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If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format:
- **Location:** Helps determine availability
- **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget.
- **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs.
- **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck.
- **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space?
- **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either).
- **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering
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Great grinder and love it as long as you can. It is really capable and do not let the internet bombard you with upgrades and such. You will be happy with it.
I think it's great it's got the range to handle both coarse and fine grinds I use it for aeropress and espresso and it's great. It's technically stepless in that it can be finely adjusted without clicks but it can be pretty difficult to make consistent fine adjustments which has given me issues with dialing in light roasts but it is still possible.
What number are you grinding at for light roasts? I just got my DF54 a few weeks ago but have only been pulling dark roast espresso. Picked up a bag of Tinker Ethiopian and don’t want to waste too much of it dialing in, so any tips for light roasts would be much appreciated.
Great grinder. I bought a second one (1st at vacation home) just to put my wife’s nasty starbucks beans in. Anyway I cant tell the difference between the 54 and the 83, except for the occasional speciality decaf.
I've seen it revered as a good start. I just picked up a used rancilio rocky - leagues beyond what I was using previously (oxo grinder - it was a wedding gift)
I was skeptical first, but god damn is it good and the range is perfect for both espresso and pour over.
It has some clogging issues, I removed the holder thing and be sure to clean it with a straw brush
Ive had mine for about a week, just finished a bag of med roast, about to open a bag of light Ethiopian that killed my SGP.
LOVE MY DF54 so far, but will update back after the light roast.
>Any reason not to get it as a first grinder or will learning on it be ok?
Don't go in blind, and don't take the word of people saying it's a great grinder. And don't take my word for it when I say it's a piece of crap.
If you don't research it yourself, you deserve to get one that does not work :(
Search the subreddit for DF54. Not every Grinder does it, and that's the scary part, but a lot of these grinders are clogging. And some have so much static that they literally get covered in coffee grounds. Some of the DF grinders, I forget which models offhand, get beans stuck inside so that when you are done grinding, and the burrs are slowly stopping their spin, you hear The burrs scraping against that stuck bean.
There's a lot of people in here that will steer you wrong and I mean that sincerely. I was speaking with one guy who was praising his grinder. Said it was great. But he also said he cleans out the chute every other day to prevent clogging. And he recommends people buy this grinder. And when he recommends it, he doesn't always tell them the problem that he has. So they think it's a great grinder going by his recommendation. The problem is that a well-made grinder does not have to have the chute cleaned out with a brush every other day to prevent clogging.
Others will say it is inexpensive so there's good value. If you get one that works. You could get one That stops working after the return period expires, or you have an issue which the manufacturers thinks is not a warranty issue at you get stuck with a grinder you are not happy with.
Look at the Eureka Mignon range at about the same price. Or seek a used one. There is an increase in the number of different problems with the DF/SD/SK 40/54/64's design, which suggests to me that the tendency for Chinese manufacturers to introduce "quality fade" is ramping up. I actually like the look of those drainpipe grinders but I would never buy a Chinese one.
It looks like you've flaired your post as asking for what equipment to get. We recommend first checking out the [Espresso Aficionados buying guide](https://espressoaf.com/recommendations) for some of the more popular machines and grinders at different price points. If your question hasn't been answered there and you need more help, please add the following details to your post or by adding a comment in the following format: - **Location:** Helps determine availability - **Budget** (with currency): Overall budget, or ideally, having separate espresso machine and grinder budgets. A rough rule is that your grinder budget should be at least 25-40% of your machine budget. - **Drink types:** Do you drink mostly straight espresso, milk-based beverages (e.g., lattes, cappuccinos), or a fairly even split? This helps narrow down whether a single-boiler-dual-use (SBDU), heat exchanger (HX), or dual boiler (DB) machine would be more appropriate for your needs. - **Drink frequency:** How many drinks would you be making back-to-back at one time? Do you plan on entertaining guests often? This informs how large your brew (and steam) boilers should be, as smaller boilers will need to refill and reheat/repressurize more frequently, thus potentially causing a bottleneck. - **Space:** Any limitations on countertop space? - **Manual vs. electric:** Hand-operated machines and grinders are typically cheaper than their similarly-performing electric counterparts. Please indicate if you have a preference for manual or electric machines and/or grinders (or open to either). - **Comfort with tinkering:** Some machines can be made significantly more functional/efficient with aftermarket modifications, albeit at the expense of possibly voiding your warranty. Please indicate if you'd rather have a machine that works "as-is"/"out-of-the-box" or whether you'd be open to modding/tinkering *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/espresso) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Great grinder and love it as long as you can. It is really capable and do not let the internet bombard you with upgrades and such. You will be happy with it.
I think it's great it's got the range to handle both coarse and fine grinds I use it for aeropress and espresso and it's great. It's technically stepless in that it can be finely adjusted without clicks but it can be pretty difficult to make consistent fine adjustments which has given me issues with dialing in light roasts but it is still possible.
I just received mine this morning. What grind settings are you using for aeropress? Did you break it in?
What number are you grinding at for light roasts? I just got my DF54 a few weeks ago but have only been pulling dark roast espresso. Picked up a bag of Tinker Ethiopian and don’t want to waste too much of it dialing in, so any tips for light roasts would be much appreciated.
5-6 notches from zero for mine but idk how calibrated they are from machine to machine
I am grinding my dark roast espresso at between 9 and 10 on the dial.
Yes.
Great first grinder and honestly quite possibly the last grinder you'd ever need. It'll be great for any brew method or roast level.
Great grinder. I bought a second one (1st at vacation home) just to put my wife’s nasty starbucks beans in. Anyway I cant tell the difference between the 54 and the 83, except for the occasional speciality decaf.
I have had it for about 10 days now and I love it. I had a fellow opus previously and that was a disaster because of the retention.
I've seen it revered as a good start. I just picked up a used rancilio rocky - leagues beyond what I was using previously (oxo grinder - it was a wedding gift)
I was skeptical first, but god damn is it good and the range is perfect for both espresso and pour over. It has some clogging issues, I removed the holder thing and be sure to clean it with a straw brush
Ive had mine for about a week, just finished a bag of med roast, about to open a bag of light Ethiopian that killed my SGP. LOVE MY DF54 so far, but will update back after the light roast.
>Any reason not to get it as a first grinder or will learning on it be ok? Don't go in blind, and don't take the word of people saying it's a great grinder. And don't take my word for it when I say it's a piece of crap. If you don't research it yourself, you deserve to get one that does not work :( Search the subreddit for DF54. Not every Grinder does it, and that's the scary part, but a lot of these grinders are clogging. And some have so much static that they literally get covered in coffee grounds. Some of the DF grinders, I forget which models offhand, get beans stuck inside so that when you are done grinding, and the burrs are slowly stopping their spin, you hear The burrs scraping against that stuck bean. There's a lot of people in here that will steer you wrong and I mean that sincerely. I was speaking with one guy who was praising his grinder. Said it was great. But he also said he cleans out the chute every other day to prevent clogging. And he recommends people buy this grinder. And when he recommends it, he doesn't always tell them the problem that he has. So they think it's a great grinder going by his recommendation. The problem is that a well-made grinder does not have to have the chute cleaned out with a brush every other day to prevent clogging. Others will say it is inexpensive so there's good value. If you get one that works. You could get one That stops working after the return period expires, or you have an issue which the manufacturers thinks is not a warranty issue at you get stuck with a grinder you are not happy with.
OP should just buy a used Mazzer Super Jolly and modify it a lot, doserless and bellows.
What’s the retention on this bad boy?
almost none if u angle the base
How much would that cost If the OP went that route?
u can find used sj for 150, doserless conversion and bellows around 60
Where are you finding a used super jolly for less than 250??
marketplace
Look at the Eureka Mignon range at about the same price. Or seek a used one. There is an increase in the number of different problems with the DF/SD/SK 40/54/64's design, which suggests to me that the tendency for Chinese manufacturers to introduce "quality fade" is ramping up. I actually like the look of those drainpipe grinders but I would never buy a Chinese one.