The timer thingy is nothing special, but can be helpful. Exactly how you use it depends on how you brew your coffee and your brewing process. The way I use mine is, after pouring the coffee beans into the bean hopper, I give the timer knob a twist, with a vague notion of the quantity of beans and, therefore, required grind time. There is no precision about it. While the beans are being ground, I do a couple of other steps in my brewing process. If the beans finish grinding, and the grinder is just whirring, before I finish my other tasks, I reach over and turn the grinder off by twisting the timer knob to the off position. OTOH, if the timer runs out, before all the beans are ground, when I finish my other tasks, I finish the grinding process by holding down the button on the front of the grinder. All this explanation is far more complicated than the reality. When you have your process down pat, you won't give it a thought.
