I’ve been reading about burrs “breaking in”. Interesting reading - am I likely to notice more and more stability / consistency over time with a brand new Specialita?
Burrs breaking in
jcb1973 Yes, it’s well known that burrs need about 3+ Kilos through them in that type of grinder before the rough edges are knocked off.
Can you buy scrap beans anywhere to run through? Or is it just over time getting through beans and brewing that will do?
When I got my new grinder I picked up a kilo of beans from Aldi for £7 which I used to season my burrs.
When I bought my Specialita it came with 1kg of reject beans for the purpose of breaking in the burrs. After putting these through I found I was making small alterations to the grind dial very regularly to try and maintain a constant pull pressure. Over the last few months the grinder has become very stable with only slight adjustments to the grind settings if I open a new bag or change beans. I put this down to the burrs now being matured!
You probably need more than a kilo. Having gone through 8 new grinders last year (please don’t ask 😛) my guesstimate is that a grinder needs at least 3kg and as much as 10kg to get to the point where the burrs will produce consistent results.
I’m therefore having mixed emotions about the arrival of my 83mm hand grinder arriving next month 😱
So what’s the theory behind this?
From thinking about this for a bit, the best explanation I can get is that when you grind beans on a fresh burr the sharp edges produce slightly different grounds (more fines?). After a while the edges dull and the grounds have less fines. Isn’t the difference going to be negligible/only a bit more bitter? It shouldn’t affect shot consistency in theory… Why wouldn’t the burr manufactures just machine the edges less sharp then if it’s so significant?
Has anyone done a particle analysis on new burr vs grams of beans gone through?
I guessing this applies to my Niche too. In which case, how much weight of beans (cheapos obviously) should I put through it before it is bedded in?
Sham but why don’t they just fix the edges in production… Seems like a very simple thing to do (I’m assuming they’re using a 6 axis CNC or cast->heat treatment->CNC to sharpen edges)
If you get a set of coated or hardened burrs they require much less break in becaus of the processes required prior to applying the coating….I guess it’s partly cost and partly no easy way to prep the burrs and you wouldn’t like it if they all came bead blasted or shot peened in some way. The best way seems to be the grinding process.
Pompeyexile I guessing this applies to my Niche too. In which case, how much weight of beans (cheapos obviously) should I put through it before it is bedded in?
I just recommend using it and gradually the burrs will improve…rapidly at first then more slowly up to 15Kg where no more improvement is noticeable. With all the Zeros I tested, I always liked to pop my long term use burrs in.
When I get to finally start using mine I plan to just use it and let it bed in, really can’t be bothered wasting even cheap coffee, it’s still coffee haha. After all it’s not damaging or for the longevity of the machine and I’m not honed enough to likely notice a taste difference. As long as you’re happy with a continuous tweaking as it beds in just use it.
