Crew Review: Ascaso I-Steel Grinder

[zepoe]

A PS to my earlier response. Last week, the Dutch firm importing the Ascaso I-steel told me that my I-steel probably had a little internal screw limiting the finess of the grind. And indeed, when I took the machine in to their shop for a check up it did and after they took away this limitation, I can grind very much finer!

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@zepoe Cool! That's good to know about the screw; we'll keep that in mind for anyone who has a similar experience. - Kat

[zepoe]

Thanks! I just bought this one on impulse (entered the shop just to by ground coffee), I liked the simple pro looking steel design so much I wanted it. Ha, now pretty soon I will probably want an espresso machine too ;-) So I'll be checking the videos here.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@zepoe Great to hear! It does have a great design to it :) Let us know if you need any assistance with it - Kat

[Panoskol]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great reviews you've uploaded on youtube - they have been really helpful! I had a small question for you if you care to answer : People used to complain about the i-mini a lot, especially about accumulation of ground in the burrs and static electricity that wont let them actually fall to your PF. Would you say that the I-steel has improved in that field? Thx a lot in advance!

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@Panoskol Honestly, we have not used this grinder enough to know if that has changed / improved or is the same. It didn't seem overly static when we tested it. - Kat

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@DAXSEIN Thank you! :) - Kat

[Logicdj]

HI there, it's me again. i'm sorry bud i've got a question for you :D

I saw on your site that you have to models of the Ascaso I-steel, 1 for 345 $ the other for less. But will the second one do the job ? cause I want to become a barista but i want my material for a while. not for let's say 2 years and than buy another one. So will it do the job ore do you think I need to buy the want with the flat burst cause I don't know what the differents is.

Thanks already !

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@Logicdj They'll both do a good job; conical steel tends to be a little bit more inconsistent (particle size) than flat burrs. - Kat

[metaspherz]

Hi, Kat and Gail. I wanted this A I-2 stepless grinder to use with my new Miss Silvia but it is out of stock. Bad timing for me. The Rocky seems to be available, so since it's in my price range I might go with it. Isn't the Rocky calibrated (for lack of a better word) to work optimally with the Miss Silvia? Or would the MS benefit from say, an Ascaso iMini ( widely available & $100 less than the R-R) since it is also stepless? I would use the iMini only for espresso, of course.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@metaspherz The Rocky is not necessarily calibrated for the Silvia, but it does work well. These other grinders would, as well, and a stepless is really a great approach if you're going to stick with espresso grind only. I would recommend going in that direction if you can. - Kat

[metaspherz]

@SeattleCoffeeGear Thanks, kat, The iMini arrived yesterday. It was in my price range after buying a 09/05 Silvia with PID, naked PF, Espro click tamper, blind filter & a knock box on ebay ($450). SCG just shipped JoeGlo & a Pallo brush.

So far my shots are OK with lots of room for improvement. Thanks for the vids to help me with the learning curve on my quest to make a tastier non-pressurized PF shot.

Btw I roast my own coffee (Behmor roaster). I make various blends for different needs.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

@metaspherz Awesome! Let me know how it goes as you're tweaking and dialing it in. Sounds like you have a kickass setup :) - Kat

[FrostBurn188]

How does this grinder compare to the Rocky?

I am looking to buy a new grinder for my Ascaso Uno Prof

But there are just to many of them out there, to make a choice ;-)

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

This one is nice because it is stepless, gives you the ability to dial it in a little bit more than the Rocky. - Kat

[rdmorton1]

How easy is the stepless adjustment? Is it anything like the worm drive thing on the Macap?

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

It's really smooth, like the worm drive, not like the circular dial on the Mazzers that I find to be a little stiff. - Kat

[MyDwalsh]

I thought the i2 grinder had 38mm burrs and the i1 had 54mm burrs. Am I right or wrong cause I have just ordered the i1.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

I will check on this and get back to you -- the literature we got from Ascaso was 38mm but I will take it apart and measure to be certain...then post the right size here. - Kat

[YoungJim409]

@MyDwalsh My understanding is that the i1 has flat burrs and the i2 has conical burrs. I could be wrong, though.

[MyDwalsh]

@YoungJim409

Your right YoungJim409 but the Ascaso web site says that the i1 has 54mm burrs. Anyway I have changed my mind and brought a Rocky. Hope I made the right choice.

[YoungJim409]

Funny you should mention, I watched this for comparison for the Rocky which I'm considering.

[SeattleCoffeeGear]

We followed up directly, they provided us mis-information to begin with. I have annotated the video: The I-1 has 54mm flat burrs and the I-2 has 38mm conical burrs. Sorry about that! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. - Kat