G’day Snobs,
i want to replace my old EM0480 soon, which got me thinking about a few related issues that I haven’t seen discussed in a unified way on here.
Dosing
I currently single dose the Sunbeam. Simplifying my espresso routine appeals to me, so I was considering the Sette 270wi for its dosing functions. But it occurs to me that you only really get that benefit if you keep beans in the hopper - if you single dose then you’re doing the work the 270wi is meant to save you anyway.
Single dosing avoids the problem of the grinder hopper not being the best bean storage, and since you're grinding all the beans each time you won't have half crushed beans sitting in the burrs going stale and needing to be purged later, meaning less wastage. But it also leads to popcorning and, people say, grinders not performing properly without the weight of beans to feed the burrs. Is this really a big deal? Ultimately the beans go through the burrs to get to the chute, with or without the weight pushing them down.
Storage
i currently buy beans from local roasters in 1kg bags, because it’s so much cheaper than buying 200/250g bags. I cut a small opening in the bag and pour out 30g for two shots once or twice a day. I then fold the bag over and store it in a plastic kitchen tub. So the tub and bag are being opened about 30 times over the course of 20-25 days. Switching from single dosing to storing a couple of hundred grams of beans in the hopper would reduce the number of times the bag needs to be opened over the course of 3-4 weeks.
So it seems like we have three factors in tension: grinder performance (better with weight of beans pushing down), bean storage (hopper isn't the best place to store them), and wastage (not single dosing will probably lead to some need to purge grounds). What are your thoughts snobs? How do you work through these factors?
i want to replace my old EM0480 soon, which got me thinking about a few related issues that I haven’t seen discussed in a unified way on here.
Dosing
I currently single dose the Sunbeam. Simplifying my espresso routine appeals to me, so I was considering the Sette 270wi for its dosing functions. But it occurs to me that you only really get that benefit if you keep beans in the hopper - if you single dose then you’re doing the work the 270wi is meant to save you anyway.
Single dosing avoids the problem of the grinder hopper not being the best bean storage, and since you're grinding all the beans each time you won't have half crushed beans sitting in the burrs going stale and needing to be purged later, meaning less wastage. But it also leads to popcorning and, people say, grinders not performing properly without the weight of beans to feed the burrs. Is this really a big deal? Ultimately the beans go through the burrs to get to the chute, with or without the weight pushing them down.
Storage
i currently buy beans from local roasters in 1kg bags, because it’s so much cheaper than buying 200/250g bags. I cut a small opening in the bag and pour out 30g for two shots once or twice a day. I then fold the bag over and store it in a plastic kitchen tub. So the tub and bag are being opened about 30 times over the course of 20-25 days. Switching from single dosing to storing a couple of hundred grams of beans in the hopper would reduce the number of times the bag needs to be opened over the course of 3-4 weeks.
So it seems like we have three factors in tension: grinder performance (better with weight of beans pushing down), bean storage (hopper isn't the best place to store them), and wastage (not single dosing will probably lead to some need to purge grounds). What are your thoughts snobs? How do you work through these factors?

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