Which to buy · Every setting
Baratza Sette 270 vs Mahlkönig EK43
Conical against flat — the Sette 270's scale curves where the other runs straight. The Sette 270 is numbered 1–31; the EK43 is numbered 0–16.
Which to buy
Choose the
Sette 270 if you…
- pull espresso — its arms hold a portafilter, and a stepless micro adjustment helps you dial in
- want timed doses to 0.1 s, with three preset buttons
- grind no more than 1 kg a day — the most Baratza designs it for
Choose the
EK43 if you…
- grind in volume — about 19–21 g a second from a 1,200 g hopper
- want 98 mm cast steel flat burrs, stepless from Turkish fine to coarse filter
- grind straight into retail bags — it has a bag clamp
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Sources: Baratza — Sette 270 manual · Baratza — Sette 270 · Mahlkönig — EK43 · Mahlkönig USA — EK43
| Sette 270 | EK43 | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Baratza | Mahlkönig |
| Scale | Numbered dial | Numbered dial |
| Dial range | 1 – 31 | 0 – 16 |
| Burrs | Conical | Flat |
| Espresso → filter | 11.8 numbers | 7 numbers |
| Filter → coarse | 13 numbers | 7 numbers |
The same number means different things
Both grinders use a numbered dial, which makes it tempting to copy a number straight across. Setting 9 sits at grind index 12.1 on the Sette 270 but 40 on the EK43 — far enough apart to change the cup.
Converting a setting
If a recipe quotes a setting for one of these grinders, read across for the equivalent on the other. Rows are spaced evenly by grind size, not by dial number — on a conical burr those are not the same thing.
| Sette 270 | EK43 |
|---|---|
| 4 | 2 |
| 8 | 4.8 |
| 11 | 7.1 |
| 12 | 7.8 |
| 14 | 8.5 |
| 16 | 9.3 |
| 21 | 10.7 |
| 25 | 12.1 |
| 28 | 13.4 |
| 29 | 14.3 |
| EK43 | Sette 270 |
|---|---|
| 2 | 4 |
| 4.8 | 8 |
| 7.1 | 11 |
| 7.8 | 12 |
| 8.5 | 14 |
| 9.3 | 16 |
| 10.7 | 21 |
| 12.1 | 25 |
| 13.4 | 28 |
| 14.3 | 29 |
| 14.9 | 29 |
| 15.4 | 29 |
| 16 | 29 |
Side by side, by brew method
Where each grinder lands for the same brew, worked out from its own dial curve.
| Method | Sette 270 | EK43 |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 6 | 3.7 |
| Moka pot | 10 | 7 |
| AeroPress (short steep) | 12 | 7.8 |
| Pour over — V60 / cone | 15 | 8.8 |
| Siphon | 16 | 9.3 |
| Pour over — flat bottom | 18 | 9.8 |
| Steep and release — Clever / Switch | 19 | 10.3 |
| Drip / batch brew | 21 | 10.7 |
| Cupping | 22 | 11 |
| Chemex | 25 | 12 |
| French press | 29 | 14.1 |
| Cold brew | 29 | 15.2 |
The shape of each dial
Where the connectors bunch, that grinder’s dial is compressed and single steps count for more. Comparing the two shapes tells you which gives finer control, and where.
Baratza Sette 270
Mahlkönig EK43
Dialing in the Sette 270
Straight-through grinding means almost no retention, which makes the Sette unusually good for single dosing and switching between coffees. The macro/micro adjustment gives real espresso resolution, and the trade-off is noise — this is the loudest grinder most people will own.
Dialing in the EK43
The grinder that changed what filter coffee was supposed to taste like, and still the reference for high-clarity brewing. Its very large flat burrs produce an unusually narrow particle distribution, which is why coffee ground on an EK often tastes cleaner at the same nominal setting than it does elsewhere. Stepless, so treat the numbers as targets.