Single Dose Hopper for Macap M2M - a quick hack

[DesigningByCoffee]

Hmmm ?... Odd then, that so many people have been using the weighed dose of beans so effectively for many years !..... Must be down to the ability of the individual user to figure out the optimum technique.!

Sorry - might have been a bit obtuse - that's was my point
I've used the weighed / measured dose method too straight into the hopper/throat of my M4 - it works very effectively!
But that uses a different technique to the usual 'weighted micro-hopper' which Mal and myself use - where you use more beans and a weight / tamp on top - but just grind what you need. But is generally not a 'single dose' method (ie clean grinder in - beans - clean grinder out) method as defined

[blend52]

Can't a single dose simply be achieved by tipping the measured beans straight into the standard hopper, ....
But in reality you're never going to make the most of this micro-hopper technique 'single dosing' with an exact measure of beans anyway - half are into the burr cavity even before you start, and the weight/tamp will stop applying any pressure long before the beans run dry! You'll always need more than a 'single dose' for this method to work…!

Hmmm ?... Odd then, that so many people have been using the weighed dose of beans so effectively for many years !..... Must be down to the ability of the individual user to figure out the optimum technique.!

[DesigningByCoffee]

Can't a single dose simply be achieved by tipping the measured beans straight into the standard hopper, and then grinding them all out, and sweep / pick / snort / blow / jiggle / vibrate / vacuum or levitate all the grounds out of the chute? That's what I used to do with my M4 (bar the levitation)…

The main reason for a micro hopper is to allow you to keep some weight on top of a much smaller amount of beans to 'fool' the grinder into behaving like it's got a full hopper, giving a more even grinding (my micro hopper holds about 100g - with about 75g retention in the burr set ).

But in reality you're never going to make the most of this micro-hopper technique 'single dosing' with an exact measure of beans anyway - half are into the burr cavity even before you start, and the weight/tamp will stop applying any pressure long before the beans run dry! You'll always need more than a 'single dose' for this method to work…

So maybe measure an extra 2g, run it all through, sweep out as much as you can, and enjoy your brew!

Cheers Matt

Just a slightly amusing story - I know a bloke who used to strip down his grinder to the burrs every time he made a coffee - that's a guaranteed way to avoid retention and get 18g in / 18g out!

[Dimal]

i understand, but that is no longer a "single dosing" set up !

Sheesh... Picky picky.

99% of the time, a single coffee at a time is all I make....

Mal.

[kopigeek]

Cheers mate. Thanks for the explanation.

I too single dose myself and have been looking for something that allows me to single dose without brushing/cleaning the chute. Looks like no gain again. :P I like to try different coffee at one time so single dosing is the way to go. Waste less coffee too.

I don't clean the chute though. I just give it a tap after each grind and some retained grinds fall out.

[samuellaw178]

Cheers mate. Thanks for the explanation.

I too single dose myself and have been looking for something that allows me to single dose without brushing/cleaning the chute. Looks like no gain again. :P I like to try different coffee at one time so single dosing is the way to go. Waste less coffee too.

[kopigeek]

Hi Kopi,

Can you clear the chute on the m2m for single dosing? If I'm not mistaken, the doserless setup can retain quite a bit of coffee. For example, even after you grind everything in the hopper, there'll still be 3-4g(random number) retained from the burr chamber to just before chute. Effectively, you're mixing a bit of old grind into the new one. On the scale, you probably will still get what you put in (15g in, 15g out, but 3g out of that 15g may come from previous grind session). It's probably not that important, but you still need to pulse in order to evaluate different coffee correctly.

Hi mate. Yep you can clear the chute with a long thin brush or skewer.

I found that once I cleaned the chute and burrs it only retained less than a gram (but this is in no way a scientific test). Yes I do pulse.

[samuellaw178]

Hi Kopi,

Can you clear the chute on the m2m for single dosing? If I'm not mistaken, the doserless setup can retain quite a bit of coffee. For example, even after you grind everything in the hopper, there'll still be 3-4g(random number) retained from the burr chamber to just before chute. Effectively, you're mixing a bit of old grind into the new one. On the scale, you probably will still get what you put in (15g in, 15g out, but 3g out of that 15g may come from previous grind session). It's probably not that important, but you still need to pulse in order to evaluate different coffee correctly.

[blend52]

Anyway, the extra storage offered by the plastic cup holds enough for three doubles, which is often all I need to make at any one time. .

i understand, but that is no longer a "single dosing" set up !

[lemoo]

ahh must be a smaller throat then, I just assumed they were similar diameters. my bad

[kopigeek]

The diameter of the throat on the M2M is 50mm and without a hopper of some sort a single 18gm dose is hard to fit in the throat of the grinder.

[Dimal]

A nominal 58mm Tamper/Basket or whatever, is too large to fit directly inside the throat of my grinder. Anyway, the extra storage offered by the plastic cup holds enough for three doubles, which is often all I need to make at any one time. Any more than that, and out comes the HUGE hopper...

Mal.

[lemoo]

I have a M4D and a 58mm basket fits perfectly on it

it kinda just sits there and stops any beans from escaping their inevitable death by grinding

[blend52]

Do you even need any hopper at all if you are single dosing ?
most of the grinders I have used held 50+ gms in the burr carrier with the hopper removed .
Tamper or glass spice jar used to prevent "popcorning"

[Dimal]

What are you using Mal?

A plastic cup with the bottom cut out of it, and an aluminium tamper sitting inside the top....

Mal.