Cheap and cheerful conical burr grinder from Sunbeam.
For espresso you may have to add shims to get it as fine as you like, however some are fine out of the box. Fine for other coffee types as is.
This is the best price in the past few years
CamelCamelCamel.
Paid $60 for mine and it works a treat
Did you need to shim it or OK out of the box?
Mine is fine for espresso. Hit the extraction times quite easily, and for my tastes was good. My setting is on the 2nd from last click.
I have had one for years now and if you're doing espresso it definitely needs the shim mod. Wasn't nearly fine enough without.
For me with Aldi medium roast coffee, I need a setting of either 5 or 6.
For some speciality medium roasts I sometimes need to go down to 3.
I've never needed finer than that.
I have a 58mm 22g vst basket and Sunbeam machine.
I've got an older one. But nothing comes out of a unpressurized basket from 6 and below. I use 8.
Not even close to needing a shim.
Are these good together with Bambino plus? kinda on a budget, still thinking if i go with Bambino/Grinder or Barista Pro
From my reading, these are the cheapest 'real' motor driven, conical burr grinder but espresso requires extremely fine grind and manufacturing tolerances are such that you 'may' have to add a fine shim to get the exact fineness. You can buy the shims on eBay cheap or call Sunbeam and they can send it to you.
Thanks for the reply, i just pulled the trigger for both, hopefully i dont get the wrong shim
You could also go for a good hand grinder like Timemore or KIN at the similar price point if you're not making heaps of coffee. I used a Timemore C2 when my breville grinder died and it was pretty comparable once you get it dialed in. Also reduces kitchen appliance footprint.
I just got a kingrinder p1, it's decent but the last thing I want to do when I wake up is work for my coffee.
I used this with my Bambino plus and it was fine. Upgraded to a Breville Smart Grinder Pro which is better, but if you're on a budget it'll do.
did you have to add shim in it or out of the box?
Was a while back… I think I did. Shims are bascially a thin washers with the word shim on the bag.
@OneTrueTatsuya: One and done. Basically you add in a shim to lift the bottom burr up so it's closer to the top burr. As they're closer, they grind finer.
Id buy the Shardor 64mm Flat burr grinder off amazon.com and use it with an adapter
https://www.amazon.com/SHARDOR-Professional-Adjustable-Elect…
Need to convert voltage too right?
I recently got that machine and paired with the Baratza Encore ESP - working really well.
Used this for a couple of years before I upgraded to a DF64.
No issues grinding fine enough for espresso on a machine with a 54mm basket. Might have some issues with a 58mm machine as the lower puck depth will require you to grind finer.
Are these good for mokapot?
Yes, it comes with a coffee grounds container and you can grind into that and then into the Moka pot as needed
As per above you 'might' need to add a shim to get the desired fineness but thats pretty easy
I've recently bought one of these and had to add a shim as it wasn't extracting fine enough. Really easy to do and the shim was easy to acquire from flea bay
I would add to the other comments that while fine for an intro grinder (after adding shims) there is a fair bit of grind retention in these ~1-5g.Depending on your dose size and frequency this may be enough to effect your next pull. However i found this worked fine for me until fell into the coffee vortex and upgraded.
LOL Coffee Vortex… :) Totes understand.
If anyone needs to do the shim mod to get a finer grind, be aware that the nut that holds the lower burr is reverse threaded, which means you need to turn in clockwise to remove it.
This YouTube video is a good guide. This guy made his own shim using an ice cream lid. Not sure if that would be effective long term? Probably better to buy a metal shim as others have suggested.
Just as an FYI for people, this doesn't have dosage control compared to the Breville Smart Grinder so it does make it a bit tricky to get the right dose without weighing the basket (if you're as anal as I)
I had bought this (via ozb) quite a while ago. It works great. However my gripe is that there is "spillage" of grinded coffee.. I am not sure how others are managing this..
Yeah, I've had the same thing. I just give it a good smack on the top after each grind and it all seems to fall out
Pick it up and slam it back down on the bench…thats what I do!
Give it a good "Diddy". ..
If you're talking about the particles that come out to the side and don't go into your container/basket, I had the same issue.
What worked for me was the 'RDT' (Ross Droplet Technique) method. Spray a little bit of water on the beans before grinding, shake them around, and there's virtually no mess.
This probably isn't going to work if you're storing your beans in the hopper. I keep mine in an airtight container and weigh them.
Thanks !! Yeah I was talking about the particles the shoot off the side from when the grinded coffee falls into the basket.. I store them in hopper.. (nice suggestion about the water) good value however can get a bit messy.. thanks.
The shim should already be added in if you purchased recently.
Bought mine about a year plus ago and had two inside vs one.
Bought one two years ago, almost exactly to the day for $89 delivered. Found it to be very good, bought after seeing BIL's.
I'm not as fussy as many, but still get good results according to wife and visitors. I use setting 12 (basically the finest setting suggested for espresso in the user manual) and grind half a kilo of beans at a time (usually a variety of Airjo), and store ground coffee in a couple of glass sealed containers in the fridge. No shims added. Bulk grind allows it to be stored in cupboard rather than left on the kitchen bench.
Works for us.
Thanks OP , brought one . Got the breville recently and was looking at grinders , liked the niche zero and df64 but was thinking they are too expensive and was about to pull the pin on a baratza ( they are also on sale in amazon at circa 300 or so ) .
This seems to be a much cheaper option , and coming from aldi instant coffee , my standards are pretty low lol .
Sounds like you did pull the pin on the Baratza ;)
"Pull the pin is an idiom that means to withdraw from a situation or endeavor, often due to fatigue, injury, or a realization that it's no longer feasible. It suggests ending something, whether it be a competition, a project, or a relationship."
I think you are mixing up your expressions. "Pull the trigger" is the one you were looking for.
lol , you are right mate , pull the trigger would be more apt , pulled the trigger in the sunbeam though , rationale being that it’s so cheap that any upgrade would not need much rationalising .
Hope it works well for you, and me too. I just bought one also, that's why I have been researching the shim mod. I've been using Lavazza Oro ground coffee in my De Longhi Dedica espresso machine and it goes really well. But as it now sells for $58 per kilo, I am hoping to try Aldi or Coles beans (at $18 per kilo) and grind them myself.
@billy_bob: I brought the bambino from the last ozb deal . Aldi beans have a generally good rep , from experience don’t get the ground coffee , the grind is not fine enough for espresso and it’s useless .
@Salternative: "the grind is not fine enough for espresso" - are you referring to the Aldi pre-ground coffee? If yes, I fully agree, I tried it once and the coffee came out so weak it was worse than instant coffee. That's why I want to try the Aldi beans and grind them finer, to see if I can get a better shot of espresso.
Have you tried the Lavazza Oro ground coffee in your Bambino? I tried almost every pre-ground coffee out there, and that one is the best by far for my Dedica with pressurised basket. It is on special at Woolies at the moment, $19 for 500gm. It used to $19 for 1kg not long ago !
@billy_bob: Haven''t tried the lavazza yet, got the machine just a month or so ago from a deal posted here. Inflation( and the companies using that as an excuse for more profit) rotten eh .
I did mean the ground coffee, i wonder what the suppliers of aldi coffee were thinking, "lets give them a product so shitty that they will cancel our contract, Aldi doesnt make us much profit and just wastes our time anyway ", LOL.
If you want a good deal, wait. For example, the KG521M ( https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/905243) was only $89 recently. I've had the Sunbeam for a bit over decade ago (paid ~$40). I put it in a container (e.g. ice cream) and grind to catch the mess. But to get a fine grind, it needs an extra spacer. I just bought the KG521M for $5 more and it's daylights better than the Sunbeam.
Da very best eva! 🗯