Baratza Vario User manual

Ceramic Burr Coffee Grinder
Operations Manual
™

Operations manuals are available in
the following languages at
www.baratza.com
English.pdf
Spanish.pdf
French.pdf
Ceramic Burr Coffee Grinder
™

1
Thank you for purchasing the
VARIO™Coffee Grinder. With the
VARIO™, it’s now easier than ever
to make professional quality coffee,
whether at home, the office, or your
café. Below are detailed descrip-
tions of the features that put the
VARIO™in a class of it’s own.
Precision, commercial-quality
ceramic burrs
Manufactured in Germany by
MAHLKÖNIG, the VARIO’s™ce-
ramic burrs are of the same mate-
rial and durability as the industry’s
highest-quality line of commercial
coffee grinders. Ceramic burrs
remain sharp for up to twice the
lifetime of the highest quality steel
burrs.
Grind on Demand with electronic
dosing
Grind on Demand operation with
electronically controlled dosing
grinds only the coffee you require
for each shot directly into your
espresso porta filter or ground cof-
fee bin for Filter and French Press.
Innovative grind adjustment
system
Macro and Micro adjustments are
quickly and repeatedly achievable
with the intuitive VARIO™adjust-
ment system. The range of grind
and the accuracy of the settings are
truly impressive. The VARIO™has
230 distinct settings of grind from
Espresso to French Press.
Quiet drive system
The VARIO™houses a high torque
DC motor with a belt drive trans-
mission. The precise timing belt
drive provides for smooth, quiet
operation and thermal disconnec-
tion of motor and burr casing. Ad-
ditionally, the VARIO™possesses
an auto-reset thermal safety circuit
that protects the motor from over-
heating.
™

2
Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents ................................................................................. 2
Parts Identication ............................................................................... 3
Safety Information ................................................................................ 4
Initial setup and operation ................................................................... 5
Setting the Macro and Micro grind adjustment ............................... 5
Normal grinding operation ............................................................... 6
Programming grind dosing times .................................................... 6
Care and Cleaning ........................................................................... 8
Cleaning the Housing and Hopper ................................................. 8
Remove the Upper Burr ................................................................. 8
Cleaning the Burrs .......................................................................... 8
Replacing the Upper Burr ............................................................... 9
Replacing the Bean Hopper ........................................................... 9
Automatic Cleaning ......................................................................... 9
Help and Troubleshooting ................................................................... 9
Warranty .............................................................................................. 10
PortaHolder™ set up and use ........................................................ 7
Grinding Notes .................................................................................... 11
Baratza Contact Information ................................................................ 12

3
Parts Identication
Whole bean hopper (8 oz.)
Grind time adjustment buttons (2)
Manual grind button
Programable grind setting buttons (3)
Hopper lid
Micro grind adjustment lever
LCD grind time indicator
Start / Stop button
Upper burr carrier
Macro grind adjustment lever
Ceramic burrs
Ground coffee bin (8 oz.)
Grind button LED (3)
™

4
Important Information
Please read the information below
very carefully. It contains impor-
tant tips for the use, the safety and
the maintenance and care of this
appliance. Please keep these op-
erating instructions for future refer-
ence.
Your new VARIO™is rated for either
120 VAC or 230 VAC. Please con-
rm the voltage of your VARIO™
on the nameplate attached to the
bottom of the grinder. The 120
VAC Vario can be used from 100 to
130 VAC and the 230 VAC VARIO™
can be used from 200 to 240 VAC.
Please insure your supply voltage
range matches the nameplate volt-
age on you VARIO™.
Only clean the grinder housing with
a dry or slightly damp cloth.
Do not use this grinder for any-
thing other than its intended use
(i.e. grinding whole roasted coffee
beans). Maximum continuous duty
cycle is 25%. Longest continuous
grind time is 90 seconds.
Disassemble your grinder only as
directed in the care and cleaning
section of this manual. If you can-
not remedy a malfunction, please
visit the web at www.baratza.com
for assistance.
Repairs are to be performed only
by authorized service centers. An
improperly repaired grinder is a
source of risk to the user and voids
the warranty.
Baratza will not accept any liability
for damage or injury if the grinder
is used other than for its intended
purpose or is improperly operated
or repaired. All warranty claims will
be void.
For Your Safety
Do not operate the grinder with
a damaged cord or plug, or if the
grinder malfunctions.
Do not leave your grinder unat-
tended while turned ON.
Shut off and unplug the grinder
from the electrical outlet before
cleaning. To unplug, grasp plug
and removed from the outlet-never
pull on the cord.
Do not immerse the grinder, plug or
cord in water or any other liquid.

5
Initial Set Up
Place the VARIO™Grinder on a
level surface; Insert the plug into
an AC outlet. Remove the lid from
the hopper by lifting off. Pour the
desired quantity of roasted whole
coffee beans into the hopper up
to a maximum of 250 Grams. Re-
place the lid. Ensure the ground
coffee bin or PortaHolder™is fully
inserted.
Setting the Macro and Micro
Grind Adjustment
Move the Macro lever up or down
to the desired range of grind size.
Set the Micro adjustment lever to
the middle of the scale. Grind a
small amount of coffee by pressing
the START button, then pressing it
again to stop. Check the particle
size. If the particle size is close to
what you desire, now use the Mi-
cro lever to “ne tune” your grind
size. If the particle size needs a
big change, then adjust the Macro
lever to a new position, then ne
tune with the Micro lever. The full
range on the Micro scale is equal to
one “click” or position on the Mac-
ro scale. With both levers, mov-
ing UP produces a smaller particle
size and DOWN produces a larger
particle size. The actual grind size
for a particular setting will vary de-
pending on many factors, includ-
ing: degree of roast (light vs. dark),
freshness, humidity, type of bean,
oil content, etc. With use, you will
determine the setting that is right
for your taste, brewing style and
your favorite beans.
Note: Partially ground coffee
beans may remain between the
burrs after the grinder is turned off,
adjusting the grind may be easier
when the grinder is running.

6
Normal Grinding Operation
Press the desired button (Espres-
so, Filter or Press). The blue LED
next to the button will light and the
display LCD will show the corre-
sponding programmed grind time
in seconds. Press START button
to begin grinding. While grinding,
the LCD will count down the sec-
onds to 0. When the LCD reaches
0 seconds, the motor will stop and
the display will reset again to the
programmed time. For greater
quantities of ground coffee, press
the MANUAL button then START.
The grinder will count up to a limit
of 120 seconds then shut off auto-
matically. At any time during MAN-
UAL, you can stop the grinding by
pressing the START button. The
motor will stop and the LCD will
reset to 000. The limit of 120 sec-
onds is not user adjustable.
Programming Grind Dosing
Times
The VARIO™ is equipped with
three programmable dosing grind
times. The buttons are convenient-
ly labeled for Espresso, Filter and
Press. These programmable but-
tons only adjust the grinding TIME,
they do not adjust the coarseness
of the grind. Each button comes
from the factory with a preset time:
Espresso: 10 seconds, Filter: 20
seconds and Press: 30 seconds.
If the grinder is unplugged, the
grinder resets to the factory-pre-
set times. After adjusting the grind
(particle size) to your desired set-
ting, press the desired button, and
then press START. The grinder will
run and the display will count down
from the preset time.
The grinder will stop automatically
when time reaches 0. To stop at
any time during grinding, just press
the START button again. Depend-
ing on the amount of coffee ground,
you can easily program more or
less grinding time as follows:
1. Press the up or down arrow just
below the LCD display to adjust
the time. Press and hold the arrow
for 3 second to advance the time
more quickly.

7
2. Once you have reached the de-
sired time setting, press the corre-
sponding button (Espresso, Filter,
or Press) and hold for 3 seconds.
The time shown in the LCD display
will blink to conrm the setting is
stored.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 above for
each of the other two buttons.
The quantity of ground coffee you
need depends on the type of bean,
coarseness of the grind, brewing
method and personal taste. With
use, you will nd the most suitable
settings for your personal taste.
PortaHolder™Setup
and Use
Before installing the lower bracket
on your PortaHolder™you will need
your espresso machine’s porta l-
ter. Insert the lower bracket (in-
cluded in a small plastic bag along
with a screw) into the two slides at
the rear of the PortaHolder™. Place
the vertical section of the bracket
facing downward so the rear part
of the bracket is lower than the two
arms that stick out horizontally to-
ward you. With the bracket in the
lowest position, place your porta
ler on the bracket and move the
bracket up until the small hook at
the top rear of the PortaHolder™
hooks over your porta lter and
prevents it from tipping out of the
grinder. Locate the hole that best
lines up with the hole in the bracket
(you will probably need to slide the
bracket down a little bit to align the
hole). Insert the provided screw
and secure it with a screwdriver.
The goal is to have your porta lter
supported as close to horizontal as
possible.
To use the PortaHolder™, insert
your porta lter into the PortaHol-
der™ while tipping the handle up
and the basket down (to hook un-
der the tab), then release the porta
lter and press the desired dose
button, then press START. The
grinder will run for the preset dose
time and stop automatically.

8
Care and Cleaning
Cleaning the Housing and
Hoppers
Remove any remaining beans
from the bean hopper. Press the
START button to run any remain-
ing beans through the grinder until
all grinding is nished.
Make a note of each of the three
programmed grind times to be
used when re-programming grind
times after cleaning. Remove the
plug from the AC power outlet. Re-
move the hopper by twisting it in a
counterclockwise direction until it
stops and then lift the bean hopper
from the housing. Wash the hop-
per, hopper lid, and ground coffee
bin in warm soapy water, rinse and
dry.
Caution: Do not put the bean hop-
per, hopper lid, or ground coffee
bin in the dishwasher. Hand wash
only. Do not immerse the grinder
housing in water.
Cleaning the Burrs
If the grinder is used daily, the
burrs should be cleaned every
few weeks. Cleaning enables the
burrs to achieve the most con-
sistent grind possible. Cleaning
also removes coffee oils which will
stale and degrade the avor of the
ground coffee. Do not wash the
burrs.
Remove the Upper Burrs
Rotate the metal burr carrier clock-
wise until it stops then lift straight
up and out of the grinder housing.
Clean the burr using a stiff brush.
Use the bristle brush (included with
your grinder) to remove any loose
coffee residue on the xed burr
and the lower burr mounted within
the motor housing.

9
Replacing the Upper Burr
While rocking the burr side to side,
push down rmly on the burr car-
rier to ensure that it seats properly.
Rotate the burr carrier counter-
clockwise until it stops.
Replacing the Bean Hopper
To replace the bean hopper, line
up the two small tabs on the base
of the hopper with their respective
slots.
Automatic Cleaning
A thorough fast, and easy cleaning
can be accomplished using GRIN-
DZ™ grinder cleaner. GRINDZ™
is a product designed to dislodge
coffee particles and absorb and re-
move odors and coffee oil residue.
Simply place the recommended
amount of GRINDZ™(35g) into the
empty grinder hopper. Adjust the
grind setting to Filter, press MAN-
UAL, then START until all of the
GRINDZ™ has been ground, and
then press START again to stop
the grinder. Once complete, we
recommend passing through some
coffee to remove any GRINDZ™
residue. Discard the ground cof-
fee. For information on GRINDZ™
go to www.urnex.com.
To purchase GRINDZ™go to www.
baratza.com.
Need Help?
For FAQ’s or to troubleshoot a
problem, please see the FAQ
section at www.baratza.com

10
Warranty and Service
Length of Warranty: One-year
from date of purchase.
United States
Warranty Information
If your grinder fails within one
year: e-mail: support@baratza.
com or call
877-701-2021. Baratza will de-
liver an identical or comparable
replacement grinder to your door,
free of charge, and arrange to
have your “failed” grinder returned
to us.
When you receive your replace-
ment grinder, please use the
carton and packing material and
the return shipping label supplied
to return the “failed” grinder to us.
Also, please include your name,
address and telephone number.
International Warranty
Information
Go to: www.baratza.com or call
425-641-1245 for international
warranty information.
Proof of Purchase and
Product Registration
You can register your grinder at
www.baratza.com. Registration
will enable us to contact you in
the unlikely event of a product
safety notication and assist us in
complying with the provisions of
the Consumer Product Safety Act.
The serial number is located on
the bottom of the grinder.
Please keep your sales receipt
that shows the date of purchase
and complete the following for
your personal records:
Serial Number (located on bottom
of grinder):
Date Purchased:
Store:
For repairs or parts contact
Baratza LLC
3923-120th Ave. S.E.
Bellevue, WA. 98006
877-701-2021
e-mail: support@baratza. com
Parts: www.baratza.com

11
Grinding Notes

12
© 2008
Baratza, LLC
3923-120th Ave. S.E.
Bellevue, WA. 98006
www.baratza.com
rev: 111908