Best Coffee Grinder
Grinding your coffee beans in big batches then storing them for later use is like popping popcorn then storing them to eat at later date. You can store corn for years but you can’t store popcorn indefinitely. It is the same thing with coffee beans. You can store your coffee beans in a tight lid container for a long time but once you have grind your coffee, well, you have to use it at once.
The number of coffee drinkers who prefer to grind their own coffee beans is growing. In the past, coffee connoisseurs were the only ones meticulous enough to grind their own beans. To accommodate the growing market of “daily coffee grinders”, there are more than a hundred models from different brands that hit the market in recent years. Choosing a coffee grinder could be quite a task especially if you are not familiar with how’s and what’s of one.
There are two types of grinders: the blade coffee grinder and the burr coffee grinder. Under the burr coffee grinder are the flat wheel burr and conical burr.
In general, blade coffee grinders are cheaper and easier to clean. However, the grinding is uneven as the granule texture varies from coarse to fine to even powdery. The blade does not really “grind” but more of “chop and chip” your coffee beans, even burning them in the process. If your coffee maker is the drip kind, then a blade grinded will do. However, if your coffee maker is an espresso or a French press, go for a burr coffee grinder.
A burr coffee grinder will give you a more even granule size. Whether it’s a wheel burr or a conical burr would really depend in you. Between the two though, a conical burr is theoretically more feasible as it grinds your coffee beans real slow and even.
If you are stumped as to what type or brand that you should get, here are some reviews of top selling brands and types of coffee grinder in the market today. The top choices are from happy consumers who have rated and reviewed their choices based on overall qualities like: ease in cleaning, attractiveness of design, quiet operation and affordability.
The KitchenAid KPCG100ER Pro Line Burr Coffee Grinder
is the number one choice. Users find the gadget easy to use with no mess and no noise. The burr grinder is said to be perfect for both drip coffee makers to espresso coffee makers as it has 15 settings. It has a capacity of 7 ounces and is easy to clean. The price is from $189 to $199.95.
Breville BCG450XL Grinder
comes second to KitchenAid. At $99, this conical burr grinder is cheap! The burr grinds consistently but there are others who say the process is quite messy as the container is a bit irregular in shape therefore getting the ground beans out of the container is not quite as easy. Compared to KitchenAid’s 10 pound-weight, the Breville is light at 3.5 pounds.
KitchenAid PRO LINE Burr Coffee Mill Grinder
is number three. It is basically the same as the KitchenAid KPC100ER in capacity and mechanism. The marked difference could have been the color as #1 comes in red while #3 comes in silver. At $168 a piece, it’s also at least $20 cheaper.
Jura / Capresso 565.01 Electric Burr Grinder
comes a close fourth. This is a conical burr grinder that has 16 grind settings: four each for coarse, regular, fine and extra fine. It is bigger than KitchenAid at 8.8 ounce of coffee beans that it could hold and grind in one roll. The grinder’s machine is relatively quieter than most. The grinding wheel is completely removable for ease in cleaning. At $140 each this gadget is a steal.
The Krups GX4100 Electric Blades Grinder
is the only blade coffee grinder in the top five coffee grinder list. At $ 28.90 it is the cheapest of the lot and the lightest too at 1.9 pounds. Most users find the machine loud (as compared to burr grinders) and chops out uneven granules but they love it anyway for they use it to chop nuts and spices too. It cleans out easily though.
These are the top five in the list of coffee grinders. Take your pick.