The Rancilio Rocky grinder offers the same legendary quality as the Silvia home machine and makes a perfect match. But the Rocky is also a great grinder for other espresso machines or even drip or French press coffee makers. Now available in two designs – the original doser version or the new doserless version. In the true Rancilio tradition, the Rocky is one of the most commercial like home grinders available. With large burrs, a powerful motor and finely adjustable grind settings, the Rocky will be a welcome and long term addition to any home espresso bar.

Doser vs. Doserless:

How to decide between the doser version or doserless? First consider the operation. A doser is a chamber that collects the ground coffee. The doser chamber is divided into pie shaped segments that rotate with the pull of a lever. With each rotation, a new section will move over the dispenser chute and dispense a pre-measured amount of ground coffee directly into your filter basket. This is the same operation found in commercial espresso grinders. The advantage is quick pre-measured dosing. This can be very useful in high volume environments. For low volume environments, like occasional home use, the doser may not be optimal. For the dosing to work correctly, the chambers must be full. If you are only making one or two espressos, then the unused coffee will remain in the doser already ground. The bad news is ground coffee goes stale quickly which defeats the purpose of grinding fresh to begin with. The obvious conclusion is that in order to use freshly ground coffee, you would need to dispose of any coffee remaining from the last use which can be quite wasteful. With this rationale, the doser would seem doomed for home use, but it shouldn’t be written off too quickly. There is a trick used by many baristas that can help eliminate the waste during periods of low volume use. Baristas will grind only enough espresso coffee into the doser chamber for the shots they are ready to make. They will then use several successive pulls of the lever to clear the chamber into the portafilter, creating a mound of coffee grinds in the filter basket. The mound will then be leveled with a quick swipe of a finger or a flat blade. For high volume use, such as home entertaining, you could then switch back to normal doser operation. A doserless grinder is just as it sounds. Coffee is ground and exits the grinder through a cute and directly into the portafilter basket. The user would either attempt to grind the proper amount of coffee for that serving or would overfill and level as discussed above. If you always overfill and level, then the doserless grinder seems to make more sense, but some prefer the feel of the doser. If you prefer pre-measured doses and frequently entertain or have a higher volume environment, then the doser version may be the better choice. The bottom line is that either version can work for anyone when using the above tricks of the trade.

More on the Rocky:

The Rocky grinder boasts more than just a commercial look. Behind the stainless steel panels are commercial quality components. The first time you hit the rocker switch to turn on the Rocky, you will see and hear the difference. A powerful commercial motor drives commercial quality grinding burrs. The grind is uniform and can be finely tuned to the finest Turkish grind or a coarse French press grind. With this range, the Rocky is suitable for any type of espresso machine. (Many home grinders can not grind fine enough for espresso makers with non pressurized filter or filter handles). The 10 oz bean hopper helps keep your whole bean espresso fresh.