Commercial Espresso Grinders

Our largest (and most expensive) commercial coffee grinders are the Rancilio MD 80 coffee grinders and the FAEMA MD 3000 coffee grinders. Both coffee grinders have hoppers that hold over 3 pounds of coffee, and both coffee grinders are made to grind up to 25 pounds of coffee beans in an hour. The FAEMA MD 3000 coffee grinder has a die-cast aluminum body that is painted gray to match the FAEMA commercial espresso machines. For a slight price increase, the FAEMA MD 3000 coffee grinder is available in a glossy silver finish. The Rancilio MD 80 coffee grinder features fully automatic grinding.

Our other commercial coffee grinders are the FAEMA MPN coffee grinders, the La Pavoni ZIP coffee grinders, and the Rancilio MD 40 and MD 50 coffee grinders. These coffee grinders cover a range of sizes and capacities, with the FAEMA and Rancilio coffee grinders being slightly more expensive than the La Pavoni coffee grinders.

Note that the FAEMA MPN coffee grinder, the La Pavoni ZIP coffee grinder, and the Rancilio MD 50 coffee grinder can be ordered with an "Automatic" feature if desired. And the La Pavoni Zip commercial coffee grinders can be ordered in Shiny Black or in Ruby Red, to match the La Pavoni Star commercial espresso machine finishes.

What the "Automatic" feature of a coffee grinder does is to sense the amount of ground coffee in the dosing chamber of the coffee grinder. When the amount of coffee in the dosing chamber drops below the half-empty point, an automatic coffee grinder turns itself on and fills the chamber, and then it shuts itself off. There is no human intervention required to keep ample ground coffee in the chamber of an automatic coffee grinder.

For a very busy coffee shop, this is very convenient. You will never have to worry about whether there is ground coffee ready for dosing. The automatic coffee grinder takes care of this for you so you don't need to think about it, and never have to stop to turn the coffee grinder on, or be thrown off-stride because you forgot to grind coffee.

However, many espresso purists feel that ground coffee should not be left sitting for more than ½ hour prior to brewing, and claim to be able to tell whether this was done. Whether or not ½ hour is the breakpoint is not the point. Suffice it to say that ground coffee loses freshness the longer that it sits.

So if you anticipate long slow periods during the day, and/or if you are not running a very high-volume coffee shop, the "Automatic" feature might be something that you actually would prefer to not have on your coffee grinder. Many coffee shops stop grinding coffee ½ hour before closing. The "Automatic" feature will leave you with a full chamber in your coffee grinder when you close, unless you remember to turn your coffee grinder off at the "½ hour to closing" point.

What we are trying to say is that the "Automatic" feature sounds very nice on a commercial coffee grinder. But make sure that it is right for your coffee shop. In some cases, you might actually regret having this feature in your coffee grinder. You may find that it is better for you to be the one who decides when it is appropriate for your coffee grinder to grind more coffee. If so, you should get a semiautomatic coffee grinder.