Got a good buy on the above. Not really replacing a
ginder but I moved the Solis Maestro that we have
since July of 03 to the other place we live. I had
attempted to get away at first with a whirly blade and
then a cheap (and I do mean cheap) burr grinder. Even
when used for drip they were awful. Bought the
kitchenaid pro line particularly because in his review
on Coffeegeek Mark Prince said he didn't find dust.
This has not been my experience. There is also a
rather considerable variability in the grind too. The
result in the Presto however is decent tasting drip
coffee so I'll keep it. I think that the three year
old Solis gives less dust and variability in
grind,however.
Paul
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Paul, Is this the original KitchenAid burr grinder (single tower unit) or the Pro Line (looks like a mini stand mixer)? I have the Pro Line and, as I've shared here before, have never had a problem with dust. Have you taken the burrs out & reseated them? There's not much wiggle room in there but I guess you could be getting some wobble which would cause dusting. If everything looks good I'd contact KitchenAid about a replacement. ~/Matt |
Agreed - I've had zero dust from my pro line. On 5/22/06, Matt Henkel wrote: <Snip> |
I had similar results with the KA Pro Line grinder. I bought it in part because it's well constructed overall and I like the look, but I was very disappointed in the grind consistency for both press and drip. It made more dust than my whirly blade (I'm not exaggerating). After a week of trying everything I could think of to improve the results, I finally concluded tha= t I had a lemon and returned it. The Baratza Virtuoso I replaced it with performs significantly better, as well as keeping less old grinds inside th= e grind chamber and beans in the hopper. I'm not sure if my unit was simply defective, but the one I had was not a keeper. -Erik On 5/22/06, PAUL RIFKIN wrote: <Snip> |
Hmmm...it's sounding more and more like a crap-shoot no matter you buy. I am going to reconsider buying anything right now, and limp along with the Zass. Not much point in spending more money to get the same results, only FASTER! :) cheryl so many pens...so little time...http://www.gcwr.org/ ----- Original Message ---- From: Erik Snapper To: homeroast Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 1:45:46 PM Subject: Re: +Kitchenaid Grinder and dust I had similar results with the KA Pro Line grinder. I bought it in part because it's well constructed overall and I like the look, but I was very disappointed in the grind consistency for both press and drip. It made more dust than my whirly blade (I'm not exaggerating). After a week of trying everything I could think of to improve the results, I finally concluded that I had a lemon and returned it. The Baratza Virtuoso I replaced it with performs significantly better, as well as keeping less old grinds inside the grind chamber and beans in the hopper. I'm not sure if my unit was simply defective, but the one I had was not a keeper. -Erik |
Cheryl Alexander wrote: <Snip> Cheryl, I feel your frustrations! There was a time when you could ask a question about almost any grinder, an= d get good answers. I was given good advice from a few of the list members, and bought a brand spankin' new Rancillio Rocky from our hosts for $285. Since then ( almost 2 years, now) I've been very happy with a doserless grinder for all of my coffee needs. Sure you can nit-pick little things on almost anything you might buy, but I'll stand up and say that It's a great grinder. I have no problems at all with changing my grind from espresso to drip, to vacpot and chemex. Very easy grinder to use and clean, and yeah, it's not step less, and infinitely adjustable, but what it grinds it grinds well! I've probably ran close to 300#'s (or more) of coffee through my little Rocky, and without any problems. I suppose I'll replace the burrs this year, but I probably wouldn't notice any real change in any brewing method other than espresso. I use a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment, 2 to 3 X a week to clean out all the grinds. It only takes a minute or so and 2 X a month, I'l= l run a cup of instant rice followed by a hand full of beans to clean out the rice residue, then vac it once more. My advice, is to order one from Sweet Maria's along with 10 #'s of your favorite coffee.Take the plunge. If you have deeper pockets, then spring for a new Mazzer. I figure that the money I saved by initially buying my Rocky has already paid for itself at a cost of about .50 a day. Less than a cup of BK Joe. A quality grinder, new, and not abused in a commercial shop (hiring barista wannabe's who rarely know what a good espresso tastes like) that never clea= n or pull proper preventive maintenance on the equipment, will last you many many years in a home environment. Good Luck and Happy Roasting, Gary -- Albert Einstein - "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one |
I have a Pro Line and love it. No dust, a very even grind and a relatively clean counter. You have to adjust it before you use it. Unevenness and dust means the plates aren't parallel. It is possible that yours is flawed and the plates aren't even for some reason. If you haven't done it yet, adjust it. If that doesn't work, send it back. It has too many positive reviews to give up. Kit |
just how do you go about adjusting the grinder. having looked inside, ther= e doesn't seem to be too much to adjust. --mike On 5/22/06, Kit Anderson wrote: <Snip> |
On 5/22/06, Michael Stock wrote: <Snip> Pages 16-19 in the manual...? Safe Journeys and Sweet Music Justin Marquez (Snyder, TX) |
In addition to the mod mentioned earlier to add a plastic disk to make the grinder stepless I found one that was even easier by digging through the cofffeegeek forums. The manual will show you how to adjust to get a finer grind, but for espresso it's inevitable that you'll want more control - you'll find yourself needing to be in between the available steps. If memory serves, somehow I took out the white gear with the steps, removed one or both of the pins that fit into it, and simply flipped them around, end over end, and reinserted them into their original settings. Then I set it so the finest setting was when the burrs were a micro-hair from touching (for turkish), put it all back together and it's been great. I wrapped a little teflon tape around the threads of the adjustment know to firm it up = a bit, and I recommend that - it can tend to drift a little while grinding if you don't. All in all, it took me a bit to figure out what the guy on coffeegeek was talking about because there weren't good pictures, but once the lightbulb clicked on it couldn't have been easier. J. On 5/23/06, Justin Marquez wrote: <Snip> |
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.http://www.kitchenaid.com/assets/pdfs/product/ZUSECARE/KPCG100.pdfFirst thing I would do is take it apart and reseat the burrs as on page 25. Then adjust it as on page 17. Remember to only change the settings with the machine on. Kit Michael Stock wrote: <Snip> |
I use my Kitchenaid ProLine on a daily basis. I do get quite a bit of mess on the counter from chaff. Roasting in a Hottop seems to leave a significant amount of chaff on the beans, and the chaff has enough static that it often makes a mess. I do have a Rocky in the garage that is currently not in use. It collected too much dust that built up enough grunge to give my coffee a distinct stale flavor. I have not had that problem with the ProLine. Kitchenaid does have outstanding customer service on their ProLine products. UPS will return within a couple of days to pick up the old unit. The ProLine coffeemaker is outstanding also. Terry |
Paul- I, too, don't get any dust from my Solis Dustmeister. Like yours, it's not here- I found a good home for it. My friend, Ray, like= s the Fresh Ground concept, and has a dripper with paper filter. A good name would be the Solis Variegrater or Variogrind. I told Ray it would be a hit in Las Vegas: You drop in your beans, Push the button and Take your chances- Cheers -RayO, aka Opa! "Makes a Great Gift..." On 5/22/06, PAUL RIFKIN wrote: <Snip> -- "When the theme hits the bass, I dance the Jig!" - -Virgil Fox at the Wichita WurliTzer |