Grinder broke mid-pour and wrecked my whole morning routine

My Baratza Encore just died on me last Wednesday right as I was grinding beans for my 6 AM brew. The burr seized up and made this awful grinding noise then stopped completely. I tried taking it apart to fix it but a little plastic gear inside had sheared clean off. Now I'm stuck using pre-ground store coffee for the past 5 days and it tastes like bitter dirt. Has anyone else had this happen with the plastic gear models or should I just upgrade to the steel ones?

2 comments

2 Comments

sullivan.john28d ago

Wait are you telling me that little gear is still plastic on the newer models? I thought they fixed that years ago.

ray21028d ago

Funny enough, I actually think the plastic gear is fine for most people. It's a wear item on purpose, meant to break before something more expensive does. Metal gears can transfer stress to the motor and burn that out instead, which costs way more to fix. If you're just using the tool around the house for normal stuff, the plastic gear will last years anyway. The real problem is people running the tool past its limits and blaming the gear for doing its job. Honestly, I'd rather replace a five dollar gear than a whole motor any day.