Getting a Baratza Virtuoso+


 
I tried doing a middle of the range grind on the Baratza, my KitchenAid, and finally the Breville Smart Grinder Pro. Here they are as close as I can get. Something I see everyone complimenting Baratza on is how consistent the grind is. Honestly? IDK if I did something wrong with it. (I've never taken either the KA or Breville apart to this extent) So, I am unsure if some slight up and down play in the shaft for the inner burr is typical to have a slight amount of "play" up and down. There was no wobble in the shafts and the chocolate did it's damage higher up in the machine. Not in the drive train. So I have never tried to grab the burr in either of the other 2 to see if the shaft is tight or not.
So, IDK, have a look at these photos and give me a thought on it.
I will say this though. That Baratza is FAST. It outputs a lot of coffee very quickly. Has a VERY robust DC motor. I've seen the and held the motor on the Breville, and it's MAYBE 1/2 the size and I am sure the KA is likely the same. But the Baratza's motor is VERY large and feels very robust.

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I guess I put it together wrong. I took it apart, reset the clearances and smoothed out the burr drive shaft (I accidentally marred the bearing surface). While still not as quiet as the KitchenAid, or maybe even the Breville, it does sound more "machine like" than the Breville. Grind seems a little more consistent now as well. Gonna try it out tomorrow actually brew some coffee with it
 
Well it seems to grind a nice tasting batch of coffee. But it may not be practical. I did an 8 cup batch this AM. (64 grams ground). Well the full line came and went and it was still grinding. It squeaked it all in, but I would not dare go more. On many weekends I'll grind for 9 or 10 cups. So it would have to be done in batches. I honestly thought such a big machine could hold more.
Guess I will end up needing to sell it.
I do like a couple things about it. Mainly you can buy every part for it and rebuild it if ever necessary. Something that cannot be said for either the Breville or KitchenAid.
Oh well right now I have 3 "quality" grinders and 2 of the cheap Chinese ones. Which actually don't do a bad job either.
Though I did not buy this Baratza as a "keeper". Was meant more as an experimental "flip".
One thing for sure, it runs very quietly as long as it's not grinding. Much quieter than the Breville. But put it to work, Holy Smoke does it "sing out". It's like the old KitchenAid flat burr grinder I had. It can wake the dead! It's crazy loud. Or the very peaceful KitchenAid on my counter has truly spoiled me.
 
Well that is weird. 64 gr filled the hopper to nearly overflow for me. And it's not like this is an old outdated one. It's nearly new. The coffee beans were the Member's Mark House Blend, and Cameron's Velvet Moon 50% ea. I had the grind level at 18 (starting point for drip according to owner's manual). And as it was grinding the beans I was getting worried as I saw the level go above the line, and continue nearly right to the edge of the top of the grind hopper.
It was a good grind and the coffee is excellent..................really. So, IDK why 64 gr nearly over filled my hopper.
I also noticed it does a lot of "pop corning" as it gets down to the end in the hopper.
I know for sure as well I would not want to use it if our little girls were here spending the night. It's crazy loud to me.
Again this could simply be an observation based on how extremely quiet the KitchenAid cone grinder is, as it's VERY quiet operating. IDK how KA does it, but it's just a whisper while operating. On the plus side though, it's so fast it's over with quickly :D
 
I'll take pics tomorrow when I brew another pot. 80G is above the line in the output basket with starbucks french roast from costco.

I experimented with the grind setting and landed on 17. 80g takes about 100 seconds to grind. I also have pop-corning at times and if the beans are extra oily sometimes they stick in the hopper. I keep a wooden chopstick handy to move the stuck beans down to the grinder.

And, I sprinkle 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of water drops into the raw beans. This eliminates the static cling and it might also contribute to a few beans sticking to the side.
 
LMichaels said:
Well it seems to grind a nice tasting batch of coffee. But it may not be practical. I did an 8 cup batch this AM. (64 grams ground). Well the full line came and went and it was still grinding. It squeaked it all in, but I would not dare go more. On many weekends I'll grind for 9 or 10 cups. So it would have to be done in batches. I honestly thought such a big machine could hold more.
Guess I will end up needing to sell it.
I do like a couple things about it. Mainly you can buy every part for it and rebuild it if ever necessary. Something that cannot be said for either the Breville or KitchenAid.
Oh well right now I have 3 "quality" grinders and 2 of the cheap Chinese ones. Which actually don't do a bad job either.
Though I did not buy this Baratza as a "keeper". Was meant more as an experimental "flip".
One thing for sure, it runs very quietly as long as it's not grinding. Much quieter than the Breville. But put it to work, Holy Smoke does it "sing out". It's like the old KitchenAid flat burr grinder I had. It can wake the dead! It's crazy loud. Or the very peaceful KitchenAid on my counter has truly spoiled me.
Click to expand...
You can make it practical.....check this out... https://www.baratza.com/en-us/product/hopper-extension-sp0101465
 
Rick P said:
You can make it practical.....check this out... https://www.baratza.com/en-us/product/hopper-extension-sp0101465
Click to expand...
That is not the hopper that is the issue I noticed. It's the grind hopper that I noticed it filled up. I'll use it again tomorrow. I have to make a bigger batch tomorrow. Likely 80 grams.
Another thing I noticed, I noticed if I set it to far extreme fine setting, it was so fine barely any beans passed into the burrs and I got next to nothing out of it. I'm thinking it needs recalibration. Though the instructions indicate for espresso it should be a setting right around 8. And at 18 I got a REALLY nice pot of coffee. About the best my OXO ever really brewed. So it has me thinking this one may not be a flip. I may just hang on to it. Sell some of the other parts of my collection of stuff
 
OK, did the 80 gram grind today. It fit. But that "P: setting is a royal PIA to use. Otherwise did a good job. On yours when it's grinding does the bean hopper move around a bit?
 
I was rushed this morning and did not get any pics. hopefully tomorrow....

I've never used the P setting. I typically do full pot grinds ( 80 g ) and it takes two full 40 second grinds, and then finishes in the third after about 15 to 20 seconds.

on mine, the hopper doesn't move around that I've noticed.
 
Yeah, it's not that it moves around but shakes a bit. I didn't describe it correctly. Watched a video of one running from their web site and their brand new one shook like mine so. I guess it's normal. It's weird. While it's built quite heavy and things inside seem pretty robust. It just "feels cheaply" made. When it's sitting next to the Breville and the KitchenAid, somehow those machines just ooze "quality build". The hoppers sit nice and tightly, the controls move with great precision. And especially in the case of the KitchenAid it's operates at a whisper. Barely noticeable while running. The Breville operates substantially louder and "screechier" than the KA and just sounds like it's "straining" especially at really fine espresso grinds. Unlike the KA which never loses it's cool and just sounds like a precision piece of machinery. But then you turn on the Baratza with beans in there and good night the entire neighborhood knows you're making coffee and they come over with their cups :D
And also the feel and aesthetics are just sort of scream "cheap".
I really wish they could make the aesthetics "feel" and sound like the great machine it performs like. I think if I'd ordered this thing brand new, not knowing what to expect and spent that much money on something that felt and sounded like this..........it would be boxed right back up and go back.
Maybe that's a bit harsh sounding, but it's just how the thing comes across.
I'm gonna do some back to back comparisons with drip and espresso. Using the same beans, and try to determine if I want to flip this thing and stay with my quiet, aesthetically pleasing machines, or sell the Breville and or the little Cheap Chinese ones from Amazon, and keep the Baratza.
I do have to say that right off, the two times I've brewed with it, the coffee has been pretty incredible. Seeming to be richer and a little more "full bodied". Though IDK if this is due to slight grind size differences between the other 2 and this or not.
Guess I'm gonna be drinking a lot of smaller batches of coffee :D
 
I'm thinking it needs recalibration.

Larry -- there's a screw inside the case that let's you calibrate the unit to the fine side or to the coarse side. Mine are set to coarse since I'm a french press rather than espresso guy. Best french press grind I've ever gotten. The grinder has a decent amount of variability within the overall coarse zone, so you can tweek the grind based on the type of coffee and other variables.

Both of my Baratzas are very loud when running -- that's just how they are.

You have to be careful to not overfill the grounds bin. If that backs up it will jam up the unit. Which then requires some tedious un-jamming with a bent paper clip. For that reason, I never completely fill the 8 ounce bean hopper. Since the grounds hopper only holds 5 ounces. I partly fill the beans hopper and grind it all up in one batch.

NY Times Wirecutter loves the Baratzas. They like the Oxo too.


www.nytimes.com

The Best Coffee Grinder

We’ve been testing coffee grinders since 2015 and have yet to find a better value than the consistent, reliable, and repairable Baratza Encore.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
So, I did a recalibration on it. Just a "skosh" to the coarser as I felt having it set so far to the "fine" end where at "0" it would not even put beans through. Nothing needs to be that fine. So, I got it to where the it's got one screw hole in the mid range and the other to the coarse slot.
Set it to 18, and did a 6 cup (30oz) batch in the Breville. Set the Breville to 203 deg, bloom time 35, 49 grams to 30oz water. Got a nice brew out of it. But just to be fair. After my lunch I'm gonna do a 30oz batch in the OXO and do a back to back. Not going to change anything but the machine.
The Breville brews quite fast even on the slowest flow rate it's faster than the OXO which attempts to mimic a pour over by stopping and blooming 2 or 3 times during the cycle. Basically how you'd do it during a pour over session.
So IMO the Breville always seems to brew a slightly "lighter" cup than the OXO brewers. They use different processes. OXO (at least the big 12 cup one), pre-heats the water in the tank to just about a simmer. Then it opens a valve, and allows a very small pump and a secondary heater to finish the job of bring the water up to SCA standards and pump it very slowly over the bed. It also has a huge shower head. Relying on that to fully saturate. Whereas the Breville uses the force of the pumped water through a much smaller head with only 4 holes, to sort of agitate the bed to fully saturate it. Truthfully as much as I like the Breville I am not a fan of that type of brewing. Closest thing I can relate it to is Moccamaster's way of doing it.
Anyway I will report back my observations.
I figure I'll be wasting some coffee but if no one tells my wife I won't get hurt :D
 
OK did back to back brews. Same amount of water and grind ratio, same grind. As noted the OXO seems to get just a skosh more flavor and aroma than the Breville. Not that the Breville is not a great cup, just the OXO is mimicking more a different grew style.
But I also noticed in both cases the brew could have been extracted just a tad more.
I think with loosening the grinder up a bit on the calibration, I likely should take my grind setting down to a 16 or perhaps even a bit to the 14-16 range. That will happen tomorrow. Done fiddling around with coffee. Now it's time to get outside and doa little "handy work"
 
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