Coffee beans from different plants, climates, and regions alter its taste and body. Even if the coffee is vacuum-sealed or nitrogen-flushed, the most sought-after beans lose their light, flowery, fruity, or deep chocolaty, nutty characteristics when ground and exposed to air.
Coffee enthusiasts prefer to ground their beans before brewing. Oxygen isn’t the only enemy of coffee flavor—overheating the beans, grinding them unevenly, and choosing the improper grind for your coffee machine may also ruin it.
The key is choosing a reliable coffee grinder, like our top selection, the Baratza Encore (available at Amazon), that grinds evenly without overheating and has settings for all brewing methods, from fine for espresso machines to coarse for French presses.Now Buy Any of These Foot Massagers to Relax your Feet and Keep it Hygienic.
Whether blade, burr, or manual grinder is best for you depends on how much coffee you brew, how much ground coffee you use each cup, and how much effort you’re prepared to put in before your caffeine fix.
El exigentes who want strong coffee should use an electric burr grinder. If you like the ease of an automated drip coffee machine that utilises a medium grind and don’t want a strong cup of coffee (we understand it, no judgement!), an affordable blade grinder will work.
Baratza Enterprise
The Baratza Encore is a sturdy yet rather straightforward device. This burr grinder has 40 grind settings, a push-button for manual control, and an on/off switch for continuous, hands-free grinding. I’m done now. Some grinders come with options for cups, timers, sliders for adjusting the strength, and other frills you don’t actually need.
Use a scale or a scoop to measure out your chosen number of beans, dump them into the hopper, and freshly ground them for the ideal cup of coffee.
This grinder produces highly consistent coffee grounds, much like every other model we tried, but what sets it apart is its wide variety of settings, from the coarsest, which provides grounds similar to powdered sugar—perfect for Turkish coffee—to the finest, which forms huge flakes for cold brew. There are several options between, whether you want an espresso, regular American coffee, or a French press.
Although it is a sizable machine, it is not as enormous as some of the other grinders we’ve examined. Also, it has a substantial base that adds to its stability, making it exceedingly unlikely that it would ever sway during grinding. Compared to the glossy transparent plastic cups that come with many other models, the heavy-duty translucent cup that holds the coffee grinds produces less static cling. Cleaning is easy; just take off the top burr and scrub any remaining grinds with the included wire brush.
Pros
- Even chopping
- Durable
- settings for 40-grind
- Uncomplicated
- a little static cling
Cons
- Expensive
Electric coffee and spice grinder from Krups
Despite a negative reputation, we discovered that blade grinders don’t overheat the beans or provide inconsistent output. The major disadvantage is that they can’t hold enough coffee to fill a 12-cup pot to the brim.
Just roughly 12 tablespoons of beans can be processed in the Krups Quick Touch Electric Coffee and Spice Grinder, which results in an identical amount of ground coffee. This can be the best option for you if you feel as though that is sufficient and you don’t want to spend a lot of money.
Pressing a button on the lid activates the Krups. The grind gets finer the longer you hold it down. It’s crucial to monitor the process and stop it when the coffee is ground to your preferences because processing the beans only takes 5 to 20 seconds. The oval form of the grinder makes it simple to pour the ground coffee into a filter once it has been processed.
You’ll need to smack the lid or smash the grinder on the counter to keep coffee grounds from flowing everywhere once the Krups is opened since it generates a lot of static cling. You’ll need to use your finger or a little brush to get rid of the particles that tend to collect on the bottom of the bowl if you select the ultra-fine setting.
The fact that this grinder can also be used to ground spices is a benefit. But, be sure to thoroughly clean it before using it for coffee once more. The container can only be cleaned by wiping it with a damp towel; whereas the lid may be rinsed off.
This low-cost grinder can be a nice place to start if you’re new to home bean-grinding and want to assess whether the benefit in flavour justifies the work.
Pros
- Even chopping
- Fast
- also serves as a spice mill.
Cons
- difficult to fine-tune settings
- Grounds cling to the surface.
- Cake of dirt on the bottom
Conical Burr Grinder by OXO Brew
Five grind settings on the OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder offer a great range from fine for espresso to coarse for French press. We don’t believe you need a cup setting, thus there isn’t one. In addition, a timer is present rather than a continuous-on button.
Despite the fact that the OXO can contain three-quarters of a pound of beans, we always advise weighing your beans and adding them to the hopper before grinding; this way, you won’t need to grind a second batch or wind up with extra ground coffee.
The stainless steel ground container doesn’t scatter grounds when you lift the lid since it prevents static cling. Hardly no ground coffee had gathered in the chute, we also discovered. The Oxo takes up more room than many other grinders with a height of roughly 13 inches, yet it fits beneath a cabinet with ease. Together with the machine, a coffee scoop and an incredibly comprehensive and simple to understand instruction booklet are included.
Pros
- even milling
- zero static cling
- Excellently user-friendly manual
Cons
- Tall
