Grinding Coffee Beans : Do not try this at home

by Sarah J. Gim (Subscribe to Sarah J. Gim's posts)
Posted Feb 1st 2006 11:32AM
Filed under: Coffee, Breakfast, How To

home ground coffee

A friend gave me a bag of coffee beans as a gift. It was lovely, smelled great, and I can't wait to open the bag and start brewing...Wait, the beans are whole, and I don't have a coffee grinder!

I thought it was an absolute stroke of genius when I busted out my food processor. In my brilliant mind, a food processor is basically a giant version of a coffee mill.

That is so untrue! So untrue! Now my poor little food processor is in critical condition. She'll make it, no doubt, but I suspect she'll never be the same.

The coffee beans are worse. About ¼ of the beans are still almost completely intact. The rest of the beans are a complete mess of chopped beans in all different size. Now, I know this does not makes for a good brew, but I tried it anyway.

Bad brew. Not even cream made it taste better, and I never use cream. Do not grind your coffee beans with a food processor.

Tags: coffee, coffee grinder, coffee grounds, grinding coffee, ground coffee

Comments [9]

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-01-2006 @ 1:09PM

Craig said...

Hmm - sounds like you are going to have to goto a coffee shop and drop them through a professional grinder :-)

Alternatively just grind a few.

ps: would make a great jigsaw puzzle pic :-)

2-01-2006 @ 1:14PM

jmchez said...

Geez! What you tried would be considered an abomination by the folks at cofeegeek.com. I thought that every foodie knew that chopping coffee beans is a No-No. You have to use a burr grinder if you want the good stuff.

2-01-2006 @ 1:21PM

sarah said...

i know.

*hangs head in shame*

i should be forced to drink instant Taster's Choice for a week as punishment.

2-01-2006 @ 2:17PM

luminouslens said...

So sad.

But now you know that you should really invest in a coffee grinder. They're not all that expensive. :)

By the way, awesome natural light in this photo!

2-01-2006 @ 2:23PM

Crosius said...

Whoa! No one deserves that.

2-01-2006 @ 6:19PM

Ari said...

If you've got no grinder and somehow can't get one, I suppose you could use the mason-jar-on-a-blender trick. It would probably work about as good as a blade grinder. Burr grinder folks (myself included) know that they work much better, avoiding the "sand and boulders" type grind entirely, but if you're just brewing drip, a blender would probably be ok. I'm not recommending it, just saying...

2-02-2006 @ 1:00AM

Why We Type said...

I have so done this...to the letter.

2-02-2006 @ 1:01AM

Vicki said...

Oh bummer, my condolences.

I decimated my food processor attempting to grind whole almonds - the almonds were barely chopped and now the whole plastic bit is etched with awful scratches.

I haven't used it since and shudder to think what I've done with the blade!

FYI Walgreen's sells coffee grinders for $9.99 and they're pretty decent. Supposedly you can shave ice in them too.

2-03-2006 @ 5:03PM

Delire said...

A mortar and pestle, although ridiculously slow going, will get you a course grind... the blade grinders are fine for honest coffee... but a burr grinder is best of all, yup!

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