OT Coffee grinders?

[Harry Bloomfield]

Our filter coffee maker died mid week, so we looked around for a replacement and ended up with a combined filter or grind type. You basically push a button and it bypasses the grinding stage, putting your ready ground coffee in the filter.

Keeping in mind that we have never used a grinder before and previous experience is nil....

It makes the pre-ground perfectly, but struggling with the grinding option. Put the beans in the grinder, fire it up to grind, the grinder runs, stops some/most of the coffee makes its way via a small plate with holes in to a chute and stops at a shutter which is closed until the end of the grinding stage. A loud buzz and a solenoid opens the shutter to allow the now ground coffee to fall through into the filter, except it doesn't. It just lingers there until you manually open the shutter and tease it through. It clings to the inside of the grinder, the chute and log jams over the shutter. It seems the small amount of moisture in the system due to it being a combined unit, causes the freshly ground coffee to cling.

Any thoughts or experiences on the subject please?

[Frank Erskine]

I tried some Starbucks beans a while ago and found them to be somewhat moist, sticking in the grinder, whereas other makes give very dry ground coffee.

Static could be another possibility.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Frank Erskine used his keyboard to write :

I had not thought of the moisture being from the beans, rather it might be from the tank condensing around the inside. I suppose I could try to grind some by hand and check.

Thanks

[Mike Lane]

On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 17:59:28 +0000, Harry Bloomfield wrote (in article ):

[snip]

Good quality coffee beans, dark roasted (to the degree that I like) often have an oily film which is released from the bean at a certain point during roasting. It could be this that is causing the coffee to stick. Try using a different coffee bean - possibly more lightly roasted.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Harry Bloomfield formulated the question :

I think I now have it solved, but I still don't quite understand....

What I thought was a solenoid operated shutter at the bottom of the chute from the grinder, that in the instruction is known by the name 'Poke Block' - obviously translated into English from some foreign tongue.

This has to be pulled manually open against a spring (not made clear in the instructions), the solenoid releases it to the closed position before starting the boiling of the water. If pulled back it does then permit the ground coffee to fall through to the filter. Trying to work out what was happening inside was impossible, the moment you lift the lid to peak inside, it senses it and shuts everything down emitting an annoying beep until you close the lid.

The bit I don't quite understand is quite why there is a need for the 'Poke Block' - the only purpose it can serve is to prevent water splashing up from the filter tray towards the grinders chute, once it closes.

So the moisture was not the cause after all.

[Frank Erskine]

I think I'd rather stick (!) with a separate grinder. That way I can use either a cafetière or a coffee machine.

My favourite coffees are Columbian and Mocha. The Starbucks stuff I mentioned earlier was a Chrimbo pressie (although it's quite OK - even though it does stick in the grinder!).

I'm not really a connoisseur of coffee - I just like a relaxing cup about half an hour or so after breakfast - the joy of retirement :-)

73 -

[Clot]

Lucky B! Still have a son at University that requires me to get £10K to keep him there. Without that problem, we can survive on the income we have despite the loss of interest we were receiving prior to the crash.

Twice redundant, may be I should seek employment with a contra constructive service like central or local governmint?

[John Weston]

Best coffee maker for taste and convenience I've tried is the Aeropress,=20 see Google:

Works with home ground, pre- ground or WHY and almost as quick as instant - 10sec stirring with the=20 paddle then press the coffee out. Ideal for use with with a separate=20 (manual) grinder for coffee straight from the bean - and uses less power=20 also :-)

All the others I've got are now relegated for when I can accept a weaker=20 brew...

--=20 John W To mail me replace the obvious with co.uk twice

[Rob]

Little Braun bean grinder and a cafetiere. Best taste IMO, just not as hot as I'd like it.

Rob

[Rod]

Apart from being a bit quicker, what other advantage over something like the Swiss gold single cup filters?

I see disadvantages in needing filter papers, initial cost, amount of stuff to wash.

[Coffee maker saver]

Firstly a HUGE thanks to the original poster of this question, it started off the whole chain reaction of information i needed! The coffee maker grinder is probably a delta xq687t available in 2008 ish from lidl or Aldi and also rebadged from marks and spencer at the incredibly low price of around 50 English pounds .

If you don't have the see through plastic lid on the grinder for safety it displays opn2 or op n2 And will beep constantly.

If the lid is open it will beep and say op n 1.

If you drop a coffee bean into the kettle part which is open and unfiltered and unmeshed and easy to do, get a torch and use a vacuum or a small child's arm to get it!

The poke block arm lever handle must be retracted to the left to open the trap door before you press on off button. It is on a spring with a teeny tiny hook catch lever under the small bump lump and will stick out only a millimetre at the side to hold the spring lever open. It is famous for pinging shut and stopping the coffee from dropping to the filter below. Try prising it out with tweezers or pressing the lump and do it gently.

As soon as you press the on and off button it will start to grind loudly. Make sure people with heart problems are aware of this before as it will scare the hell out of you! Good luck. Best coffee I ever had!

[Tim+]

At 6 years old I'm guessing that particular coffee maker has gone off to wherever dead coffee machines go.

Tim

[Harry Bloomfield]

on 27/12/2015, Tim+ supposed :

WRONG!

It has been put away as a spare these past few years, supplanted by a coffee maker and a separate grinder lol

[Tim+]

So, low tech 1, high tech 0? ;-)

Tim