Which to buy · Every setting
Baratza Sette 270Wi vs Mahlkönig EK43
Conical against flat — the Sette 270Wi's scale curves where the other runs straight. The Sette 270Wi is numbered 1–31; the EK43 is numbered 0–16.
Which to buy
Choose the
Sette 270Wi if you…
- pull espresso — it doses by weight straight into a 49–58 mm portafilter
- want three programmable doses, each to within 0.1 g
- brew V60 or AeroPress as well — the finer filter methods Baratza names for its burrs
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 270Wi · Baratza — Sette 270Wi (archived) · Mahlkönig — EK43 · Mahlkönig USA — EK43
| Sette 270Wi | EK43 | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Baratza | Mahlkönig |
| Scale | Numbered dial | Numbered dial |
| Dial range | 1 – 31 | 0 – 16 |
| Burrs | Conical | Flat |
| Espresso → filter | 12 numbers | 7 numbers |
| Filter → coarse | 11.6 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 14.3 on the Sette 270Wi 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 270Wi | EK43 |
|---|---|
| 4 | 2 |
| 7 | 4.8 |
| 10 | 7.1 |
| 12 | 7.8 |
| 15 | 8.5 |
| 17 | 9.3 |
| 19 | 10.7 |
| 22 | 12.1 |
| 24 | 13.4 |
| 25 | 14.3 |
| 26 | 14.9 |
| 27 | 15.4 |
| 28 | 16 |
| EK43 | Sette 270Wi |
|---|---|
| 2 | 4 |
| 4.8 | 7 |
| 7.1 | 10 |
| 7.8 | 12 |
| 8.5 | 15 |
| 9.3 | 17 |
| 10.7 | 19 |
| 12.1 | 22 |
| 13.4 | 24 |
| 14.3 | 25 |
| 14.9 | 26 |
| 15.4 | 27 |
| 16 | 28 |
Side by side, by brew method
Where each grinder lands for the same brew, worked out from its own dial curve.
| Method | Sette 270Wi | EK43 |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 6 | 3.7 |
| Moka pot | 9 | 7 |
| AeroPress (short steep) | 12 | 7.8 |
| Pour over — V60 / cone | 16 | 8.8 |
| Siphon | 17 | 9.3 |
| Pour over — flat bottom | 18 | 9.8 |
| Steep and release — Clever / Switch | 19 | 10.3 |
| Drip / batch brew | 19 | 10.7 |
| Cupping | 20 | 11 |
| Chemex | 22 | 12 |
| French press | 25 | 14.1 |
| Cold brew | 27 | 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 270Wi
Mahlkönig EK43
Dialing in the Sette 270Wi
The Sette 270 with an integrated scale, grinding to weight rather than time. Same straight-through, near-zero-retention design and the same macro/micro adjustment — and the same considerable noise.
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.