Anatomy of a Grinder

I didn't have to go too deep into the grinder to change the burrs, but it did involve a little disassembly and cleaning in the process. I have been sitting on the new burrs for a while now, mostly because I am lazy.


Off comes the adjustment ring and the upper burr carrier.


From there, the lower burr can be removed and those who are super motivated can remove the lower burr carrier with some minor gymnastics involving longer screws to unseat it. I was not super motivated and the lower carrier wasn't too gross.


So I did a little cleaning after pulling the burr to get rid of the old, gummed up coffee residue. I really have no clue if the burrs needed to be replaced, but since the price was right on a new set and since they will last for approximately 400 kg of coffee, I figured it couldn't hurt to go ahead and do it.


Comparing visually, couldn't tell you much about new vs. old besides level of shine. The new burrs were sharper to the touch, we'll see what impact that has on my shots. I ran through some of my mediocre beans to season the new burrs and to make approximate grind adjustments. At a rate of a pound of coffee a week, I should be good to go for the next 16.9 years.