Usually costs around Dfl 450 ($ 195) in NL.
Tried several others before buying it, and walked away from those. There's no competition: the MDF is a several leagues higher at a comparable price. The plastic body looks a bit cheapish, next to my chrome plated G' Classic, but underneath the hood is a serious, high quality grinder.
That said, it does have its flaws. The instruction booklet is a wasted tree. Although it promises 39 settings, the machine won't go higher than 34. To me this seems coarse enough, but you can tweak it if needed. Since I'm perfectly happy as is, I haven't tried this (yet). Maybe I will at some point, to get a bit more variation on the lower end, my default setting for ristrettos is 2, and I have gone down to 1 on some beans.
The doser really sucks, it feels like a plastic toy thingie, and the lid doesn't fit well. It's quite hard getting to fully empty one chamber with a single pull, and once you get the hang of this, you'll find that, for some unknown reason, it dispenses only 6 grams per pull, instead of 7 g.
A container would have been more convenient, and makes more sense too, since the MDF is an all-purpose grinder.
The only solution then, is to forget about using it as a doser. Find out how long it takes to get the amount of coffee you want. Just count, or use a stopwatch. On mine, 25 secs on 2 gives me enough for a doppio ristretto, 14 secs on 14 will do for a 2-cup french press. If you figured out the right time, just flip the handle until you've emptied the doser. Use a saucer or a small bowl for FP or drip.
The doser is a nuisance at first, but it doesn't bother me anymore. In the end, a grinder must be judged by its main job, and this is where the MDF really delivers. It grinds consistently good, produces little dust, and has a wide range of settings. It has improved my shots significantly, and does an excellent job for my recently acquired french press. It's certainly worth the investment. |
