Originally posted by Talk_Coffee
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Having replaced dozens of sets of steel burrs in Italian (mainly, + other nationalities) commercial grinders over the years, most of their "off the shelf steels" are far too soft to be considered tool steel quality. Hence their life span is massively less than it should be. The Mahlkonig / Ditting steel burrs are significantly harder (easily tool steel grade) and tend to last a lot longer as a direct result. The Swiss Ditting ceramic burrs in a Vario outlast their own steel burrs by a factor of three (see Mahlkonig website: buried in their research papers somewhere).
Of course, as mentioned somewhere else in this thread, there are a lot of aftermarket burrs out there. Presumably some of them use decent grades of steel... If I hadn't sold off all my Italian commercial grinders a few months back, I would be actively seeking them out.
Back to the Vario: That means for domestic users an act of destruction is more likely to take the burrs out as wear is a non event.
BTW, I would never use a Vario in a high volume environment for a completely different (not burr related) reason: the chamber fills at about the 750g mark and needs a quick clean or the particle size variation is instantly shot. Considering the Vario's main benefit is their (very) narrow particle spread, needless to say that is an instant showstopper in a cafe. You can even hear the Vario's note change when it happens. That is why other "commercial" grinders are more suitable in that environment. For a home user, a quick clean every second 250g lot of coffee is a simple procedure.
TampIt


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