It varies quite a bit with the coffee. Darker roasts tend to be more static prone. Coffee straight from the freezer tends to be worse than room temperature beans. And of course lower humidity makes it worse.

But since humidity and my freezer practices mostly stay the same I end doing RDT with some beans and not needing it at all with others.