Help with new Grinder for Pour Over

Mainly brew pour over with a Hairo V-60; occasional Moka Pot and French Press; don't think I need anything more than $250 and preferably less than $200

I am not making high end espressos, just looking for a consistent proper grind, one that will give me at least 5 years of service (my last one lasted 7, still kicking but need to move on) and is somewhat quiet. Also one that wont heat up the beans so much with high RPMs.

Any thoughts on the following?

under $150
Bartaza Encore (http://www.amazon.com/Baratza-Encor...&qid=1464526946&sr=1-1&keywords=baratza+sette)

Capresso Infinity (http://www.amazon.com/Capresso-560-...=1464526998&sr=1-1&keywords=capresso+infinity)

Bodum Bistro Burr (http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-Bistro-...64526912&sr=1-1&keywords=bodum+bistro+grinder)

Under $250

Breville Smart Grinder (http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BCG8...d=1464527046&sr=1-1&keywords=breville+grinder)

Bartaza Virtuoso (http://www.amazon.com/Baratza-Virtu...&qid=1464526946&sr=1-2&keywords=baratza+sette)

or

Does the Hairo Skerton grind too fine or just right for pour-over/filter ? would try for $26 if you guys give me the go ahead, or would I need to mod it for this purpose?

pm me, please, about Baratza

If you need to grind a lot then you may wish you had an electric grinder, but the Hairo Skerton grinds well for pour-over without any modification.

Shantytownbrown said:

Mainly brew pour over with a Hairo V-60; occasional Moka Pot and French Press; don't think I need anything more than $250 and preferably less than $200

or

Does the Hairo Skerton grind too fine or just right for pour-over/filter ? would try for $26 if you guys give me the go ahead, or would I need to mod it for this purpose?

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If you do not mind hand grinding and making a modification the Skerton or CM-50 will do just fine for you.

I travel with a modified CM-50 and am happy as a clam but not sure I could hand grind every morning. On the road is one thing. Every day is another thing all together for me.

Both CM-50 and Slerton are the same grinder made by Kyocera in Japan

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/365858-Orphan-Kyocera-Skerton-bearing-mod-on-CM-50

StillShaving said:

If you need to grind a lot then you may wish you had an electric grinder, but the Hairo Skerton grinds well for pour-over without any modification.

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I grind 21-25g of beans each morning for myself...

Wife would have to do the same. How long would that typically take? #minutes, #turns?

Now, you say no mod, but Turtle, below says mod...?????

I'd get the Encore.

Shantytownbrown said:

I grind 21-25g of beans each morning for myself...

Wife would have to do the same. How long would that typically take? #minutes, #turns?

Now, you say no mod, but Turtle, below says mod...?????

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I don't own that model, but I would expect between 30-60 seconds to grind that amount of coffee. Also a light roast will require more effort than a dark roast (e.g. French roast), which may or may not be a concern.

The mod Turtle is speaking about is a stabilizer which helps keep the lower burr stable, which is especially important when grinding more coarsely in preparation for a French Press brew. For a medium grind like you would use for a paper pour over, it should work well enough out of the box. It will grind more finely for your Moka pot too, but you may need to experiment with coffee dosage to make it work well, as I don't believe there are a lot of steps in the grind settings, but I believe there is enough adjustability to get the job done.

FYI -

I've had the Capresso Infinity for about a year now and have been very happy with it. Previously I used the Hario Skerton hand grinder but now that I make coffee for 2 (my wife and I) I appreciate the Capresso a lot more. I only make coffee using pour-over or French press and the Capresso does very well with both. As far as longevity I cannot say, but it hasn't hiccuped once since I first put it into use and I use it almost every single day.

I have a Hario Mini and a Baratza Encore. I only use the Mini for traveling, and complain about having to hand grind every time I use it. I've been spoiled by the Encore.

Electric is the way to go but traveling without a grinder is a no go (for me anyway).

I don't have room for an electric so I take my modified CM-50 on the road with me.

At home it is a different story though

cursethis said:

I have a Hario Mini and a Baratza Encore. I only use the Mini for traveling, and complain about having to hand grind every time I use it. I've been spoiled by the Encore.

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How is the grind consistency with the encore? Noise a factor? Do you keep all your beans in the hopper or weigh out beans and only grind what you need? If the former how do you dose out your measure consistently?

Shantytownbrown said:

How is the grind consistency with the encore? Noise a factor? Do you keep all your beans in the hopper or weigh out beans and only grind what you need? If the former how do you dose out your measure consistently?

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Grind consistency is good... better than the Hario by far. The reason it's the cheapest Baratza model has more to do with the fact that it doesn't have the precision for tinkering with espresso grinds. That's why espresso grinders cost at least 2x as much.

It's loud, but I don't think it'll wake someone up unless you do it in the room that they're sleeping in. When my dad visits, he leaves the door open to his guest bedroom, which is on the second floor. If he's awake, but lazying around, he'll head downstairs when he hears the grinder from the first floor kitchen. It doesn't wake him up if he's asleep, but he can hear it with the door open if he's awake. No idea if that's helpful at all.

I keep my coffee in air tight jars. When I grind coffee I take the lid for the Encore, put it on my Hario scale, and then weigh out slightly more than I need. Like if a recipe calls for 15g of coffe, I'll weigh out 15.3 or 15.4ish. I find that you lose a fraction of a gram through the grinding process. The problem with using the hopper is that the beans will go stale quicker, since they're exposed to air.

Shantytownbrown said:

How is the grind consistency with the encore? Noise a factor? Do you keep all your beans in the hopper or weigh out beans and only grind what you need? If the former how do you dose out your measure consistently?

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Baratza makes a weight based attachment that fits on all grinders up to the Vario model (encore, virtuoso, and preciso models)

It turns those grinders into weight based machines where you set the weight you want and the machine grinds until your selected weight is reached than turns off.

here is an esatto weight based attachment on my older Maestro Plus which is the same as the newer Encore. They can be added at any time. Easily added and removed (to transfer to a higher quality unit at a later date). I used my Esatto on several Baratza grinders before moving to all Forte BG units.

Thanks for the info!

I own the Hario Skerton, Baratza Encore, and Breville Smart Grinder Pro. The Hario lasted me about a year and was used for work duty, but the burr recently broke and now the Encore will take its place. I purchased the Breville SGP because it could grind fine enough for espresso, but I don't see it lasting all that long grinding that fine with the lighter roasts I prefer. Now the Breville has taken the place of the Encore.

Long read, but they're all good machines. I had no issue with the Encore. It's a very solid grinder and parts are readily available. The Breville is really nice, but I don't see it necessarily being $100 nicer than the Encore.

Ok, I have settled on the Encore, just want to be sure, no one sees any advantage, based on my described use, to go up a notch to the Virtuoso?

Shantytownbrown said:

Ok, I have settled on the Encore, just want to be sure, no one sees any advantage, based on my described use, to go up a notch to the Virtuoso?

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If you can afford the next step up you should go there on your first purchase. Doing so will avoid an "upgrade" in the near future.

The entry level Baratza grinders are nice for the price but once you get into their upscale units you get move value for your money in longevity and constancy.

If you can only afford an encore then you are fine.

I've had 2 entry level Baratza grinders over the decades and still have one at my cabin in the great white north which has been running for me for over 20 years now

Your call.

If you want to save a little $$$ Baratza sells referb units directly. The refurbs have the same 1 year warranty as the new units and each is gone over individually before being offered for sale.

They put up their refurb units every Thursday. They go fast so if you miss one week there will be more the next

My Baratza croaked again. Put in some under-roasted robusta and it stopped. Serves me right! Spent this week hand grinding with the Skerton without the mod--I really need to mod this one. Wanted to spend a bit of time debating an upgrade or something, but we end up right back at the Baratza. Guess I'm taking it apart this weekend to see what's wrong.

SiBurning said:

My Baratza croaked again. Put in some under-roasted robusta and it stopped. Serves me right! Wanted to spend a bit of time debating an upgrade or something, but we end up right back at the Baratza. Guess I'm taking it apart this weekend to see what's wrong.

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Does it still make noise? but not turn? or is it completely quiet?

Lot of plastic gears in there that can strip and stop the burs while the motor keeps spinning.

I ground a rock a long time ago... Well I did not GRIND it, I just did not notice that I had a roasted rock in with the beans. It was easily repairable but oh wow what a noise before everything got real quiet.

Turns out it was just stuck. Took the five minutes to take off the top and the ring burr and clean it out. Tested it and it works.

It does need some work--did even before this. It makes a whining, almost whistling, sound sometimes while grinding. Now that it got stuck, I also want to check the aluminum gear and other parts. Back in 2011 I had to replace the metal drive gear, then a few months later the burr holder. A year later I replaced the burr holder & gasket. I half remember, the plastic burr holder didn't seat right once, and the other time it cracked. Total cost under $16. Since then, I probably haven't opened and cleaned it more than three times.

So now that I won't be upgrading my baratza I guess it's time to get a Zassenhaus. I hear vintage is the way to go. I did look briefly at getting the stabilizer mod for my Skerton, but why not get something better?