Macap M4D Owners - How much grind (in grams) do you discard before pulling your shot?

[mrdunu]

Hi CS,

I am a recent owner of a Macap M4D, and I had stumbled upon a review that mentioned that the horizontal path from the chamber to exit chute retains quite a bit of grind.

To all the M4D owners out there, how much grind (in grams) do you discard before pulling your shot of espresso every morning (for domestic use)?

In addition, what techniques do you utilise to remove the (stale) retained grind?

Vee.

[lemoo]

I usually grind about a spoonful of beans before each use

[artemidorus]

I don't discard any. I can't taste any difference between my first and second coffees of the morning. I suspect that most of the coffee stuck in the exit path doesn't move from one grind to the next, and lines a chute that the fresh coffee passes through.

I haven't tried anything to clean retained grinds from the machine, but admittedly, I've only had it four months. I'll only try to clean it if a problem develops.

[ElShauno]

Not a lot. Haven't actually weighed it, just a quick burst (I only use manual and weigh actual shot) of the red button and that does me. Like someone else said, I struggle to see the difference so have stopped wasting too much.

[mrdunu]

Thanks all for the replies - I discard ~4g as my rule of thumb, but I feel this may be a little excessive.

Thoughts?

[barri]

I set one of the programmable settings to 2.5 sec as a purge. This is about 4 gms but could go less. This I do first thing in the morning. In fact once I forgot to purge and couldn't really tell the difference. So grind retention is not really an issue.

[KoffeeNewb]

Not much
I actually keep a short wood grill stick to push grinds out, along with the OE dosing funnel I am GOOD TO GO!

[mrdunu]

Interesting - thanks all for the replies!

Lately I haven't been discarding any grind - maybe that's why I'm finding my crema a tad bit bitter!

[Mono]

For me I use a 2 second purge @ whatever that equates to

Steve M

[Dr_Dave]

Hi,
I dont discard any and cannot notice a difference
Cheers
Dave

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

1-2 seconds....every now and then I forget, but the first coffee of the day goes to the Mrs on her way out the door, so I can't judge the effect of forgetting.

[dumiya]

I run about 4 seconds, to warm the motor and electrics, check it working properly and to clear the grind path.

[chippy]

I have never purged my M4D and nor can I taste any difference from first coffee of the day. More educated taste buds may? This morning I pulled the top end off and cleaned every nook and cranny of every trace of coffee I could see and in some instances couldn't see but could blow the dregs out; for what it is worth the sum total of coffee dregs - 7.5 gms, a large part of which would have been permanently secreted into screw heads and corners never making it into the first cup of the day. Chippy