Rancilio · Dial-in chart

Rancilio Rocky grind settings

Name: Rancilio Rocky grind settings by brew method
Creator: BrewMark

Where to set the Rancilio Rocky for every common brew method — worked out from this grinder’s own dial curve rather than a one-size-fits-all chart.

Dial range0 – 55

ScaleNumbered dial

BurrsFlat

Filter reference25

The shape of this dial

The top line is the universal grind index every BrewMark recipe uses. The bottom line is the Rocky’s own dial. The connectors show how one maps onto the other.

Where the lines bunch, the dial is compressed — small moves count for more

Settings by brew method

Start at the recommended setting, brew, then move within the range by taste. Sour or weak means go finer; bitter or harsh means go coarser.

Rancilio Rocky grind settings for espresso, moka pot, AeroPress, pour over, drip, Chemex, French press and cold brew
Method	Setting	Range
EspressoFine. Aim for a 25–30s shot and adjust from there.	7.7	5 – 11.4
Moka potFiner than filter, coarser than espresso. No tamping.	13	11.4 – 15.4
AeroPress (short steep)For 1–2 minute recipes. Go coarser for longer steeps.	17.8	15.4 – 21.2
Pour over — V60 / coneThe reference point for most published pour-over recipes.	24	21.6 – 27
Pour over — flat bottomKalita, Orea and similar. Slightly coarser than a cone.	27	25 – 29.8
Drip / batch brewAutomatic brewers. Coarser to suit the longer contact time.	29	27 – 32.2
ChemexThe thick filter needs a coarser grind to avoid stalling.	32.2	29.8 – 35.4
French pressCoarse. Too fine here is the usual cause of a muddy cup.	37.7	35 – 40.7
Cold brewCoarsest setting you have. 12–18 hours of contact.	43.6	40.7 – 48

How much room you have to adjust

Espresso → filter20numbers of adjustment across the fine half of the dial

Filter → coarse23numbers covering filter through to cold brew

Curvelinearflat burrs, interpolated linearly

That is the resolution you actually have to work with on the Rocky. Where the number is small, a single step moves the cup more than you would expect — so change one at a time and taste before moving again.

Dialing in the Rocky

A stepped espresso grinder that has been the budget recommendation for a very long time. The 55 steps across 50mm flat burrs are its limitation — for espresso you will sometimes want a setting between two of them and there is not one, and a single step can move a shot by seconds. Twenty of those steps cover espresso through filter, which is more resolution than the fine end usually gets at this price. Two things make it an espresso grinder in practice rather than a general one: changing setting means holding the locking lever while twisting the hopper, and it keeps a couple of grams in the chute, so every switch between espresso and pour over costs you both fiddling and coffee. Most owners pick one end and stay there.

Coming from another grinder?

Convert a grind setting to the Rocky

If a recipe quotes a setting for a different grinder, this maps it onto the Rocky’s dial using the same curve the chart above is built from.

The recipe’s grinder

Its setting

Converting between two grinders that are not this one? Open the full converter.

How these numbers were worked out

Every grinder gets mapped onto a shared 0–100 grind index, where 0 is espresso-fine and 100 is the coarsest useful setting. Five reference points on the Rocky are placed on that scale — espresso, moka, filter, French press and coarse — and the settings in between are interpolated.

The Rocky’s five reference points have been checked against the manufacturer’s published grind chart and cross-checked against an independent source, and that check is written down in the repository. It is one of 46 models, out of 78, where that is true.

The Rocky’s dial is interpolated linearly between those reference points, which is the right model for its burr geometry.

The result is that “medium-fine” resolves to a real number on this grinder rather than a vague instruction. It is a starting point, not a guarantee — burr wear, bean density and roast level all move the target, which is why every row above gives a range as well as a number.

Free wall chart

Put the Rocky numbers next to the grinder

Every method on one sheet, laid out on the Rocky’s own dial so you can see where the settings bunch up. Print it, pin it, stop reaching for your phone with wet hands.

Open the wall chart →No sign-up · Prints to one page

Take it with you

Or have the Rocky chart emailed

The same settings, sent once, for when you are standing at the grinder and nowhere near a printer.

One email with the chart. Nothing else unless you ask.

Make these numbers yours

This chart is the same for every Rocky in the world. Log what you actually brewed and it stops being — the app remembers the setting that worked for your beans and shifts the starting point toward it. Free on iOS.

Get the iOS app

Compare the Rocky

Side-by-side dial charts and a conversion table, so a recipe written for one grinder becomes a real number on the other.

Grinders that dial in like this one

Similar burrs, scale or dial range — which means settings translate between them more predictably than across the whole catalog.

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