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Baratza Maestro Conical Burr Coffee Grinder 8-oz. | 
 enlarge | Brand: Baratza
List Price: $115.00
Buy Refurbished: $75.00
You Save: $40.00 (35%)
Rating:  8 reviews
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.4
MPN: G285
UPC: 838823002853
EAN: 0838823000286
ASIN: B0007XY7NQ
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Model No.: G285 | | • | Type of Grinder: Burr | | • | Settings: 40 | | • | Capacity: 8-oz. Bean Hopper
5-oz. Grounds Bin | | • | Dimensions: 13x5x6-in. |
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| Similar Items:
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Maestro Conical Burr Grinder is one of the most eye pleasing grinders on the market, but the beauty isn???t skin deep. Inside is the heart of a great grinder that can grind coffee beans for any style of coffee, whether it is an espresso machine, drip coffee maker, or press pot.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Absolutely not for espresso; good for drip and french press September 24, 2008
Burton (Austin, TX USA)
I've owned this grinder for a year. I needed a cheap burr grinder with a good reputation, capable of properly grinding beans for espresso (a difficult task). At $99, the Maestro was the best choice to accompany my Starbucks Barista (manufactured by Saeco), bought locally through craigslist. I'm not crazy about the pressurized portafilter (nor are most espresso drinkers) but this is best I can do until I get out of grad school and can afford the Silvia.
Procedure: I buy freshly roasted beans, grind them with the finest grind, preheat the portafilter, and tamp with an aftermarket aluminum tamper.
The result: weak espresso that runs fast and lacks flavor and crema. In one year I have never pulled a good shot--just mediocre shots that are better in mixed than straight--and I can still taste the poor quality when mixed.
To investigate, I broke one major rule and ground the beans ahead of time with Whole Food's commercial grinder in the store (ideally, you grind seconds before brewing--I brewed the next day). Next day, same routine. Results: delicious, near perfect shots, worth sipping and savoring. Dark red crema, slow pulls, complex flavor. I never pulled a shot like this before.
Conclusion: I'll be grinding my beans in the store from now on. It wasn't the machine, it was the grinder. So don't buy the Maestro if you want good espresso, it WILL NOT do the job. ("minor" side note: for those interested in good drip and french press coffee, the Maestro is a great choice).
To quote coffeegeek.com: "I can make a better shot of espresso with a $200 espresso machine and a $400 grinder than I can with a $2,000 espresso machine and no grinder (or a blade grinder)... and it's absolutely true."
 Excellent product and customer service September 14, 2008
K. Wolfe (Sunny Orlando Florida)
Product performs better than I expected. The range of the size of the grind is consistant and has the ability to be widely varied from espresso grind to very course. The motor operation is quite, as grinding can go,and not obnoxious sounding.
I love the product!
I love mine!!! February 20, 2008
R. Phillips (Cleveland, OH USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I can't believe all the problems with clogging people are having!!! Mine worked excellent for over two years. It started to grind a little slowly (the burrs weren't "catching" the beans), so I recently replaced the inner and outer burrs and it's back to 100% again and going strong. I often grind beans that are roasted past full city and are slightly oily. I'd probably get the plus model with finer adjustment steps for grinding espresso, but other than that I'm very happy with it.
One thing I noticed on mine is that there's a white plastic piece with fins on it that spins with the inner burr to push the coffee out. One of my fins is broken off. I'm thinking that may be the secret to why mine doesn't clog. This would cause a larger amount of ground coffee to be pushed out at one time once per revolution of the burr. It also might help lessen some excessive air current that keeps the coffee spinning instead of being pushed out of the machine or causes back pressure due to the small opening where the coffee comes out. Maybe the others just got stuck with a set of burrs that weren't machined quite right? I don't know... Mine works great though and I was very surprised to see all of these negative reviews. Parts and service are available from the manufacturer... [..]
EDIT: I see now the newer models have a different motor than mine and the best model has a speed reduction control knob. The newer motors probably turn a little faster and cause the mill not to feed as well. Funny how an attempt to improve a product doesn't always work out...
Hard to clean - Other problems October 11, 2007
Susanna Hutcheson (Midwest U.S.A.)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I've had this grinder about two years. So I've had a long experience with it. I use mostly Starbucks French Roast and Italian Roast and I grind it fairly fine even though I use a regular Mr. Coffee coffee maker. I like strong, flavorful coffee. And it will grind that.
But the trouble is, it gets clogged up quickly --- often after one use. And cleaning it is a bear! I have to take a screw driver and get the coffee out of the top and a paper clip to go through the lower part.
I will say that it's easy to get through to support and they're very nice and helpful. But they can't do the cleaning and fixing for you. And I don't have a local place that fixes these.
It's very quiet. And one thing I love about it is that the container that accepts the coffee doesn't have much if any static. So it's clean as far as putting the coffee into the maker is concerned.
If you prefer more course coffee, this might work great for you. But if you like fine coffee and, especially, espresso, forget it.
I've read in several places that you can run some white rice through a grinder and clean it. I've not tried it yet but will. Perhaps that will make the job easier.
For most hard-core coffee drinkers, I don't recommend this unit basically because of the fact it is so hard to clean. And it clogs quickly and often.
 Not worth the money September 29, 2007
Stoneheart (San Diego, CA United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I decided to buy a coffee grinder and espresso machine, I researched and read reviews and thought "This is the one!" Unfortunately, it never lived up to its name. After the first few weeks, it wouldn't grind unless you constantly jiggled it to get the beans to seat in the grinder. Yes, I took it apart and cleaned and dried it as per manufacturer's instructions, but it would NEVER grind the beans very fine. I like espresso type grind but had to settle for the coarsest grind it did. As the months wore on, it just got worse. I finally got to the point where I had to use a wooden spoon handle to force the beans into the grinder. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I had spent $140 on this thing and I didn't want to just throw it away. Maybe if you used an extremely "dry" or slightly undercooked roast, it would work better? This used to be made by Solis. I would NEVER recommend their coffee grinders. I do have a Solis espresso machine that I purchased at the same time as the coffee grinder and it works well.
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