A blade coffee grinder, which is the standard for most home coffee drinkers, has a food processor-like blade that swings around and chops up coffee beans. The grinders are usually fairly inexpensive and do the job of grinding up beans faster than you could do it with a hammer, but they are not necessarily very efficient, nor do they come close to getting the coffee beans evenly ground. Burr grinders, which are more expensive but crush the beans instead of chopping them up, produce even grounds and will generate the most consistent flavor in coffee - not to mention that they offer a range of sizes (from powdery fine to coarse) that work with different types of coffee makers, including espresso machines and french presses.
The Wall Street Journal's catalog critic sat down and tested a number of burr grinders to see which ones performed the best. The less-than-satisfactory grinders included the Capresso Infinity burr grinder, The Krups Burr Coffee Mill and the Cuisinart Automatic Burr grinder. The top performer was the KitchenAid Proline Grinder ($200), which produced grounds to exacting specifications and stored them in a nice glass container before use to eliminate the possibility of static charge making grounds adhere to the side of the container, as they sometimes did with plastic container models. The model given the "best value" designation was the Solis Maestro Burr Grinder ($115), which performed perfectly, but had a plastic grounds container that could have a minim static charge. In fact, it is the grinder that I use and it always does an excellent job - even with dark-roasted, oily beans that can jam up some other grinders. The KitchenAid would make a great Christmas gift "for coffee geeks," but the Solis is probably the way to go in terms of both price and performance.
11-28-2006 @12:39PM MJ said... Use to be crazy and grind my own! Not anymore! Good for those that still do!
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11-28-2006 @1:24PM Average Betty said... I've had a Capresso burr grinder for two years. It works great and provides a superior cup of coffee to the old-school blade grinder for sure. I actually bought the Capresso based on a review in the LA Times that recommended it... other than being a little messy you can't beat the price of ~ $50.
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11-28-2006 @2:02PM Aaron said... From what I understood, the problem with blade grinders is that they heat the beans up and denature some of the more complex flavors.
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11-28-2006 @3:57PM Jeron said... I have the Starbucks rebranded Solis Maestro and it works great for everything: espresso, drip and press-pot coffee. But for my drip coffee I use a $10 blade grinder because a uniform grind just doesn't matter.
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11-28-2006 @4:03PM bdw said... I used to have a great little hand powered mill. Cost me five bucks at the flea market; worked perfectly for years. When I got married I was going through a tea period, and my lovely new wife found it and threw it away.
Good trade though. She can't grind coffee very well, but she's awfully decorative.
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11-28-2006 @11:03PM martin Boisselle said... Oh Come on!
Mazzer Grinders are the best burr grinders you can find!
The Mazzer Robur (3-phase, 220v) is the master of all burr grinders.....
Bow down to the Conical Burrs!!!! ;)
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11-29-2006 @9:26AM Adam Jaskiewicz said... Grinding your own coffee is probably the best way to make sure you are getting reasonably fresh coffee.
I have a cheaper burr grinder ($60 Bodum Antigua), and I love it. I need to open it up and clean it out now and then, though; these drop the beans and then the grounds straight through, which is a much better design than mine, where the container for grounds is offset from the grinding mechanism.
If you MUST use a blade grinder (they really are just fine for drip, especially if you use paper filters), don't hold the button down. Pulse it as you would a food processor, and you won't have as much of an issue with heat.
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11-29-2006 @9:35AM Kevin said... I have the Bodum Antigua grinder. Retails for about $70 and does a great job on medium to coarse grinds. Plus it's a Bodum so it looks pretty sharp. The thing is very loud though. Not great for making coffee on Saturday morning before the wife wakes up :).
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11-30-2006 @12:04AM sjk said... I discovered (and already ordered) the Empire Red model of the KitchenAid Pro Line at Amazon.com for $99.99(!) Couldn't resist that seemingly too-good-to-be-true price, especially new (supposedly) and with refurbished models being more expensive.
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12-19-2006 @9:26AM coffee said... Cool!coffee pot
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1-02-2007 @4:42PM Jennifer said... I've always used my very inexpensive Krups $30 blade grinder and the coffee tastes great to me - but then again, I've never used a burr to see if there really is a noticeable difference.
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