Mahlkönig EK43 Grinder

Yes currently we use coffee spec burrs, and yes again we struggle to grind fine enough especially with light roast coffee for espresso. But for medium roast, I don’t have any problem.
But does your turkish burrs can be adjust for medium or maybe coarse grind size? Because somehow we also use our ek43 for cold brew.

They go coarse enough for filter brewing. We don’t make cold brew. Having looked around, it seems like there’s new coffee burrs available which grind a little finer than the old ones.

That sound’s interesting. Your opinion is a bit contradiction with others having no problem with using EK43 for espresso.
I’m also thinking of buying one for home and use it both for espresso and brew (60/70-40/30%)

Well I used the standard coffee burr, I would guess it’s the new coffee burrs since I just buy it this years.
For medium roast coffee I have no problem at all grind it for espresso. But for the light roast one, I do not know wether my coffee is under developed or not, but the burrs grind setting is at 1,2 mark (Standard EK43 Dial). My Dose in 20gr out 40gr at 22s and I don’t want to go further with finer setting, that’s why I said “Struggle” but still possible to do espresso.

Thx.
I would also interesting in other’s opinion regarding to use EK43 for espresso. Is it in the end of its capabilities?

I’m at 1.2 on the standard dial too. I’m getting excellent espresso with 20g to 35-40g out in 25-30 seconds. I’m also using VST 20g baskets. Coffee varies but usually Stumptown, Heart or Madcap.

Thx. 1.2 seems to me the end of capabilities. How much reserve do you have e.g. for light roasting beans?

well with 1.2, that is for lighter roast stuff. The EK is for single origin stuff, and we don’t run anything dark through it. I can take it down to 1.1 or 1.0 though.

Thx. Sound’ great! Have you ever been to reach the end of the capability of EK 43 for espresso?

not at this time. come to think of it, i haven’t had good success with decaf, the shot seems to come out very quickly.

i think at this point ill need to get my burrs aligned, but i prefer to have someone to do it for me since I’m not too handy.

anyone in los angeles willing to do it in exchange for something?

Anyone, everyone. Is there a consensus out there on proper and improper burrs for the EK?
I have an EK and got it with coffee burrs. At times I found it difficult to pull shots above 22secs on finest setting. Sometimes there was no problem at all with lots of room to play on the dial.

More often than not medium style roasts (square mile) worked better in terms of play on the dial but that was not always the case. Just recently I tried a roast from the barn on an EK at work that again pulled crazy quick on the finest setting.

I am aware the Pergmaster says coffee burrs are perfect no need for turkish.

Alignment is all good.

I see ‘new coffee and turkish burrs’ for EK available on 3fes webshop, are these the ‘proper’ burrs? Cast iron and fine tuned version???
I watched Rob Bergham on tampertantrum discussing the burrs asking if they were the right ones when ordering from a supplier? Is there a special universal product code to get these illusive burrs? What makes them the right ones?

I will need to replace the burrs in the near future and I would love to feel some certainty that I am not risking €500+ for the wrong burrs.

How do you know your alignment is good?? If you’re struggling with shot times then they’re most likely misaligned.

Have you ever had a problem with an EK related to low shot times that weren’t related to alignment or water debit?

On one of the EKs I took out burrs and cleaned and put back with little care and this lead to a worsening of shot times. I re-aligned to best of my ability and it improved but seems to still fluctuate depending on coffee.

If the backplate isn’t 100% clear of grinds or fines when reinstalling the burr, there is a strong possibility that the burrs will be uneven (will be way more notable in espresso vs drip). Similarly, if you don’t snug down the screws evenly you could have the same issue.

I’ve had a couple odd experiences servicing EKs. One problem was the grind dial was “walking” while grinding. Meaning the grind would automatically spin course(only slightly). Had to ultimately add some higher viscosity food safe lube. Seem to solve the issue.

I thought alignment was good but in fact just improved. Your audio guide has pointed this out. Will re-align and test. Matt, you are great thanks for the video!

best video! thanks @MattPerger. all the other videos were super un-helpful.

@friqle and the picture of the Klüber paste above:
unfortunately this is not the paste we use in the factory. This paste UH1 84-201 is used in the grind adjustment threads of K30. It’s a thread paste for not-constantly moving parts.
For EK43’s shaft and pre-breaker/rotating disc carrier we use Klüber’s UH1 64-62 which is an assembly paste for constantly moving parts.

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Thank you for all those informations ! I have 2 EK43 (in my coffee shop and in my training center). The worry is that it is very difficult to find Kluber UH1 64-62. Do you know where to find it in Europe please ?

I have a new EK 43 1/4/2018 and experienced the same issues with channeling you talked about. I fixed my problem by grinding finer. It took a couple of tries to dial in but it worked for me. It was awful when I first started. Don’t know if this helps any but it did work for me.
John

How do you identify turkish burrs by appearance? I do know how to tell the difference between old and new coffee burrs but I feel it would be a good add on to my professionalism to know this stuff!