Consistant, fine as you want it grind with professional results. Shame about the casing and the doser though.
Positive Product Points
A wide range of grinds are available with the MDF.
The burrs are seriously professional and heavy duty.
The doser is great for parties when you bang out shot after shot.
produces consistant and reliable grinding results - doesn't overheat after running for more than a minute.
Negative Product Points
plastic external finish belies the quality that lies beneath the hood.
lid on doser is sometimes a bad fit.
doser only means that, by the time you are using the last of the coffee, it has gone stale.
no rubber feet - slippage!
Detailed Commentary
The size of this beast is the first striking thing when upgrading to this machine. The oputside is either a black, white or red (yuk) plastic and stands 2cm taller than a Gaggia 'classic'. The doser lid is not a great fit and the plastic outer often has a dull uneven appearence. On the upside, once inside the machine, there are heavy duty burrs with teeth that would make jaws think twice. The instruction manual that is shipped with the grinder is the biggest waste of paper since the translated instruction books that go in with the espresso machines. The instructions fail to tell you that the grinder is factory preset to 34 settings, not the 39 that the sales pitch tells you can be acheived with the grinder. The reason for this, after long enquiry is that the burrs tend to become loose at the courser settings and so there is a limiter inside which stops them moving past the 34 mark. To alter this you have to take the top off and loosen the burrs until the endstop rises above the bar that it bashes into - thus optimising the grinder for French Press, drip, perk etc. Most people buying this grinder will find that the 34 settings are more than adequate with a setting of about 4 to 5 being ideal for the Gaggia classic.
The doser is a nice touch but seems to dispense slightly less than the amount held by a Gaggia scoop? Why?
The opther problem is that if the doser is not full then a compartment may hold 3/4 or 1/2 a shot rather than a full one and if the doser is kept full then the coffee is going stale.
The bean hopper holds about half a pound (a bot of a pain as in the UK beans are now sold in Metric quantities - Grrraahh). And the doser, when full holds enough for 12 - 14 shots. too big if anything.
The forks hold just about any portafilter and the aim of the released coffee is good but it would be nice if you could remove the hopper and out a jar in its place, this would make the measuring of coffee more accurate. this was something that briel did with their grinder but the burrs were less than adequate.
