The best coffee grinders for your kitchen
The most important thing for an exceptionally good coffee, which is suggested by many coffee experts, is a good coffee grinder. The fact is how the coffee beans being ground directly affects the quality of the brewing process and the taste of your cup of joe. Without being shattered evenly, even the best beans will not taste good. Choosing the best burr coffee grinder is essential for an amazing cup of drip or French press coffee, especially in the case of coffee connoisseurs.
Today’s article will provide you significant criteria for a great coffee grinder and a list of best burr coffee grinders you can purchase on the market.
Burr Grinder or Blade Grinder
There are two types of grinders being distinguished by how the machine grinds the beans: burr and blade. While a blade grinder or propeller grinder simply slides up the coffee beans by spinning around and around, a burr grinder pulverizes the beans by using two oscillating and serrated plates. That’s why the coffee grounds from burr models are much more uniform than those from blade ones, which leads to a better taste of the brew.
❖❖❖ Related Article: Discover the Best Coffee Grinders for Your Needs
The blade grinders will randomly chop the beans into different sizes - some too small, some too large - so your cup of coffee will be a mixture of too bitter and too sour flavor. The fewer fines (dusty small particles) and boulders (large particles) in the coffee grounds, the more excellent the coffee brewed. And in terms of grinding the coffee beans evenly, burr grinders dominantly outweigh their blade counterparts. Therefore, even though you have to significantly spend more on a good burr grinder, it’s worth investing in the upgrade for coffee lovers.
Coffee Grinder Selection Criteria
The best coffee bean grinder normally costs you at least $100, but it will come with a higher quality of coffee, easier operation, simpler maintenance, and longer lifespan. When it comes to choosing the best burr coffee grinder, the ability to remain the grind-size consistency should be prioritized because it literally affects how balanced the extraction of every brew will be. Different grind-sizes result in different speeds and extraction of the coffee ground when the water filtrates through it. If your grinder creates both coarse and fine grind sizes at a single-use, it is not a consistent burr grinder and it can ruin your cup of coffee. A good coffee burr grinder should be consistent with grind size because it is crucial for even extraction of the ground flavor.
Apart from the consistency, listed below are some other features to consider, ranging from the important to the nice-to-have.
Quality burrs
Every burr grinder consists of two sets of burrs and the beans will be ground between these two burrs. However, different materials create unequally grinding results. Steel burrs are durable, easy to clean, and less expensive so they are the most common type you can find. Whereas, the burrs made of ceramic are harder and dull more slowly.
When searching for burr grinders, it’s easy to find out there are conical type and flat type of the burr sets. The conical grinders are designed with two cone-shaped bladed rings while the flat ones have two horizontal burrs. Though doing the same job and producing equally enough ground coffee, the conical burr grinders collect less coffee therefore easier to clean than their flat counterparts.
Grind settings
Different brewing methods require different grind sizes, so most coffee grinders offer a variety of options from the finest to the coarsest size. For this reason, the top rated coffee grinders should provide clear and easy to use grind settings which help in selecting the exact size of grind for your favorite coffee and particular brew device.
Dosage measurements
Preset dose measurements can be a plus point in contribution to the best rated coffee grinders. Many coffee grind devices offer integrated scales or a timer which allows you to measure the same amount of coffee every time they pulverize the beans. Some other models grant you the ability to program the dose presets based on how many cups of coffee they will produce.
Cleaning and maintenance
It’s essential to look for a grinder with removable burr sets and an easy-to-clean burr chamber. The device that allows regular residue cleaning and accessible replacement when needed will bring in better flavor and grinder performance.
What is the best coffee grinder?
Based on all the above criteria, the following are our picks for best burr coffee grinders. Since many people who enjoy coffee choose to go with affordable, substandard blade grinders, a good coffee grinder can justify the price and prove its effectiveness in return on investment.
Best Overall Value
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder wins the best coffee grinder for home position. With a wide range of settings, this grinder crushes coffee beans evenly and grants an excellent consistency for brewing delicious coffee without requiring you to break the bank. You can buy a Baratza Encore at $140 from Amazon and rely on it morning after morning. This model is super easy to clean and maintain, and its compact size only occupies small counter space in your kitchen. However, if you are looking for the best espresso grinder, this device is not a good choice as the grind size is not fine enough.
Best Budget
With $100, OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder performs the best among its price range. This best budget coffee grinder with versatile grind settings and relative consistency will be a good alternative for the Baratza Encore if you are on a tight budget. The OXO Brew suits best for those who mainly brew drip or French press coffee. In addition, the device includes some nice features like a reducing-static mechanism for smoother grinding and a removable hopper for changing beans easier.
Best for Espresso
If you are an espresso enthusiast, Breville Smart Grinder Pro is a great option to look at. Regarding espresso grinder, it normally costs you extra in comparison with other models because of finer grounds requirements. This best espresso grinder is being sold at $200 on Amazon. With stainless steel burrs, it can grind extremely fine grounds while remaining a high-quality performance cup after cup. Though generating consistently grind size, Breville Smart may not create the best grinding results for French press or cold brew as the grounds are not coarse enough.
Best manual
The durable and compact design of Porlex Mini Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder lets you bring it along when you travel. Being on sale at $64, this manual grinder performs a smooth grinding action and can be used easily with bare hands.
Final Word
There are tons of the best coffee grinder reviews out there and our list is in no way exhaustive, however, owning a good coffee grinder ultimately will bring in the perfect flavor for your cup of joe that you are going to sip every morning. At the end of the day, the best overall pick we chose is the Baratza Encore - a reliable, durable, and consistent grinder you can count on for years with no need of spending a mint.
Today’s article will provide you significant criteria for a great coffee grinder and a list of best burr coffee grinders you can purchase on the market.
Burr Grinder or Blade Grinder
There are two types of grinders being distinguished by how the machine grinds the beans: burr and blade. While a blade grinder or propeller grinder simply slides up the coffee beans by spinning around and around, a burr grinder pulverizes the beans by using two oscillating and serrated plates. That’s why the coffee grounds from burr models are much more uniform than those from blade ones, which leads to a better taste of the brew.
❖❖❖ Related Article: Discover the Best Coffee Grinders for Your Needs
The blade grinders will randomly chop the beans into different sizes - some too small, some too large - so your cup of coffee will be a mixture of too bitter and too sour flavor. The fewer fines (dusty small particles) and boulders (large particles) in the coffee grounds, the more excellent the coffee brewed. And in terms of grinding the coffee beans evenly, burr grinders dominantly outweigh their blade counterparts. Therefore, even though you have to significantly spend more on a good burr grinder, it’s worth investing in the upgrade for coffee lovers.
Coffee Grinder Selection Criteria
The best coffee bean grinder normally costs you at least $100, but it will come with a higher quality of coffee, easier operation, simpler maintenance, and longer lifespan. When it comes to choosing the best burr coffee grinder, the ability to remain the grind-size consistency should be prioritized because it literally affects how balanced the extraction of every brew will be. Different grind-sizes result in different speeds and extraction of the coffee ground when the water filtrates through it. If your grinder creates both coarse and fine grind sizes at a single-use, it is not a consistent burr grinder and it can ruin your cup of coffee. A good coffee burr grinder should be consistent with grind size because it is crucial for even extraction of the ground flavor.
Apart from the consistency, listed below are some other features to consider, ranging from the important to the nice-to-have.
Quality burrs
Every burr grinder consists of two sets of burrs and the beans will be ground between these two burrs. However, different materials create unequally grinding results. Steel burrs are durable, easy to clean, and less expensive so they are the most common type you can find. Whereas, the burrs made of ceramic are harder and dull more slowly.
When searching for burr grinders, it’s easy to find out there are conical type and flat type of the burr sets. The conical grinders are designed with two cone-shaped bladed rings while the flat ones have two horizontal burrs. Though doing the same job and producing equally enough ground coffee, the conical burr grinders collect less coffee therefore easier to clean than their flat counterparts.
Grind settings
Different brewing methods require different grind sizes, so most coffee grinders offer a variety of options from the finest to the coarsest size. For this reason, the top rated coffee grinders should provide clear and easy to use grind settings which help in selecting the exact size of grind for your favorite coffee and particular brew device.
Dosage measurements
Preset dose measurements can be a plus point in contribution to the best rated coffee grinders. Many coffee grind devices offer integrated scales or a timer which allows you to measure the same amount of coffee every time they pulverize the beans. Some other models grant you the ability to program the dose presets based on how many cups of coffee they will produce.
Cleaning and maintenance
It’s essential to look for a grinder with removable burr sets and an easy-to-clean burr chamber. The device that allows regular residue cleaning and accessible replacement when needed will bring in better flavor and grinder performance.
What is the best coffee grinder?
Based on all the above criteria, the following are our picks for best burr coffee grinders. Since many people who enjoy coffee choose to go with affordable, substandard blade grinders, a good coffee grinder can justify the price and prove its effectiveness in return on investment.
Best Overall Value
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder wins the best coffee grinder for home position. With a wide range of settings, this grinder crushes coffee beans evenly and grants an excellent consistency for brewing delicious coffee without requiring you to break the bank. You can buy a Baratza Encore at $140 from Amazon and rely on it morning after morning. This model is super easy to clean and maintain, and its compact size only occupies small counter space in your kitchen. However, if you are looking for the best espresso grinder, this device is not a good choice as the grind size is not fine enough.
Best Budget
With $100, OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder performs the best among its price range. This best budget coffee grinder with versatile grind settings and relative consistency will be a good alternative for the Baratza Encore if you are on a tight budget. The OXO Brew suits best for those who mainly brew drip or French press coffee. In addition, the device includes some nice features like a reducing-static mechanism for smoother grinding and a removable hopper for changing beans easier.
Best for Espresso
If you are an espresso enthusiast, Breville Smart Grinder Pro is a great option to look at. Regarding espresso grinder, it normally costs you extra in comparison with other models because of finer grounds requirements. This best espresso grinder is being sold at $200 on Amazon. With stainless steel burrs, it can grind extremely fine grounds while remaining a high-quality performance cup after cup. Though generating consistently grind size, Breville Smart may not create the best grinding results for French press or cold brew as the grounds are not coarse enough.
Best manual
The durable and compact design of Porlex Mini Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder lets you bring it along when you travel. Being on sale at $64, this manual grinder performs a smooth grinding action and can be used easily with bare hands.
Final Word
There are tons of the best coffee grinder reviews out there and our list is in no way exhaustive, however, owning a good coffee grinder ultimately will bring in the perfect flavor for your cup of joe that you are going to sip every morning. At the end of the day, the best overall pick we chose is the Baratza Encore - a reliable, durable, and consistent grinder you can count on for years with no need of spending a mint.
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