The right motor for the right burrs
Every day at Mahlkönig, we manufacture hundreds of espresso, filter, and shop grinders, plus thousands of steel burrs.
Before leaving the factory, each grinder undergoes rigorous testing and systematic particle-size analysis. All burrs are developed by our in-house team and have been manufactured at our Hamburg site for decades.
Crucial to each grinder’s meticulous functioning is a perfect match between the grinding mechanism and its drive. In other words, the motor and the two burrs must be flawlessly matched to ensure that the grinder delivers a reliable and consistent grind long term.
Mahlkönig has been developing and manufacturing professional use high-quality grinders for almost 100 years. In order to live up to our century-long promise of exceptional quality, our developers invest months or even years ensuring the optimal tuning of both motor and grinder for each new model.
How do we arrive at the perfect combination of burrs and motor?
The starting point is always the burr with its application-specific size and surface geometry. An espresso grinder, in contrast to a shop grinder, is designed for grinding manageable volumes, but usually has to grind the beans finely.
In addition to the nature of the burrs, the quality of the grinding are determined by classical mechanics. Some of the key parameters include motor speed and torque.
The development of a grinder begins by selecting or even designing the optimum burr set. This burr geometry is then assembled onto a special test rig to measure the nominal and start-up torque required by the burr geometry. The torque measurement is achieved by a special test-rig setup that includes a grinding configuration with the burr coupled to a dedicated test motor and torque meter. The burr is then subject to several tests with various coffees, at different grind settings, and with varying burr speeds to measure the torque behavior. The measured torque values are used to determine the power absorbed by the burrs and to select or even design the ideal motor for optimum grinding behavior.
Why is torque such an important factor for performance?
A coffee grinder must be able to grind at any time without overheating under varying circumstances throughout the day. Some of these varying circumstances include different coffee types with different hardness as well as the build-up of oils and residues. A motor that is wrongly selected may not be able to drive the burrs in these circumstances if undersized or can result in a larger grinder footprint if oversized. The motor must be precisely matched to the burrs and have the correct torque requirements from idle to the nominal grinding speed for all foreseeable scenarios.
What to look for when choosing the right replacement burrs?
Mahlkönig offers a comprehensive range of original replacement burrs that are optimally design for the Mahlkönig product range. Direct replacement burrs will always match the burrs that were previously installed at the factory. This guarantees continued enjoyment of the same performance and taste even after burr replacement. Retrofitting the grinder with non-original burrs can result in poor overall behavior. This includes but is not limited to grinding issues, such as clogging of the burrs and grinding chamber which influences torque and therefore result in abnormal and potentially damaging operation of the motor.
If you need new burrs perfectly matched to your grinder, you can simply follow this link, in the next step select your grinder and then the matching burrs.
Be aware of imitations and non-Mahlkönig burrs
The crucial perfect match between the motor and the burr set is not ensured when replacing your burrs with imitation or non-Mahlkönig burrs. The burr replacement with unoriginal burrs impacts performance, lifetime, liability and safety as well as warranty.
How is the performance of my grinder ensured when replacing burrs?
Crucial to each grinder’s meticulous functioning is a perfect match between the motor and the burr set. They must be flawlessly matched to ensure that the grinder delivers a reliable and consistent grind long term. Mahlkönig has been developing and manufacturing professional use high-quality grinders for almost 100 years. To live up to our century-long promise of exceptional quality, our research and development team invest significant resources to ensure the optimal tuning of both motor and grinder for each new model. The performance of Mahlkönig grinders is therefore only ensured when replacing burrs with original Mahlkönig burrs.
How are imitations or non-Mahlkönig burrs impacting my grinders lifetime?
Hemro and our family of brands combine industry leading burr knowledge in-house. Imitated burrs lack field data to assess burr lifetime and related wear. You risk buying a burr that might perform initially but will not deliver the results in a repeatable way over its lifetime.
Can imitations or non-Mahlkönig burrs impact liability & safety?
Our products undergo regulatory compliance checks and certification. This means that all burrs in our portfolio are, 1) food compliant, and 2) designed to ensure safe operation of the entire grinder. Imitations will lack food-product approvals and when installed may cause the grinder to malfunction. This means you could potentially buy burrs that look good, but that are in fact harmful to your health and of others.
Does the burr replacement with imitation or non-Mahlkönig burrs impact your grinders warranty?
If you replace the original Mahlkönig burrs in your grinder with non-Mahlkönig burrs, it can result in motor failure. Warranty for your grinder is no longer provided when replacing original Mahlkönig burrs with imitations or non-Mahlkönig burrs.
