Looking forward for yet another gadget to deconstruct/reconstruct. LOL
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
Posted Thu Jan 12, 2012, 5:52am Subject: Re: Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Grinder (Bodum Bistro)
Still in the testing phases. So far I'm fairly satisfied. When I have some more time, maybe next week, I'll write up a full review. I paid $75 for it off Amazon.
So far:
+Decent grind consistency, about the same or slightly better than my modified Hario Mini Mill Slim, not as good as a Ditting, and OHMYGOSHSOOO much better than my piece of crap Cusinart DBM-8 Burr Grinder. I think that monstrosity is headed for Salvation Army...
+Quick. 22 grams in about 12 seconds. SO much quicker than my piece of crap Cusinart DBM-8 Burr Grinder. I think that monstrosity is headed for Salvation Army.
+for electric, it's pretty quiet. Not whisper, not as quiet as my Hario MMS, but SO much quieter than my piee of crap Cusinart DBM-8 Burr Grinder. I think that monstrosity is headed for Salvation Army...
+Grind channel is short and direct into the grind receptacle from the burr chamber.
-Static free? Not a chance. I'm still getting buttloads of static after the first few hundred grams. The grounds jump off the center of wherever I pour them, following a fountain of magnetic lines. It's kinda comical. The grounds stay in the glass container but once you take the top off, it's like trying to collect pieces of foil confetti on dry winter day with wool mittens on.
-Retains approximately 0.7g in the burr chamber. It can be removed, but requires heading to the sink, upending and blowing into the grind channel. It also helps to have a nice paint brush handy.
-Grind range is initially too fine. Press Pot setting is approximately equal to Ditting 7, around 700 micron. If I adjust to Turkish, I get burr clash and have to back off about 3 settings away from the finest. At that level, it produces copious amounts of statically charged dust, equal or finer than Ditting setting 1. I haven't found a modification that might change this... yet.
-There is a micro switch that makes when you install the bean chamber and turn it to the coarsest setting. If trying to grind on that setting, the vibration can sometimes un-make the micro switch and shut the grinder off.
So far so good.
Did I mention I'm probably getting rid of my Cusinart DBM-8 Burr Grinder? I think that monstrosity is headed for Salvation Army. Or might be disassembled to see if I can retrofit it with a spare Hario Mini Mill Slim ceramic burr grinder set...
...hmmm... now THAT's an idea... :^D
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
hurdy_gurdyman Senior Member Joined: 30 Jan 2008 Posts: 13 Location: central Michigan Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Betty Crocker Grinder: KitchenAid Vac Pot: Bodum electric, many vintage Drip: Bunn, several others Roaster: Fresh Roast 8
Posted Sat Jan 14, 2012, 9:45am Subject: Re: Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Grinder (Bodum Bistro)
Is the static problem as bad as other grinders using plastic containers, or is it somewhat better? I've been eyeballing one of these for a while. Is the consistency of the grind fairly even at auto drip or slightly larger settings? I'm using vac brewing and need a consistent grind. My KitchenAid Pro isn't up to it, but it does have low static...
Static is almost as bad as the piece of crap Cusinart DBM-8 Burr Grinder. Did I mention that I think that monstrosity is headed for Salvation Army?
So far the only solution is to stir the grounds with a piece of aluminum foil molded into a stirrer. The static is kinda annoying.
hurdy_gurdyman Said:
...Is the consistency of the grind fairly even at auto drip or slightly larger settings? I'm using vac brewing and need a consistent grind. My KitchenAid Pro isn't up to it, but it does have low static...
The dust is minimal, slightly less than a modified Hario Mini Mill Slim, not as good as a comparison to a Ditting on similar grind levels.
However, the grind LEVEL is smaller than I would prefer for what the dial indicates. The espresso icon produces Turkish dust (comparable to Ditting 1, or about 100 micron particles) and some pretty nasty burr clash, the icon I assume is auto drip produces something you'd maybe use for a coarse espresso, and french press is about where auto drip would be, or maybe just a bit coarser.
On the french press setting, or slightly finer, the grind is pretty consistent. Same setting seem to produce the same grind level (so far, about 2kg through the machine)
In all, I'd say it's a pretty good value, just learning how to deal with getting a good turnaround between single cup grinds with minimal cross contamination. Grind consistency is better than most burr machines I've sampled below $125 (NEW), it's quick. Part of the low dust, in my opinion, is the dust has a tendency to get stuck in the throw-vanes below the burr - sometimes up to almost a gram. I suspect this is the source for some jamming reported with darker roast (read: oily) beans. I have to upend and blow this dust out if I'm changing beans for flavor tasting - and the process is complicated by the static.
Honestly, I'm really surprised by the static generation.
------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Le café doit être noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, et doux comme l'amour.
"There is no right answer with coffee. There is only the elixir in your cup at the moment you partake."
"...I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind;..." - Lord Kelvin RECIPES thread => http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/585708
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