Re: Climax Grinder
FB,
yes, state of grinding plates/ burrs affects grind consistency, heating of grounds etc.
However as with everything in life, nothing is ever totally straight forward. The "extra" heating of grinds I think is more to do with the extra friction created between the plates and coffee during grinding when using "blunt" plates, rather than anything to do with heat coming off the motor due to extra torque required to push the blunt plates around...
In addition, someone mentioned above that "extra" heating of grounds when using "blunt" plates is probably related to the actual quantity of coffee being ground and this is certainly true. In home use where you are grinding only very small quantities on demand my feeling is that you would never in your lifetime need to change grinding plates, certainly on a machine that you bought new, if it is a machine of a certain "quality". I do place the tranquilo in this class. That is, people with commercial grinders at home (bought new) shouldnt need to worry about this. Those with typically domestic quality grinders will need to worry about this some time down the track but this is dependent on individual use and situation...again the grinder will tell you.
Interestingly...(is that a word?)...whilst everyone goes on and on about the "benefits" of conical burrs, those used in conveniently priced domestic grinders are more likely to "blunt" out reasonably quickly with little use, than any flat grinding plates/ burrs Ive ever seen in service, and this really upsets the workings of home use espresso machines.
I have a feeling that much of the debate regarding the changing of supposedly "blunt" grinding plates at arbitrary intervals (as set by industry "experts") could be a furphy created to generate sales of spare parts...I recently corresponded with a couple of different technical managers in the employ of 2 extremely well known and respected Italian grinder manufactureres on this very topic (when SHOULD we be changing grinding plates), and they both gave different views (independently of eachother) and avoided answering the question directly. It all depends on the individual circumstances you see.....!!!!!
Why change plates at an arbitray figure of say, 400 kilos, if in your individual situation at that time the plates may be perfectly serviceable and may have lasted to say 600 kilos? I dont fix anything if it isnt broke.
Robman, must be my style of writing again....no the plates for the claimax didnt cost $1000.00, I was refereing to my "control" grinder which is a high volume industrial grinder.... ;D.
We generally just change the plates. With "small" grinders (like the ones in regular cafe and deli grinders, it wouldnt pay you to try and re machine the old plates as the new ones are not that expensive. In addition unless you have a set of spare plates your grinder is out of action while you wait for the existing to be machined. Easier to buy new ones and fit when they arrive, so its a matter of convenience.
The worm moves the beans over to the grinding plates. The grinder *should* grind from extremely fine to extremely coarse and if it doesnt something needs cleaning, clearing, adjusting or fixing. It is a relatively simple but effecive machine, and the manufacturer states it grinds 250 grams of espresso grind in 1 minute. I cant confirm or deny as we dont time our work. The speed of delivery / grinding is governed by speed of motor, size & design of grinding plates, density of beans etc and should not be mistakenly extrapolated to draw irrelevant conclusions about heating up/quality of grind. It either wroks well, or it doesnt.
Incidentally if you compare a set of new plates to "blunt" plates, you will be hard pressed to see any visual difference between them. The plates "crush/cut" the beans, you cannot therefore help heating up under normal circumstances.
Enjoy your grinder.
Regardez,
FC.
FB,
yes, state of grinding plates/ burrs affects grind consistency, heating of grounds etc.
However as with everything in life, nothing is ever totally straight forward. The "extra" heating of grinds I think is more to do with the extra friction created between the plates and coffee during grinding when using "blunt" plates, rather than anything to do with heat coming off the motor due to extra torque required to push the blunt plates around...
In addition, someone mentioned above that "extra" heating of grounds when using "blunt" plates is probably related to the actual quantity of coffee being ground and this is certainly true. In home use where you are grinding only very small quantities on demand my feeling is that you would never in your lifetime need to change grinding plates, certainly on a machine that you bought new, if it is a machine of a certain "quality". I do place the tranquilo in this class. That is, people with commercial grinders at home (bought new) shouldnt need to worry about this. Those with typically domestic quality grinders will need to worry about this some time down the track but this is dependent on individual use and situation...again the grinder will tell you.
Interestingly...(is that a word?)...whilst everyone goes on and on about the "benefits" of conical burrs, those used in conveniently priced domestic grinders are more likely to "blunt" out reasonably quickly with little use, than any flat grinding plates/ burrs Ive ever seen in service, and this really upsets the workings of home use espresso machines.
I have a feeling that much of the debate regarding the changing of supposedly "blunt" grinding plates at arbitrary intervals (as set by industry "experts") could be a furphy created to generate sales of spare parts...I recently corresponded with a couple of different technical managers in the employ of 2 extremely well known and respected Italian grinder manufactureres on this very topic (when SHOULD we be changing grinding plates), and they both gave different views (independently of eachother) and avoided answering the question directly. It all depends on the individual circumstances you see.....!!!!!
Why change plates at an arbitray figure of say, 400 kilos, if in your individual situation at that time the plates may be perfectly serviceable and may have lasted to say 600 kilos? I dont fix anything if it isnt broke.
Robman, must be my style of writing again....no the plates for the claimax didnt cost $1000.00, I was refereing to my "control" grinder which is a high volume industrial grinder.... ;D.
We generally just change the plates. With "small" grinders (like the ones in regular cafe and deli grinders, it wouldnt pay you to try and re machine the old plates as the new ones are not that expensive. In addition unless you have a set of spare plates your grinder is out of action while you wait for the existing to be machined. Easier to buy new ones and fit when they arrive, so its a matter of convenience.
The worm moves the beans over to the grinding plates. The grinder *should* grind from extremely fine to extremely coarse and if it doesnt something needs cleaning, clearing, adjusting or fixing. It is a relatively simple but effecive machine, and the manufacturer states it grinds 250 grams of espresso grind in 1 minute. I cant confirm or deny as we dont time our work. The speed of delivery / grinding is governed by speed of motor, size & design of grinding plates, density of beans etc and should not be mistakenly extrapolated to draw irrelevant conclusions about heating up/quality of grind. It either wroks well, or it doesnt.
Incidentally if you compare a set of new plates to "blunt" plates, you will be hard pressed to see any visual difference between them. The plates "crush/cut" the beans, you cannot therefore help heating up under normal circumstances.
Enjoy your grinder.
Regardez,
FC.


) The whole thing is spring-loaded but not in the "shoot parts all over the shed" sense.





Comment