Coffee Grinder

[ElyDave]

My coffee grinder ground to a halt yesterday.  I have enough espresso ground for about two days and three bags of ground Greek coffee.

Can anyone recommend a coffee grinder - electric, not hand.  I prefer to batch grind about 3-4 days worth at a time.

[T42]

I have a Nuova Simonelli Grinta. I don't much like it - changing the time it grinds for is a bore - but I got it cheaply so I live with it. It's also noisy, but then they all are.  You'd need ear protectors for a long batch grind.

[citoyen]

I got a Dualit one for about £70. It's not fancy but it does the job. I don't drink espresso so I don't need the fine control over the grind that some require.

Have to ask, though - why are you doing enough for 3-4 days ahead? Don't you lose any freshness benefit within a few hours of grinding?

[ElyDave]

it goes in the fridge and last ok over that period, I wouldn't do more for exactly that reason.

I'm looking at these two at the moment

https://www.coffeehit.co.uk/baratza-encore.html

http://coffeesupremacy.com/review-breville-bcg600sil/

both have decent reviews and similar priced.  The dead one is a de longhi, £45.00 and died 3 months after the two year warranty expired

[T42]

I had the Encore when I started out with espresso.  It's OK at a pinch but a bit inconsistent.  IIRC, only the bottom 4 or 5 notches on the 30-notch scale were usable for espresso. Good for bulk grinding, though; when I was roasting a lot and giving some away I could do about 100g at a time.  Not very good for grinding straight into the PF, though, the grounds do not exit in an orderly manner.

The Breville looks better but their comment about grinding for espresso would put me off.

Have to ask, though - why are you doing enough for 3-4 days ahead? Don't you lose any freshness benefit within a few hours of grinding?

Some say 15 minutes.  I've compared freshly-ground coffee with some ground 12 hours earlier.  The fresh stuff was a hell of a lot better.

[ElyDave]

my coffee man has suggested either the Bartza Virtuosa, Eureka Mignon or the next model up in the Sage range, this one https://sageappliances.co.uk/collections/coffee-grinders/products/the-smart-grinder-pro?variant=40400713348

I got him to grind me a bag of beans until I get myself a new grinder, adn it has made me realise how far out my previous £45 grinder was.  His grind in my machine is massively different and better.

Next step, find one of these at the best possible price

[T42]

Wiki:

Breville is an Australian manufacturer and marketer of small home appliances, founded in ... for Canada. Breville operates under the Sage by Heston Blumenthal, Solis, Gastroback, Stollar, Catler, Bork and Riviera&Bar brands in Europe.

Kitchen appliances by B0rk?

The Mignon is well-regarded.

They're likely all reviewed on Seattle Coffee Gear's Youtube channel if you poke about a bit. The Mignon certainly is, and the Virtuoso.  Dunno about the B0rk.

[Erudin]

When the switch went on my Delonghi Grinder I just hotwired it and now work it from the plug socket switch.

[Aunt Maud]

Chuff !!  Two hundred quid, just to grind some coffee.

[T42]

That's just two hundred.  There's them as pays four or five times that.

[lahoski]

Slightly off-topic, but the yacf give mind can surely help here...

Which are the least expensive but still properly decent hand grinders? I'm constructing a 'I'm not drinking another cup of NESCAFÉ' kit for work and I'd quite like to start grinding fresh - hopefully add to my colleagues' jealousy.

Also, AeroPress or tiddly cafetière?

[andrewc]

Porlex hand grinders are excellent.


Aeropress or Clever Dripper both make good coffee.

[T42]

+1 for the Porlex.  For brewing the Aeropress can be excellent once you get the grind right.  I also like the 2-cup (10 cl) Bialetti Brikka, which I load with 12-14g, usually a Guatemala/Brazil mix.

[Pickled Onion]

For brewing the Aeropress can be excellent once you get the grind right.

What is the right grind for an aeropress? I had assumed as it was a filter something like an espresso grind would be best, but was recently told a coarse cafetiere style grind is correct.

[citoyen]

Another +1 for the Porlex.

Another advantage of the Aeropress is that it's easier to clean than a cafetiere. I tend to aim for somewhere between cafetiere-coarse and espresso-fine for the Aeropress. Too fine and the filter just gets clogged.

[Jakob W]

I've got a Rhinowares grinder, which is functionally equivalent​ to the Porlex, mainly because it's what my local hipster coffee emporium sells. I gather that the Porlex, Hario, and Rhinowares are all​ equally good, and all cost more or less the same (between £30 and £40 IIRC). For the aeropress I use a grind similar to filter pourover, so a bit finer than cafetiere.

[Sergeant Pluck]

What’s good around the £100 mark? Or are any of you feeling the need for an upgrade so that I can have your old one?

I just use a Bialetti so I don’t need anything too sophisticated. One feature I would like is the ability to properly control the amount ground by way of a timer or something.

[ElyDave]

I don't think you'll get timer control at £100 - I know I didn't see anything.

For a Bialetti, the £50 delonghi that I had would be OK on it's finest setting.

Now I have the new one I'm realising how far away I was from where I thought I was, if that makes sense?

[citoyen]

The Dualit one has a rudimentary timer but it's a bit like a toaster dial in that setting it is down to a combination of experience and pot luck. I find it safer to only add the required quantity of beans to the hopper.

[T42]

For brewing the Aeropress can be excellent once you get the grind right.

What is the right grind for an aeropress? I had assumed as it was a filter something like an espresso grind would be best, but was recently told a coarse cafetiere style grind is correct.

I have only occasionally managed to find the right grind, but usually lose it again because I use the same grinder for different methods and never note stuff down. Anyway, you have to dial the things in for different roasts etc.

This fellow says drip grind. https://youtu.be/6Opy64EwNww 

I set the Porlex for the Bialetti a couple of years back and never move it - works every time.

[pcolbeck]

For brewing the Aeropress can be excellent once you get the grind right.

What is the right grind for an aeropress? I had assumed as it was a filter something like an espresso grind would be best, but was recently told a coarse cafetiere style grind is correct.

A drip filter grind works OK but a better one is half way between that and an espresso grind. Our local coffee roasters sells an aeropress grind but when I am grinding at home I often cant be bothered and just use the drip filter grind setting that my grinder is usually set at (I don't do espresso).