I mainly want to get a coffee grinder because beans have a longer shelf life and are cheaper. If I also get better coffee, that’s a bonus! (Basically, I’m not looking for a premium option)
What is something I should pay attention to when buying a grinder. I see people mention “flat burr” grinders all the time. Is that something important?
A few years ago I bought a cheap terrible manual coffee grinder off Amazon. It took 5-10mins to grind my coffee. The grounds where too course and my hands hurt. Is the experience better with higher quality manual grinders? At the moment, I’m not a huge fan of manual grinders because of this experience and am leaning towards buying an electrical one.
What makes a coffee grinder better than others? What is the difference between premium and budget options?
You’ll hear a lot of people talk about baratza models. They are great at grinding and are fairly low cost.
You will have significant issues with static electricity and every time you use it you will make an enormous mess. I have had limited success with water spraying which is generally considered to minimize the impact. You’ll be sweeping the floor, using a wet cloth on your countertop, washing out the bin, and using a brush and cloth to clean out the machine. I have found the only way to clean out the chute where grinds exit is to use percussive maintenance, otherwise you have grinds just hanging out in the guts of the machine which are statically charged, just waiting for you to pick it up for next use.
After a while I decided I didn’t think a $150++ grinder that needed so much attention and care for regular use was worth it and instead order my beans pre-ground every 1.5-2 weeks from a local roaster at a minimal price premium. I figure let them deal with the mess while I get fresh coffee far more often. My prep time and cleanup is next to nothing thanks to this.
It’s all about convenience vs “perceived quality”. I don’t perceive the quality of freshly ground beans every day to be worth it vs avoiding all that mess, wasted table space and stuck with just one blend for weeks and weeks or very stale beans.
If you absolutely love the hour morning ritual of prepping and cleaning your coffee implements then i’m sure it’s quite therapeutic. I just have other priorities.
Huh. As a counterpoint, I have a Baratza Encore and have encountered none of the cleaning issues outside of the machine that you mention.
Maybe it’s literally where the machine sits or whether one of you walks barefoot or something equally trivial. You guys could be doing the same things but one of you manages to discharge the static electricity while the other doesn’t.
Same. I have been spraying some water in the coffee beans before grinding, about 0.5-1g (two sprays from a water bottle) prior to grinding and have had no issues.
If you have build up in the chute, you can try tapping the grinder prior to removing the container.
I have a baratza, and I’ve never had to deal with static. To be honest, I’ve always been confused why there doesn’t seem to be any static at all
Adding the bellow to my machine keeps the grinder pretty clean on the inside. I only grind 11g and it all goes into the catch bin. Since I have to pickup and move my grinder after each use I have never seen grinds on the counter to clean up. I’m wondering more about how you are using the machine that it is causing such a mess. Also, it could be a faulty device, maybe the bin is not sitting correctly.
I weigh before and after grinding to make sure it all comes out.