The Whirly Coffee Grinder
Coffee grinders come in a range of basic types, with the simplest coffee grinders being stones and a grinding surface, more intricate manual grinders being based on a system of rotating burrs through which coffee beans fall through at a consistent rate, through to commercial cafe machines capable of grinding several kilograms of roast coffee every hour. In between the commercial machines and the simplest stone-age technologies are the home user’s simple friends, whirly grinders.
The coffee grinders available at a price scale suitable for the majority of home consumers are seldom very well engineered, and cannot incorporate the more expensive technologies required to provide excellent, top quality ground coffee for later production into coffee. The home user is usually limited by the price range that they will buy in. Simple, good quality grinders can be found for low prices with a little bit of looking. They lack the fundamentally different properties of a burr grinder, with no rotating discs and high tensile steel grinding teeth. Rather they are often simple pop top contraptions with a whirling blade that shreds the coffee over a period of time.
These grinders are simple to produce and easy to use. Cafe style coffee can still be produced if you are rigorous with your grinding procedure. Remember, a more uniform coffee ground will produce a better coffee, as the extraction process will be able to occur at a much more uniform rate. This means that the flavours and volatile oils will be drawn out evenly, rather than haphazardly, as would occur with the rough, irregular grind that a stone grinding system would often produce.
The whirling blade is the same process as a blender or a food processor, where the passage of the blade several times per second results in an ever finer chopping of the beans until they are in a state of powdered readiness. These grinders often will clog, or have build-up of coffee on the walls and undersides of the blade. This is due to the stickiness of the coffee. Make sure you clean this out and into your coffee pot, as the fine powder lends a lovely sticky sludge flavour to the brew. A couple of shakes or taps of the grinder on a bench when it is going will be extremely helpful in the dislodging of partially ground lumps and beans that have managed to escape the reach of the blades.
Not all whirly grinders are created equal, with their price reflecting this. Some of the better models have hardened blades that are less prone to snapping; powerful motors that are less inclined to overheat; inbuilt safety features to prevent them from grinding topless and more rigid robust construction that will mean they last for several years, rather than months at best.
As with any piece of kitchen equipment, you should make sure to buy quality from the start. IT will save you a world of trouble, time and this definitely justifies the added expense of a more durable, well built machine.