Niche Zero settings

coffeealex

I have had my niche for many years and over that time I have had to dial in finer to get the right grind and now around 3-4 dots off the zero marker. I have calibrated it quite a few times after cleaning it on multiple occasions. Is this a sign the burr may need changing?

MediumRoastSteam

coffeealex - 2 cups a day for the whole year and that’s approx. 13kg.

Say you have 6 cups a day… so that’s 40kg per year. (Yes yes, I’m rounding up).

So, at two cups a day, your burrs should be good for approx. 50 years. At 6 cups a day, for 16 years.

coffeealex this a sign the burr may need changing?

Don’t think so. Not yet. 👍😊

dfk41

I never understand the need to calibrate after cleaning. I never calibrate mine since to me, the reference point for the next grind is the last one!

coffeealex

dfk41 I never understand the need to calibrate after cleaning. I never calibrate mine since to me, the reference point for the next grind is the last one!

Thanks for that.I thought you were supposed to recalibrate after cleaning? Obviously not.

CoyoteOldMan

You can do it both ways… recalibration after cleaning is good practice but not necessary.

On burr replacement - I ’ve seen estimates of 600-750 kg of coffee as a ‘burr lifetime’ for the Kony (but not from Mazzer directly!). I’d be surprised if you were anywhere near that with domestic use on the Niche, even if you bought it among the first.

coffeealex

CoyoteOldMan Thank you. What should I be looking for on my niche to indicate burrs may need replacing please?

hornbyben

I agree there’s no need to recalibrate it. You can check if you want, but if you haven’t moved the black ring it’ll be fine. Mine has been in the same place since a couple of weeks from new.

@coffeealex, I can’t imagine your burrs need changing, those are rated for decades at household use rates. All it means is the beans/profile you’re using need a finer grind. When you first get a niche you tend to have to grind coarser due to the high levels of fines. As the burrs bed in the fines reduce, so you reduce the overall particle size.

Blooming espresso profiles, light roasts etc all need finer grinds.

If the burrs aren’t touching and you like the coffee then I wouldn’t worry about it.

DavecUK

coffeealex What should I be looking for on my niche to indicate burrs may need replacing please?

About 15 years ….if you put 1kg a week through it, or 8 × 18g double shots a day. I would think even the 1st Niche grinders sold are 11 to 25 years from needing new burrs.

take a photo of your burrs today and keep it as a reference, 15 years from now, compare your burrs to the photo.

ChristosC

I am sure that someone (@DavecUK ?) will know what the purpose of separate silver/ black rings and calibration dot are?

Think that they lead many of us to intuitively want to calibrate the grinder after cleaning, although apparently this is not required.

DavecUK

ChristosC Not sure what you mean by silver or black rings, apart from the silver bit is the bit you turn with your hand to make the grind finer or coarser…the black bit with the pointer, you only move when you calibrate it and use as a reference point for where you grind particular coffees.

Once you calibrate the grinder, unless you move the black ring, there is no logical reason why you would want to do it again after cleaning. This is because depending how strong you are determines where that marker ends up and can throw all your grind settings out a bit…

ChristosC

DavecUK I am asking what is the rationale behind a calibration function, as it is not required (at least on a frequent basis)

DavecUK

ChristosC It was the one way they had to try and ensure all grinders were delivered from manufacturing, roughly calibrated, so people would get similar results. Also to give people a simple way of zeroing the grinder.

Of course it doesn’t zero the grinder because the burrs are touching well before the calibration dot, especially if people are strong. it’s why I use the fingertip method…even then burrs are touching before the calibration dot. Fortunately with the Mazzer Kony burrs, espresso grinding is a long long way from touching…as they are not designed for, but can go well down to turkish.

ChristosC

DavecUK Thanks Dave