UPDATE: was looking at Hario Mini Slim Pro, but in the end I got 1Z Q Air because I wanted to try out steel burrs.
this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2024
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After you've had some time to get used to it, could you give us another update and tell us how you like it?
I've been eyeballing hand grinders lately. I want something that is physically easy to turn (I work with my hands a lot), able to produce a decent amount, and capable of producing espresso grade grinds for my mocha pot (though I will be using it for my aeropress mostly).
Sure, will do. I was planning to do that already.
Awesome! 😁
I received the 1Z Q Air today so here are some comments:
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The steel inside mechanisms are very attractive to fine particles due to statics, and the manual says it cannot be washed. So I had to use a rocket blower to clean it up afterwards, but given the trouble I probably won't cleaning it a lot -- maybe once a week. Next time I will try to spray some water on the coffee beans to reduce static. https://imgur.com/wkk5fAA
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The upper chamber hold exactly 15g of my coffee beans -- these are ordinary sized beans around 1cm wide. So maybe I'll use the scale less if I wanted to cook exactly one serving. But I can foresee this become a bit tedious if more servings for 2-3 people are needed. The lower chamber is about 2/3 full after grinding the 15 grams of coffee.
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It is very compact compared to my old grinder. Construction of the unit is solid. Cranking the handle is very smooth. The (online) manual is very detailed on instructions of how to adjust the granularity. The adjust button is stepped and has dials on the side so one can be very informed about current settings. https://imgur.com/6I68kAq
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The recommended pour-over granularity is finer than expected but does not bring a lot of bitterness to the result -- which is very surprising. https://imgur.com/ySYImjv https://imgur.com/5fNPYFt
Hey, I meant to respond to this sooner. I really appreciate your detailed response and the pictures you provided as well.
That is a ton of static. I am curious as to how wetting the beans went?
The granularity looks pretty consistent as far as I can tell. Looks like good quality.
Wetting it worked great! It drastically reduced the statics.
Awesome! It didn't gum up or anything?
Nope. It's effort-free. 😇 I admit I only have to clean it once for so long after I purchased it
That's nice. Glad you're happy with your purchase, and thanks for the feedback you've given me.
good choice. 1Z Q Air, Timemore C2 or C3, Kingrinder K0 or P1 are all better choices than these very old Hario ceramic burr/plastic body designs
The Skerton is horribly outdated at this point. Please replace it with a newer and better entry level hand grinder like the Timemore C3 or a Kingrinder K0 which are both $80 or less or the Kingrider P1 which is around $35. All are far better than the Skerton.
What takes 2 to 3 minutes to grind with the Skerton, takes less than 1 minute with the above.
This is generally a problem with hand grinders and leads to uneven grind. One way I have seen other similar grinders resolve it is by having a metal frame at the bottom the helps stop the twist. Yours doesn’t have one so there is probably no easy way to fix this issue.
It looks like the grind adjustment screw on top has come a bit loose, and you should adjust it a little and re-secure it, so that it gives your favored grind size, but stays in place.
I'm not sure how your grinder secures the adjustment screw in place.
This happens with my pepper grinder all the time.
Yeah, thank for the thought. The screw on top was tightened before shooting the video, but you did reminded me of the other screw on the button. I don't have high hopes though.
Mine does that too. It's a side effect of how the grind adjustment works.
The bigger issue in my opinion is the side to side slop on the holders for the main shaft. You can "fix" it by thickening the shaft with some electrical or gorilla tape, but that much slop on the fitting tolerances shouldn't exist to begin with.